For the first time in their conversation, Alexander met Teddy’s gaze, his face no longer defensive or angry, his voice conveying a sense of true gratitude. Not long ago, the boy’s face had been set against Teddy (and the rest of the world), his voice firm in his refusal to see any other perspective but his own. Teddy had assumed he was dealing with a bully determined to burn as many as he could.
Hope was a powerful thing though.
When Teddy left the Hospital Wing, he took a beat. His eyes fluttered closed and he breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth. It was a technique Harry had taught him, and he’s taught Harry’s children. He counted down from 3 and opened his eyes.
Part of the exercise was to pretend your eyes had been wiped clean and you were seeing your world as though for the first time. His eyes moved over the stone walls of the castle, the multicolored and multi-shaped tapestries and portraits, the statues that littered the hallways. There was a magic to Hogwarts that had nothing to do with magic. You walked the halls where thousands had walked, for hundreds of years. Every child was accepted in, and every child had the potential to find their family and move on after into any world they chose. It wasn’t a place just of safety, and security, and learning.
It was a place of hope. Invigorated, Teddy smiled and headed towards the Staff Lounge. Merlin, he had a lot of paperwork to do.
- - -
As fate would have it, Teddy didn’t have Lily in any of his classes for the rest of the week. He tried not to seek her out if he could help it, trying to give her the space and protect her from the reputation of being too closely tied to a professor.
It was completely by chance that he decided to meet an old friend in Hogsmeade on the weekend, and he happened to spot Lily in the crowd with some of the other Gryffindor girls. The main crowds had already left so he hazarded calling out to her.
She excused herself from her friends and pulled her jumper tighter around her as she peeled away from them, walking over to him.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“I was going to say the same thing,” Teddy said. “I just wanted to check in… after the other day at the hospital wing. Everything okay… there?”
Lily shrugged, enigmatic even with him. “Yeah, sure. It seemed… chaotic.”
“I talked to Alexander,” Teddy began, before rolling his eyes. “I mean, obviously. You know that. But… you do know why he got in trouble in the first place, yes?” Lily raised an eyebrow but nodded. Teddy blew out a breath. “Okay, just wanted to check, because, you know, I worry about you… and I just…”
“I know, Teddy,” she said, rocking on her heels. “I know you are, and I know what he did. It’s why I haven’t really pursued that friendship.”
“Right, right,” Teddy said, nodding. “I mean, trust your instincts. I just wanted to check in.”
“Good check in,” she quipped, though she gave him a warmer smile before turning.
“Lily.” She turned, and Teddy chewed on his lip before saying it anyway. “You know what it’s like… to not have your parents there, watching your back. You know what it’s like being a kid on your own.”
She turned and looked at him, her eyebrows together not in confusion of his meaning, but moreseo surprise at his intervention. She glanced at her feet, and he could see her thinking. She lifted her head and nodded in the affirmative, a silent agreement to hear Alexander out, to be a link to redemption, should he choose it. Teddy nodded and waved her off.
She started to turn once more, before pausing. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve never been all the way on my own.”
He met her eyes and smiled, a swell of familial love for the girl rising in his chest. She smiled and turned to catch up with her friends.
fin
by 
