Teenage Dream

Seven days ago Amelia Cooper was a widow, her husband had died fighting off death eaters to protect his family, to give Amelia time to cast a disillusionment charm over her and the children and hide in the closet. Six days ago Amelia had found out that wasn't true, it was perhaps the greatest acting her husband had ever done - and he'd done a fair amount at school to worm his way out of trouble with the teachers. There were many things that Amelia had wanted to feel about the situation: angry, betrayed, fooled but she felt none of them. Sure she'd been forced to grieve, to lose a piece of herself and continue her life as a single parent but, in spite of that, she was happy. As happy as she could possibly ever be and after having six days to think this new-found information over she was even happier for her husband was alive and she had a chance to make new memories with him.

Unlike her daughter Amelia was twenty years-plus maturer. She'd been through worse, seen worse and had realised more than anyone how short life was. There was a time and place to kick up a fuss about her husbands disappearing act but this wasn't the time, the time for that would never need to come. There was no use pointing the finger at who was to blame for the misery since Amelia had left the closet to find, what she thought was, his dead body. But pointing blame wouldn't change anything and after a week of thinking over everything that Rick had told her, finally understanding it completely, Amelia had sent Robert Cooper and owl inviting him to a place he once called home.

In the kitchen Amelia stood, watching the clock with her Mother's voice echoing 'a watched clock never ticks' somewhere in the background. They were words she'd told her daughter Hallie - always the impatient one. However today Amelia proved that old wives tale wrong for the clock struck twelve and a knock on the door accompanied it. Checking her reflection in the mirror, lifting her sagging face back then letting it drop and shaking any thoughts out of her mind that she wasn't pretty enough (it had been around thirteen years) she opened the door.

Her heart dropped once again, further than it had the first time. Amelia Cooper felt weak at the knees and as though she had stepped right into her fifteen year old self's shoes. Staring into Robert's eyes gave her a sudden burst of youth and if she looked in the mirror again, even without make up, she'd feel like the prettiest girl in the world. The warm, gooey feeling she'd felt from their first kiss, the laughter she'd felt when Rick had gotten the punchline wrong to the first joke he'd told her all came flooding back. She really was reliving her teenage dream.

Rick had been given another chance. Lupin had even provided Rick a thatched cottage in Hogsmeade, the sort of cottage that he had always dreamed he'd have. Now he had it, and without Hallie and Amelia in it, it didn't matter. 


Oh, sure, Hallie was excited about helping him make the cottage a real home, and he was overjoyed to have her help.  But, at the moment, there was only an old leftover table in the house. One that Rick was sure would be stunning with a little TLC.


In the meantime, he was still staying next door at Michael's.  Michael had told Rick he could stay as long as he liked. Rick chipped in with tending Michael's garden for him. Michael provided gourmet cooking for the two of the.  And he was a good sounding board for all the confusion in Rick's head.


Then, he'd gotten an owl for Amelia asking him to come again. He took it as a good sign.  A hopeful one.  He'd chosen a pair of jeans, a white cotton shirt, and a khaki blazer. 


As he dressed, he spotted, on the dresser, the bracelet he'd bought on a whim for Amelia. He'd been struck with how full the flowers were in Michael's garden, and, for the first time in decades, he wasn't looking over his shoulder every moment. Spring had become far more noticeable to him than it had been in a long time, and everywhere he looked, he felt like he could see Amelia in everything. It had been the same when he'd seen the bracelet in the antique shop. 


It was a Victorian gold, hinged bangle bracelet. It was 14 carat gold, simply designed, but engraved all the way around with exceptionally detailed English cabbage roses. That was it. No stones, nothing ostentacious. Just simple gold with some of the most exquisite engraving he'd ever seen.  He'd bought it for her, not knowing if she'd ever ask to see him again, if he'd ever get a chance to give it to her.  


Today, he tucked it into the jacket pocket and then he'd gone to the place he used to call home. God, he felt like he was on his first date. He half expected to see her father answering the door and looking him over.


His smile he had when he saw her open the door was genuine. God, he'd missed her. And, God, was he grateful her father hadn't been there.  She was gorgeous, though. She was always the only woman who took his breath away every single time he saw her.  

"Hi," he said, feeling awkward, feeling like he wanted to spit out a rush of stuff going through his head, like how beautiful she was, how much he missed her, how much he always missed her, and how much he didn't miss her father opening the door...well, maybe not that. Hi? That's all you've got, Cooper? How old are you?  "Sorry," he finally laughed at his own awkwardness. "Was a bit caught up in feeling fourteen again. Shall I try it again, and try to look at bit more grownup?" He offered, with a warm smile on his face.

'Hi? That's what you want to start with. You know for someone trying to impress his girlfriends Father you might want to use his name next time you greet him. Nothing matters more than first impressions and using someone's name is a great way to make one.' The words of Amelia's Father echoed in her mind as her husband stumbled on his hello. Her Father had always been skeptical of 'Rick' - What person called Robert calls themselves Rick? He'd often grumble - and the first meeting with her parents was iconic for their relationship. It confirmed to Amelia that he loved her regardless of whether her parents acknowledged their relationship. Of course they came round in the end and Amelia's Father would often complain about her boyfriend for comedic value.

'Nothing matters more than first impressions and using someone's name is a great way to make one, Rick.' Amelia said, playing with the words her Father had used, although this time taking her Father's advice and addressing Rick. Life was a two way street and that was something her Father would often forget.

'It's good to see you again. You've had a haircut.' She noted as though it were September and Amelia hadn't seen the familiar Gryffindor since they parted ways on the Hogwarts Express earlier that summer. To anybody watching the scene they wouldn't have been able to guess the amount of time that had passed and even if they did, well, age was just a number but love kept you youthful.

'Would you like to come in?' Amelia asked, stepping back to allow Rick into the cottage that was rightfully his, after all it is the home where his parents had raised him at some part of his life.

Oh, lordy. He hadn't heard that bit about first impressions in years. It made him laugh. 


"Yeah, I didn't give a very good impression then either, did I? Had good intentions, but was scared witless," he said.


"Thank you," he said, going inside.  "I needed a cut. Michael volunteered to do it for me, but he seemed entirely too willing. I figured he'd shave my head if I gave him the chance.


"Ministry gave me, a few things to help me land, including a place in Hogsmeade. They said it was furnished, but...not so much. Not unless one old wooden table counts as furnishing. So, I've been next door with Michael Tremaine.


"I know you'll think this is funny, but I'm finally figuring out the difference between a flower and a weed," he said, knowing that gardening hadn't been his strong suit before he left. "And I've actually mowed a lawn, washed some windows, and was quite rightfully corrected this morning about how to pick properly ripe strawberries at the farmer's market by a woman who looked old enough to be my grandmother."


It didn't seem like much of anything. To Rick, though, it was all the little stuff he'd taken for granted years before, the stuff he hadn't had time do to when they were together. And it was the stuff he didn't have an opportunity to do on the run and the stuff he didn't think he'd actually live long enough to enjoy.  It was the stuff of dreams.

Life was starting over for him. He'd come back with, relatively, nothing. He needed, practically, everything. The haircut she'd noticed was just about all he'd done for himself.  He was still living out of his duffel because he wanted to be able to run if Amelia and Hallie had somehow awakened and had decided they'd changed their minds.  


"How have you been?" he asked. It wasn't intended to be small talk. It was a legitimate question.  The changes that this all exerted onto Hallie, onto Amelia were enormous. "I know this hasn't been easy, but..." He was still captured at looking at her face.  "You're always so beautiful," he said, not understanding how she did it.  Smooth, Cooper, he thought. 

Then he had a flashback of Minerva McGonnegall correcting him for not having cohesive thoughts in an essay he'd written. He and Amelia had laughed afterwards about her comments to him. You can't connect peacocks and pickle barrels, Cooper, not with magic, and not with your quill either!

"I'm glad your maiden name wasn't McGonnegal," he teased.  At least Amelia seemed to somehow understand when he wasn't so precise. "I used to be a bit better at this, but you are the most powerful, most beautiful, most captivating distraction I've ever known in my whole life." He wanted to simply take the chance and kiss her, but...what if she wasn't ready for that?

So the ministry had provided Rick with a house, well it was the least that they could do seeing as they'd caused him to fake his own death and leave his family to grieve a death that didn't truly happen. Still, there was no use Amelia being bitter about it. What was done was done and she simply had to enjoy any time that they had together until the next call of duty. 


'You're looking handsome yourself, Rick.' Amelia replied, 'And I'm sure Professor Sprout would be as impressed as I am that you can now tell a weed and a flower apart.' Amelia replied with a smirk as she closed the door and headed into the kitchen where two mugs were waiting by the kettle, which Amelia tapped with her wand and allowed it to boil. 

'Perhaps you could give the garden a good weeding some time. I think I've had my fair share of chores to last me a lifetime running around tidying up after the children.' Amelia joked. The truth was it was these chores that had kept Amelia going. She needed to remain active, continue life as normal and a part of that was ensuring the bedding had been washed and the meals cooked for Hallie and Toby. 

'I've been.... okay.' Amelia finalled said. 'I'm guessing Hallie has probably already caught you up to speed with all the drama that has plauged our lives since you left so I wont bother going into it again. All that matters now is that you're here and we can get through the horrors Merlin throws our way together, if you'd like?' 

The past week Amelia had spent a lot of time thinking about the past, the present and a possible future with Robert. It really hadn't been his fault that he had to fake his own death and Amelia didn't know when he'd be next doing so but if he did then she wanted to spend every minute with him until that time came. The sooner she got that off her chest the better. Of course there were other things Amelia wanted to tell her husband about (if you could still call him that as she was technically a widow in a twisted way), such as her new found love for teaching, the book she had been working on, the time she'd spent in Spain - the place where they always said they'd retire to together. There was more to her life than children being bitten by werewolves and losing limbs and she wanted those moments shared with Rick.