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It was the tenth of August, the day Teddy’s life changed forever.
It had been just shy of a month since James had left Hogwarts, and the only thing shining brighter than James’s smile that summer day was the midday sun. That day, the Potters had hosted a party to celebrate James officially signing with the Montrose Magpies as the youngest starting Chaser in half a century. He wasn’t sure who was prouder, James or Harry and Ginny.
It was unusually warm for England and the sky was impossibly clear, almost as if the weather was on its best behavior for James.
Teddy had watched James laugh and talk with family and friends the entire day, charming them all with the kind of casual yet genuine sociability only he possessed.
James was a damn good player and he knew it; yet as Teddy watched him talk, there was not an ounce of self-importance on his face. That was one thing Teddy could never understand. James was confident to the point of cockiness about almost everything—like his cooking skills, which were truthfully abysmal, and his artistic talents, which were nonexistent. Until it came to something he had every reason to be arrogant about, like his flying when instead of boasting he’d duck his head and smile, the freckles across his neck standing out starkly against his blush.
James was a perpetual contradiction.
Teddy spent all day nursing one Guinness after another, contemplating the multitude of possibilities that awaited James now that he'd left school and was set to begin the career he’d been dreaming of since the first moment Ginny had taught him to fly. Teddy was proud of James, happy for him even, and also uncomfortably aware of his jealousy.
Teddy wasn't blind. He knew he found James attractive, just about everyone did—a fact James seemed well aware of. That knowledge was at least a tad easier to deal with now that James was both of legal age and out of school, even if it did still make him feel a bit old. After all, at six years younger, James would still technically be a teenager for another two years. Teddy tried really hard not to think about that.
Teenager. Fuck it all. Teddy didn't know how he'd gone and got himself infatuated with a ruddy teenager who still lived at home and listened to too-loud, god-awful music and thought it was funny to hang spoons off his nose to make Lily laugh. James was as ridiculous as he was perfect, which made everything feel more complicated than Teddy was prepared to deal with.
Teddy didn't like to think of it as a crush because that would mean feelings and Teddy was well aware of what a monumental mistake it would be to have feelings for your godfather’s son. Even if said son was bloody attractive. And talented and funny. Because none of that really mattered in the end— James was almost like family in enough ways that it would be absolutely awful if things didn't work out. That is, if Harry or Ginny didn't kill him first.
It was irresponsible and foolhardy to think someone that young, on the brink of everything he'd ever wanted in life, would want to settle down with anyone, much less his godbrother whose idea of a good Saturday night was when the bloke at the chippy near the Auror offices gave him two helpings of chips instead of one.
Not that Teddy thought poorly of himself or anything. He knew he was pretty decent looking and he was a damn fine Auror. He was loyal and honest and friendly to a fault. But he was not magnetic in the ways James was.
Teddy was nothing if not pragmatic—James was born to soar and Teddy knew his feet were never meant to leave the ground.
So he had always pushed aside all his feelings. And though he popped round the Potters’ for tea rather more than usual in the past few weeks, he only occasionally allowed himself to appreciate the way James looked flying in the garden or laying in the grass shirtless soaking up the summer sun. It didn't hurt anyone for Teddy to just look. And look was certainly all Teddy ever planned to do.
Which meant that at half past ten at that night, when James insisted he and Teddy would clean up and everyone else should go inside, Teddy didn’t stop to wonder why on earth James was volunteering to clean up his own party. Teddy was just a little bit drunk and James looked so handsome in the moonlight, so when James had said “Give a lad a hand, yeah?” he’d agreed easily.
It wasn’t until everyone was inside and Teddy was working on banishing the clutter that James came up behind him, spinning him around and grinning.
“You weren’t actually supposed to help clean?”
Teddy blinked, unsure what he was supposed to be doing. “You asked for help,” he answered, feeling unsure as to why James was moving closer.
“You’d do anything I asked, would you?” James’s voice sounds playful, but there’s something in his eyes that makes Teddy sway.
James reaches out, strong arms gripping Teddy’s biceps. “Easy there, Ted. Maybe you’ve had too much to drink.”
“Have not,” Teddy insists, making no attempt to dislodge James’s firm grip.
James cocks his head to the side, looking more serious than Teddy is used to, before whispering, “You never answered my question.”
Teddy can’t find the words so he nods instead, a jolt of pleasure rushing through him when James’s face breaks out into a wide smile.
“What if I asked you to kiss me?”
Teddy’s head feels like it's spinning, his braining supplying him with all the reasons this is a disastrous idea. But with James in front of him, so open and—apparently—wanting Teddy, the doubts fade away.
Teddy doesn’t let himself think, just leans forward, bringing his right hand up to thread into James’s hair and pressing their lips together, his entire body thrumming. James is so warm, his lips soft, and he makes the most delicious noise that Teddy swallows greedily.
Later, when Teddy tries to figure out how things had ended up completely opposite to his well laid plans, he realizes his biggest mistake was neglecting to consider what James wanted. James, he thinks, always gets what he wants.
~*~*~*~*~
Surprisingly, dating James was not much different from simply being friends with him. Granted it involved a lot more touching and kissing, and Teddy was usually now somehow in the middle of James’s shenanigans instead of watching from the outside. But mostly, the things Teddy had feared would change hadn’t.
Harry and Ginny, after revealing they were not shocked in the least and giving them both an embarrassingly thorough lecture about safe sex and respecting the Potter household rules, had been rather amiable about the situation.
Harry had confessed, a few weeks after they’d spilled the beans about their relationship in the middle of a family dinner, that he was actually glad it was Teddy, because at least now he knew there was someone who would try to keep James’s wild ideas in check.
Mostly though, things were great. All the things Teddy had admired about James, his dedication and commitment, his knack for making people laugh, and his determination to find the best in everyone and everything, were all still there. Along with them were things Teddy learned that he hadn’t known, like what side of the bed James liked and how he looked on the couch curled up in Teddy’s clothing. The way James begged for him, responded to him. But mostly, the overwhelming sense of rightness Teddy felt having all that passion directed at him.
Despite all the wonderful things that came with dating James, there were also times that reminded Teddy he’d fallen in love with someone much younger than him.
James didn’t technically live with Teddy, though he might as well have since he was pretty much always at Teddy’s if he wasn’t at practice.
Despite the fact that James was a shit cook, he still tried to make simple things when Teddy worked late, but he always left the dishes piled in the sink as if his mother or a house-elf lived there. He drank the last of the milk without adding it to the grocery list Teddy specifically kept in the kitchen for that exact reason, and he was possibly going to eat Teddy out of house and home. “But I’m a growing boy,” he’d say with a wink after a grueling practice, loading his arms with everything from Teddy’s cupboards and plopping next to him on the couch. He also had the most ridiculous sleep schedule known to man and Teddy had it on good authority that the nights James did spend at his parents’ house, he stayed up all night playing those ridiculous Muggle video games he and Albus seemed obsessed with.
For the most part though, Teddy didn’t mind the little ways in which James was still growing up, even if it made him realize how long it had been since he’d done some of those things.
The problem, however, was that every once in awhile James did something so unbelievable that Teddy could do nothing but wonder how on earth he was falling in love with someone so ridiculous.
~*~*~*~*~
As soon as Teddy stepped through the Floo in his kitchen, he knew James was already there. He tripped over the shoes James always seemed to leave lying around with a grumbled curse and kicked them hard for good measure, shrugging off his Auror robes and draping them over the back of the chair.
All he wanted was to collapse on his sofa, possibly have James remind him just how strong those Chaser arms really were, and watch something mindless on the telly.
Of course, the second Teddy stepped into his small living room, he knew none of that would happen, because he couldn’t even see his sofa. The entire room was covered in blankets, more than Teddy was even sure he owned, his favorite squashy throw pillows piled high atop the corner of the blankets as if keeping them in place. Teddy was immediately taken back to weekends at the Potter household years ago when he would find Albus and James inside a fort playing Exploding Snap, refusing to let Lily in without a password.
“James?” Teddy called, sure his boyfriend was in there somewhere, even if he couldn’t see him.
There was a surprised sound before the blankets near Teddy’s feet were pulled aside and he was met with James’s excited face.
“There you are! About bloody time! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting in here?”
James tugged on Teddy’s pants, clearly wanting him to get down on his hands and knees and crawl inside. Teddy, however, stood still, trying to figure out what was happening.
“What happened to the living room? Where is my sofa?”
“Oh, I had to transfigure it into another blanket. It was taking up too much room. How else was I supposed to build a decent fort?”
James said this as if it was normal to transfigure away one’s furniture to make a fort of blankets and pillows.
Teddy pinched the bridge of his nose, torn between fondness and exasperation. “And why exactly did you need to build a fort in the middle of my living room?”
James crawled the rest of the way out of the fort, sitting back on his heels and looking up at Teddy with complete seriousness. “Right, so training was canceled today, and I thought, well I should go and see what dear old Al and Scorp are up to today, but when I got home they were nowhere to be found. Well, you can imagine my surprise to find them up in Albus’s room inside an impressive blanket fort. So of course I had to go inside,” James paused, looking pleased with himself. “It’s not like I could’ve known what they were doing in there! Honestly, they should’ve cast a privacy charm on the fort or the bedroom door if they didn't want someone coming in.”
Teddy tried not to laugh. “What exactly were they doing?”
“Scorpius was giving Albus a rather enthusiastic blowjob.”
Teddy groaned, feeling a flicker of sympathy for Albus, who had always been far less open about his sexual escapades than James was, and who probably found the entire situation far less amusing than James clearly did.
“I’m still not sure I follow why that means you needed a blanket fort, though.”
James furrowed his eyebrows at Teddy. “Isn’t it obvious? Albus was getting a blanket fort blowjob!”
Teddy put his hands up in a kind of surrender, still not following.
James huffed. “Albus can’t have sexual experiences I don’t have—he’s my baby brother! I need you to give me a blowjob in here!”
Teddy just blinked, almost surprised that anything James did could still manage to surprise him. It’s not that he minded the blowjob part—James was always ready for sex at the drop of a hat, which Teddy was definitely always amenable to. He just wasn’t sure how he felt about it taking part on the cold, hard floor inside of a haphazard-looking fort made up of blankets when there was a perfectly nice bed down the corridor.
James seemed to sense Teddy’s hesitation and put on his absolute best pouting face, his lips turning down as be blinked his eyes exaggeratedly. It was absolutely ridiculous and over the top and so clearly fake, but Teddy found himself fighting back a smile anyway. “Alright, fine. Make some room, you bloody menace.”
James made a little cheering sound as he dropped to his knees, crawling backward into the fort. But when Teddy moved to follow, he found that he was unable to pull the blanket door open.
“James.”
James snickered behind the blanket. “What’s the password, old man?”
“The password is take down the Colloportus right now or you’re sleeping on the couch and the only action your cock will see is your right hand.”
It was less than five seconds before James was pulling the doorway open, looking a little sheepish, but mostly excited. “I was gonna let you in eventually, spoilsport.”
James stuck his tongue out at Teddy as he crawled inside and Teddy just shook his head. “It’s my own fault for dating a bloody teenager. I knew what I was getting into.”
“What exactly does that mean?” James asked, leaning back against a stack of pillows and folding his arms behind his head, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
“I dunno. Just feels a bit juvenile to be having sex inside a blanket fort. Feel a bit like a cradle robber.” Being on his hands and knees crawling inside didn’t help either, Teddy thought.
An indiscernible look flashed across James’s face, and Teddy would have almost thought he hurt James’s feelings, but the look was gone as quickly as it arrived, replaced by James’s trademark dimpled smile.
“Well, are we gonna do this or not?”
“Young and impatient,” Teddy laughed, crawling the rest of the way into the fort.
Once Teddy was finally all the way inside, he was surprised to discover that it was much larger on the inside than he would have expected, and it occurred to him for the first time that Albus and James must’ve used enlarging spells on them as kids to be able to fit inside. James used to beg him to come inside, but Teddy had always insisted he was too old to be a part of Albus and James’s boys-only club.
“Right, so you’ve finally got me inside. I suppose it’s not completely horrible,” Teddy admitted with a wry smile, pleased to find the floor covered in a rather plush blanket and some of the bed pillows. It was surprisingly warm and cozy and he couldn’t help but realized that James had gone to rather a lot of trouble over this for a simple blowjob.
James bit his bottom lip, tugging off his shirt off haphazardly and ruffling his already disheveled mass of auburn hair. James shot him a soft smile, one that Teddy knew was just for him as James reached out, running his hands along the front of Teddy’s shirt.
“I missed you,” James whispered.
Teddy’s chest constricted tightly, unable to find the words to convey his feelings. Me too didn’t encapsulate the small James-shaped hole that appeared in his heart whenever they were apart. So instead, he pitched himself forward, pressing James down into the floor and letting the blanket flutter shut.
If it was an experience James wanted, Teddy was more than happy to give it to him.
~*~*~*~*~
The following week James was away at a training camp, so Teddy had to to make do with owl correspondence, laughing to himself at James’s impossibly long narratives about his roommate and the quality of the food. Even in letters, James’s personality jumped off the parchment—but it still wasn’t the same as having him near.
By the time Sunday rolled around, Teddy found himself pacing his flat completely bored out of his mind and missing James something fierce.
As the Floo in the living room flared, Teddy’s stomach flipped with anticipation, expecting James to come barreling out of it and tackle him to the couch like the last time he’d had a training camp a few months ago. James’s enthusiasm had made Teddy feel eighteen all over again as they had rutted against each other desperately on the floor, not evening making it to the sofa.
What he was absolutely not expecting was for James to step through the Floo calmly, brushing the soot off his chest and looking at Teddy with an easy sort of casualness as if James appearing in Teddy’s living room in an impeccably tailored suit was perfectly normal. James was even wearing an intricate-looking waistcoat with fancy gold buttons and a tie. A fucking tie. Teddy had never seen James in anything but robes or casual Muggle clothing like jeans and a hoodie. He’d even managed to tame his hair a bit, a smart looking part down the middle and the sides slicked down.
“Fuck, you look hot,” Teddy mumbled, walking across the room, ready to pull James into a powerful hug.
James apparently had other ideas, though, sticking his hand out as he casually said, “Afternoon, Edward.”
Making things even more bizarre was the fact that Teddy has just noticed that James was also holding a leather briefcase.
Teddy nearly tripped over his own feet, unable to contain his surprise. No one, not even his gran, called him by his full name. He hadn’t even known his real name was Edward until he’d got his Hogwarts letter. “Edward? What the fuck is going on? Did you get a concussion at practice?”
James cleared his throat, setting his briefcase down and adjusting his cufflinks—cufflinks—as he watched Teddy. “Giving you what you want.”
“What I—what?!” Teddy felt utterly bewildered.
James moved past Teddy, sitting down on the couch and crossing his legs. It was only then that Teddy noticed James was wearing loafers. He also found it impossibly hard to pay attention to James’s words when he was distracted by the sight of James’s strong thighs beneath the stretch of fabric in his wool trousers.
His head snapped up however when he heard James repeating his words from last week back to him.
“So, since you so clearly have issues being in love with a teenager, I’ve decided to become a perfectly respectable adult.”
Teddy opened and shut his mouth several times as he tried to figure out how to respond to that. “Jamie, I didn't mean for you to—” but James looked down at his wristwatch and jumped up off the sofa.
“We better go. Wouldn’t want to be late for Sunday dinner.”
Teddy had no idea what to say to that, either. James usually had no problem being late to anything, especially if he could be having sex with Teddy instead. Teddy wanted to argue, to say something, but before he could get another word out James was grabbing a handful of Floo powder and heading to his parents’ house.
~*~*~*~*~
The second Teddy stumbled into the Potter’s kitchen, he knew whatever little act James was putting on was clearly not only for Teddy because Albus grabbed his arm and yanked him into the corner.
“What the fuck happened to James?” he hissed.
“How should I know?” Teddy asked, a little more defensively than he’d meant to, trying to shake off Albus’s death grip.
That was another thing Teddy never could get used to, despite the fact that he’d known Albus and James and Lily forever. He supposed maybe it was something about being an only child, but their sibling dynamic was something he could never get a handle on. James seemed to live to torment Albus, who had zero qualms about reciprocating the antagonism, and they often ended up bickering or wrestling as if completely unaware anyone else existed. And yet, the second anyone did anything even remotely close to upsetting one of them, the siblings were on them like a manticore.
Albus let go, shooting Teddy another dirty look. “You did something.”
Teddy frowned, unable to take his eyes off James across the room shaking his dad's hand. He almost wanted to laugh at the confused looks Harry and Ginny were shooting each other, at least until James turned to look at him and waved. Not a smile or a smirk or a quirked eyebrow, but a wave.
“Because he came home from your place last Sunday looking like a kicked puppy. Then he went off to training for a week and comes here from your flat looking like Mr. Malfoy. He looks like a right prat. He shook my fucking hand, Teddy. Do you hear me? He called me Albus Severus and shook my hand!” Albus sounded horrified.
If Teddy weren’t still trying to process what was going on he would have laughed at the look of utter indignation on Albus’s face. “It is your name,” he supplied uselessly. Albus groaned, crossing his arms and stalking across the room to whisper hurriedly to Scorpius, who seemed to have become a regular staple at these family dinners since neither of them were back to Hogwarts yet.
If Teddy had thought things couldn’t possibly get weirder, he was sorely mistaken.
James made strange conversation with everyone. Asking Scorpius after Mr. Malfoy’s investments and the Galleon exchange rate, trying to discuss Death Eater raids with Harry, and asking Ginny about the misogynistic undertones in the latest Quidditch report from the Harpies versus Puddlemere United game.
And really, it was not that Teddy was surprised James could talk about things like that because James had always been incredibly bright, it was just that his interests had always leaned more towards things that were fun rather than socially important or business related. James understood the world, Teddy had always known that it was just that James chose to ignore a lot of what happened around him to focus his attention on Quidditch or making people laugh.
Albus seemed to take the entire situation as some sort of personal affront, making increasingly ridiculous innuendo about the buttered peas and bread rolls, clearly desperate to get James to laugh or join in. By the time pudding was served, Albus had even begun to make jokes about himself since James hadn’t made any, as if hoping James might at least agree with him.
“Albus Severus,” James said, “do stop being so self-deprecating. You’re an incredibly talented and handsome wizard and you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit.”
At which point Albus growled and, in a last-ditch effort to rattle James, threw a chocolate eclair at his head.
The entire table went deathly silent as the chocolate frosting smashed into James’s forehead. Albus, clearly expecting this to be James’s breaking point, looked victorious as the baked good slid down his brother’s face.
Except all James did was reach for a napkin, wiping his face off calmly and leaning towards his dad to whisper, “Kids these days. I imagine he gives you quite a lot of disciplinary trouble.”
Dinner ended with Ginny roughly slapping Harry on the back as he choked on his eclair.
~*~*~*~*~
Teddy had hoped that whatever James was s up to might have been a one-off.
He hadn’t even been able to talk to him about it, because after the disastrous family dinner, James had kissed him on the cheek before giving him a knowing look and saying, “I’ve got an early practice. It would be irresponsible to stay up too late. I’ll see you later, Edward,” and headed up to his bedroom without another word.
Albus had glowered at Teddy as if he was somehow responsible for it—which he supposed he was, not that he was going to admit it—before dragging Scorpius up the stairs to his own bedroom.
Ginny and Harry had awkwardly asked if everything was okay between him and James, at which point Teddy had made up a pathetic excuse and practically fled home through the Floo.
The next day, however, when Teddy got home from work, it was to find that James was indeed already at his flat. But there were no shoes in the front of the Floo. Instead, the same hideous leather loafers were set by the front door and James was sat on the sofa, reading the investment section of the Daily Prophet and drinking a cup of coffee.
“You hate coffee,” Teddy blurted out, at a loss for anything else to say.
James wrinkled his nose up a bit, peering inside his Magpies mug and sighing. “I can learn to like it. I can learn to do a lot of things.”
Teddy’s assertion that he didn’t want James to change fell on deaf ears.
The week only got worse from there. Instead of their usual Friday night date at the chippy, James had sent him an owl at work with an address and instructions to dress properly.
Teddy had shown up to find out they were apparently going to a Muggle art opening. Teddy loved art and had been after James to go to one of these for months. And yet instead of elation, all he felt was disappointment as he watched James mingle with the artists and gallery owner, wondering if there was anyone—Muggle or wizard alike—who couldn’t be charmed by James. The night should’ve been perfect. James was dressed in a Muggle tuxedo that showed off his all his best assets. Despite the fact that art wasn’t James’s forte, he was still in his element, charming everyone and commenting on the evocative use of brush strokes and postmodern art techniques.
James was handsome and charismatic. But he was also flat in a way that made Teddy ache. James was still James, but he was missing all the best bits of himself. And when he turned to flash a smile at Teddy, there was a sparkle missing from his eyes, and his smile wasn’t quite wide enough to show off the dimple in his left cheek that Teddy adored.
It was in that moment that Teddy realized with a clarity that left him breathless that he was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with James Potter.
He loved James for everything he was and everything he wasn’t and all the confusing, frustrating, messy bits in between.
How to get James to understand that was another matter entirely.
~*~*~*~*~
Teddy tried being subtle, and when that didn’t work he tried being blunt. For Merlin’s sake, he even tried propositioning James with a late-night owl suggesting he pop over for a blowjob and brownies at midnight but his owl returned with a cordial and polite reply that it was far too late for sexual escapades and he couldn’t possibly ruin his training regime by partaking in sweets, but thanking him for the offer.
Teddy was ready to lose his ever-loving mind.
Instead, James was there, cleaning up after himself and pointing out the words Teddy missed in the crosswords. He was polite and offered intelligent conversation over meal time, after which he did all the dishes.
He’d also insisted he could fuck like a grownup too. Which Teddy hadn’t quite understood until James was beneath him, arching and thrusting but not making a single noise. Teddy had come with a strangled sob, pulling James towards him and closing his eyes, and wishing he knew what to do to change whatever it was he’d broken.
He missed James’s stuff cluttering up his flat and the over-the-top jokes he made over dinner. He missed James waiting at the flat for Teddy to get home, outrageously loud Muggle pop music blaring as he danced around the kitchen in nothing but his pants—which were usually covered in things like rainbow penises or fluttering snitches. He missed that James finished filling in his crossword puzzle with naughty words or the surprisingly sappy notes he sometimes hid in the pockets of Teddy’s Auror robes for him to find at work.
Which meant there was only one thing left for Teddy to do. Desperate times called for desperate measures after all.
So that Friday when James was set to come over to his for dinner, Teddy set his plan into motion. He got off work early, made sure everything was perfect, and then sat and waited, fidgeting nervously and glancing at the Floo every sixty seconds with anticipation.
It was all worth it for the look that crossed James’s face as he stepped into Teddy’s living room.
Teddy stepped back to give James a bit of room, trying not to bounce on his feet or let his nerves show. He glanced around at the living room which was covered in a giant blanket fort at least twice the size of the one James had fixed up. Teddy had spent nearly an hour transfiguring every bit of furniture he owned, except the telly, into blankets or pillows. He’d then spent at least half an hour setting up the inside, shooting off a few stabilizing and warming charms to make things more comfortable and to make sure it didn’t fall down on them if their activities got a bit too enthusiastic, which Teddy was really fucking hoping they would...
Once that was done, he'd thrown on his coat and popped over to Tesco’s and filled his trolley with so much junk food that the kind, elderly cashier had looked a bit concerned as she rang up his purchases. Once out of sight of the Muggles he’d shrunk it all, stuffing it in his pockets and Apparating straight home to load up the blanket fort with every single thing James liked most.
The crowning glory, at least as far as Teddy was concerned, was that he’d convinced Albus to come over and hook up the ridiculous video game system he and James liked so much.
Albus had pretended to be put out, but there’d been a soft smile on his face as he explained how his Aunt Hermione had figured out to get it to work around all the magical wards and enchantments, making sure to show Teddy which one was James’s favourite game. Before he’d left he looked at Teddy intently before saying, with the most serious face Teddy had ever seen on him, “If you hurt his feelings again I’ll kill you.” Then he’d smiled as if that was a perfectly normal thing to say to your older brother’s boyfriend who was also your godbrother, winking at him once before jumping through the Floo.
So really, Teddy was rather pleased with the setup. Though he began to doubt his brilliance when James didn’t say anything.
“James...Jamie,” he murmured, reaching out to touch James’s arm.
“You said I looked hot, before, in the suit. Do you like me better like this?” There was an insecurity on James’s face that Teddy had never seen before, and it shattered him.
“Fuck no,” he said firmly, yanking James forward and pulling him into his arms. James hesitated for a only a second before wrapping his arms around Teddy tightly, fitting his face into the crook of Teddy’s neck and sighing softly.
“I didn’t want you to get tired of dating a teenager,” he confessed, his breath warm and familiar against Teddy’s neck.
“I won’t. I’m not...I’m not just dating a teenager,” Teddy said, voice catching on the last bit.
James pulled out of the hug to peer up at Teddy curiously. “What do you mean?”
Teddy took a deep breath, wishing courage came as easily to him as it usually did to James. “I’m not just dating a teenager. I’m in love with one.”
James’s eyes went wide and his face broke out in a smile and Teddy couldn’t stop himself from reaching out, stroking his thumb across the dimple he’d missed so much. “I love you too, Teddy.”
Teddy laughed, pulling him in for another hug. “Thank fuck, I was going to lose my mind if you called me Edward one more time.”
“I can think of a lot more fun ways to make you lose your mind,” James said innocently, his hands already winding their way down Teddy’s back and underneath the waistband of his trousers.
“The tent is full of snacks, and that video game console thing you love.”
James laughed, his chest shaking against Teddy’s. “Are you telling me you don’t wanna fuck me first?”
Teddy let out a soft groan as James’s hands caressed his bare skin. “Right. What was I thinking? Completely, ah — fucking mental.”
James hummed, dropping to his knees and trying to pull Teddy with him towards the fort. “Come on, let’s see just how wild we can get. Then I can tell Al.”
Teddy tried and failed to suppress his laughter. “I don’t think Albus wants to know.”
James just smirked. “I know, fucking brilliant, isn’t it?”
“You are a fucking pain in the arse, you know that, Potter?”
James stopped, sitting back and crossing his legs as Teddy sat next to him inside the fort. “Yeah, but...I’m your pain in the arse.”
This time it was Teddy who smiled. “And don’t you forget it.”