Work Text:
Teddy Lupin had been in love for a long, long time. What a pity he didn’t realize it sooner, even though everyone else did.
“What’s her name?” his friends had asked, their eyes shining with expectation.
“Why do you assume it’s a she?” he’d joked, because he was tired of saying “there’s no one”. Because this was his last chance to try to fool himself, too.
“Why haven’t you asked her out on a date yet?” his grandma’d demanded, a knowing twist in her smile.
“Because I don’t feel that way about her, grandma!” he’d replied desperately.
“Why haven’t you invited me to the wedding?” little Lily’d cried. Teddy could still hear James’ mischievous laugh in the distance.
“There’s not going to be a wedding, Lils. But, if there were one, you’d be the first one to know” he’d answered patiently, frowning at James.
Maybe he was in love, after all. He could still remember his Fourth Year at Hogwarts, when his hair turned silver every time he saw her. How he’d tried to avoid her in the halls, his friends poking fun at him because come on, it suits him, don’t you think, VICTOIRE?
Maybe he had been in love back then, with his scarlet ears whose colour had had nothing to do with being a metamorphomagus. Maybe he had been in love on that first day of Second Year, when one sigle word had sent her to a different house, and his heart had shrunk for no apparent reason. Maybe he had been in love all those years ago, when they learned how to fly on a broom together, a challenging smile and an I bet you can't win. Maybe he had always been in love, or maybe he was in love now.
But, either way, there was a funny feeling dancing in his stomach every time he saw her, and the words stumbled out of his mouth every time he talked to her. And that wasn’t really… normal, at least it didn’t used to be. They had been friends, best friends, the kind of friends who tell each other everything. There had been a time when they had slipped out of the Burrow in the middle of the night, during those summer days they had both stayed there; and they had been lying on the grass, counting stars, sharing daring whispers and quiet laughs. It had felt like an adventure, breaking the rules together, and they had been such good partners in crime. But now it wasn’t friendship anymore, and that was terrifying, like standing on the edge of a cliff, staring at the void.
And Teddy was too scared to jump alone, and he didn’t now if she was willing to be there, holding his hand, jumping with him.
But, for now, he’d had to make funny faces, watch her laugh, diamonds shining in her silver hair, and realize that that was enough, as long as it were with her.
And maybe he was in love, and maybe he didn’t care.