Remembering Turkish Cologne

Khaat was out late. It was soon going to be time for some of the shops to close. It was just minutes before nine that night. She was frightened of being out tonight. It was a full moon. That was frightening. It also frightened her to be out without Marcus. That just never, never happened anymore. Except tonight. Marcus had had the day off, and while she had promised not to go out for the day, that had become impossible. She had taken a lesser bodyguard who had been all too easily diverted away from her by a child who had become separated from his mother in the crush of Diagon Alley shoppers.

She pulled the hood of her cloak closer around her face, hoping to not be seen or recognized. Then, feeling desperate to hide, to keep herself safe for awhile, she ducked into the old time honored men's wear shop--the closest store. The shop bell sounded the same. The place looked old school, and it was. It smelled like really good leather. Khaat loved that smell. It was always an intoxicatingly sexy smell, she thought.

She found few shoppers here tonight, fortunately, and she pretended to browse and worked her way to the back of the shop. She was struck by a panama hat that she thought would look fabulous on Michael. She was looking at a natural linen colored panama with a thin leather belt band when she spun around sharply, feeling that she wasn't alone.

She saw no one. Still, she felt her heart beating rapidly, expectantly, in her chest. Her good hand trembled, and she didn't know why. She shied over to one corner, and found herself at the men's cologne counter. She leaned against it to steady herself. She began to pretend to look through the bottles, when she saw one behind the counter that caught her eye. A rather neglected selection, starting to gather dust.

She saw the clerk was busy, so she helped herself. She went behind the counter and got the bottle off the shelf and read the label. Someone hadn't corked the green glass bottle that she knew so well. The smell that never left her mind was now strong in her senses. It took her mind straight back to Remus. This was the inexpensive little bottle that he always had in his room, that he always had in his trunk when he traveled.

Turkish cologne. It was a rather cheap cologne, and it was one of the few luxuries he afforded himself when it came to wardrobe. Clothes never usually meant much to Remus because his curse caused him to lose most of them at some point or another. Remus treasured people over things. This, though, this little luxury, was one he allowed himself.

Turkish cologne was indelible in her mind, in her senses. She could bring it up into her senses as clearly as anyone else brought up the scent of cinnamon or chocolate. It was one of her strongest memories of Remus, and it always made him more real again in her heart. It was one of those things she didn't talk much about, one of those things that should have been in the "Little Know Facts Of Famous Wizards" column, but she kept this one hidden. She didn't want this one public. There was no one now who deserved to know.

How many boxes of this did they have in stock right now, she wondered. She wanted them.

Teddy needed to pick some things up for the Potters. Lily was still choosing to sit around in the same clothes, so he was hoping that if he brought some new ones, she might be willing to actually change. In his basket was a few pairs of new shorts and some plain t-shirts. It definitely was not the sort of thing she was prone to wear, but since she wasn't going outside, he just hoped she would wear something other than sweats and grungy shirts. He had also picked up a new dress for the exhausted Athena, and a new dress shirt for Albus. The family had enough on their plate, and he felt obligated to take care of the needs they could not.

He had been about to head towards the counter when it struck him that the last time he had been at the Potters, he had noticed a lack of cologne in the bathroom. He quickly turned, one foot crossing over the other as he changed paths. He approached the cologne and perfumes counter and leaned forward, his eyes squinting as he peered across the shelves, trying to find the brand of cologne he was partial too, certain both Athena and Albus would like it.

He spotted it and pointed, speaking to the hooded figure behind the counter. "Could I get that Paul Jacob's Forestry colgone?"

Oh, God, someone thought she was a store clerk. Well, what did she expect? She was behind the counter after all.

"Of course," she said, still with her back to the customer. She corked the bottle in her hand, thinking quickly. Maybe she could still pull it off to not be recognized. She scanned the shelves quickly and saw the Forestry cologne and picked up a bottle.

Not wanting to lose her own purchase, she set the Turkish cologne on the counter and set down the Forestry bottle in front of the counter, trying to still keep her face hidden. For a mere instant, her eyes glanced up to see it was Teddy. It had been a long time--a very long time. So far as she knew, he didn't know.

"Will there be anything else, Mr. Lupin?" she asked. Then she felt like headslapping herself. He hadn't introduced himself. Hadn't mentioned his name. Crap. Well, there was no explaining that, now, was there?

Feeling awkward, she gathered the last four bottles of Turkish cologne off the shelf and put them with the first one. They'd just have to be out of stock for now. Maybe he'd not be bright enough to catch her faux pas.

His attention turned back to the items in his hand as the clerk moved to gather his item. He did a quick mental check, ensuring he was not forgetting anything. Certainly, nothing he was buying was an absolute necessity, but he knew it was going to be a significsnt morale boost. That was, if his gesture was accepted for the good intentions it came with. Lately, all of his attempts at good will were regarded as ignorant or even worse - he just hoped everyone accepted their parcels and did not strike him down in the process.

It might not have been a huge request... but with the way things had been going on in the Potter household lately, it was practically impossible.

The bottle of cologne was slid across the counter and Teddy forced himseld out of the stupor he had falllen into. "Right. Thank you." She asked if he wanted anything else and he smiled, adjusting the items flung over his arm and in the basket. "Oh, no thank you, I..."

It then registered that the name had been given before he could offer it. He paused. "I'm sorry... do I know you?"

Did he know her? Good question. He used to, but she wasn't sure he'd really want to know her now. It wasn't that she believed him to be shallow. Quite the contrary. However, she wasn't sure that he, being raised as a Potter in a world where Harry's adventures were finished and chaos didn't reign anymore in the Potter family, would quite grasp what it truly meant to live Lupin.

Chaos had been brought in by Fenrir Greyback to the Lupin family, and nothing had ever been the same-not for any of them. It probably should have died with Remus, but Khaat had, inadvertently, kept it alive with her inconsolable grief. Well, that and the fact that there was Remus's legacy that followed them all, had seemed to attract a league of bedlam that followed every step she or her father took.

She had, more or less, distanced herself from Teddy, not because she disliked him but because he didn't deserve to be caught up in the constant adrenalin that had become her life. The last thing she expected, especially now since she was trying not to show her face to the world, was to run into him here tonight. Here he was, though, and as much as she thought about merely trying to pass off a lie...'No, Sir, but who could mistake the child of Professor Lupin?' Oh, who was she kidding? He wasn't a blithering idiot. That would never work.

A quick hello, a brief exchange between cousins. That was all it needed to be. He would slip out of her life again and back to the safety of the Potters, and that would be that. Surely. Right?

She turned a slight to the right, to avoid him seeing the left side of her face.

"Hello, Teddy," she said warmly with a smile.

The last thing Teddy expected was to see Khaat Lupin. Khaat, the cousin that had been closer to his father because she had been able to meet him, at the least. Teddy blanched, embarrassed at the entire situation. He was able to piece it together. He knew Khaat was not going to be actually working here - they had money and connections enough, and she was not going to risk her life with two new children for a dumb clerk job. Teddy had caught her by accident and she had improvised, as he should now.

But, he could not. For a good few moments, he could not bring anything to his tongue. He had not actually seen another Lupin in so long, and he did not know how they felt about him. He knew he had been the one to initiate the distance between them, because he was busy fixing all the Weasleys and Potters, and because politics were getting scary, and... Well, it had never been easy to face them anyways. They had always been Lupins. He had never really been a Lupin nor a Potter.

"Hi."

Finally. A word came out. It came aboard an exhaled and he blinked several times, still trying to reconcile this turn of events. "I didn't... The good... Wow. Um. Hi."

She hadn't meant to catch him off guard any more than he had meant it for her. His embarrassment was so very typically Teddy.

"I've missed you," she said softly. "You look well. I thought about you, but...I didn't..." she grappled for words. "Well, its been exceedingly dangerous lately, and I didn't want to bring you into that. But, if you've got time for a cup of tea, perhaps?"

Tea. That was the ticket. Somehow, England didn't seem to be able to solve anything without it. It was the fuel on which the Union Jack flew.

"We've got a lovely summer tea at Sparks," she said. "Its Meyer lemon and blackberry, with some backnotes of toasted almond. I rather like it."

Blending tea flavors had long been one of her father's hobbies, and he had created this one for summer. Khaat liked it equally well hot or cold. It was light and refreshing, but at the same time, there was something particularly soothing in this one. She wasn't sure what.

Although, her favorite variation on this tea, so far, was when her mother had taken the tea and had added Meyer lemon slices, blackberries, and some wild raspberries and then had tossed them and with ice into a glass pitcher, making a wonderfully bright and crisp summer drink.

"We have so much to catch up on," she said. "Maybe by the time we get the tea, my bodyguard will figure out where the devil I went."

"Um...can I help you?" a store clerk approached them. He eyed the four bottles of Turkish cologne she'd placed on the counter. She drew out a handful of galleons from her pocket and placed them on the counter.

"You will get more, won't you?" she asked.

"Its not a big seller these days," the clerk said.

"I'll buy it," she said. "Unless you prefer I buy it elsewhere."

"No, no. That won't be necessary. I'll order more," he said. "Sir? Can I help you with anything?"

Khaat was one of those people who made Teddy feel weird about his very identity. So much of who she was came from how his father had affected her growing up, and yet Teddy could not claim that. It reminded him that he had not grown up with two parents, even if he had grown up with two loving guardians. This wasn't Khaat's fault, of course. Teddy just needed to figure out his family issues.

All of her words came out before he could gather his resolve to actually say anything of worth. He tried to speak once, but a faint sound came out, which he quickly masked as a cough, before swallowing it down.

"I..." he finally managed to speak, blinking heavily, as though he was waking from a deep sleep. He took in a deep breath, before saying, "I've meant to... call 'round too, I just - thought about you too! I, um, tea. Yes, tea. I like... I like tea."

He was saved by a store clerk approaching quickly. He dropped his chin and shuffled his feet as Khaat and the clerk interacted. He was called upon and he lifted his head, eyebrows lifting as he came to attention. A transaction? Now, that was something he could do.

"Yes, please, put these on my tab," he handed them to the clerk, who shufled through the items quickly, tallying it up. "Name, Edward Lupin." The clerk conjured a bag and packed away Teddy's items, handing him the bag. "Right-o, mate," he said, walking off to finish their business.

Teddy looked back to Khaat, taking in a big breath, and it got stuck in his ribs. He blinked and let out the breath, deflating. "So.... tea?"