Fractured

Fellowship

May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay
Forever young

- Forever Young - Bob Dylan

Chapter Thirteen
Fellowship

August seemed to slip by at an alarming rate. Though the days were supposedly longer, everyone agreed they had never felt so short.

Nova was playing in the garden one lazy Saturday afternoon, ducking behind bushes and firing imaginary lasers at invisible bad guys. She heard a sharp crack come from behind the shed.

'Teddy's here!' She shouted through the back door as he walked up the path.

'Hey there,' he said. 'How's it going?'

'I'm good. I wish I had blue hair like yours, it's so cool.'

'Really? Because I think your curls are lovely,' Teddy said, changing his hair to black twists like Nova's. 'What do you think, does it suit me?'

'Not really,' Nova giggled. 'You're silly! Come in the living room. That's where Rose and Scorpy are.'

'What up, T-Dawg?' Rose said.

'Seriously?' Scorpius cut in. 'That's what you came up with? Why on earth would you go with "T-Dawg"?!'

'"T" as in "Teddy",' Rose said, her voice full of disgust at the stupid question, 'and "Dawg" is obviously because Lupin here is the descendant of a part-time canine!'

'I worry about you sometimes,' Scorpius said drily.

'I worry about you all the time, since you don't appreciate my genius!'

'They've been like this all day,' Nova told Teddy with a long-suffering sigh.

'Good to know,' he replied, hiding a smile. 'Where's Hugo?'

'Playing out,' Scorpius said. 'He'll be back for dinner.'

'Hi Teddy,' Draco called, rushing past. 'We'll be down in a minute!'

'That's fine!' He shouted back. 'So. Only a week to go, huh?'

'I'm all packed!' Nova said. 'It's going to be a really cool adventure!'

Hermione swept into the room. She was wearing a pale green cocktail dress that sparkled in the light.

'Wow,' Nova breathed. 'You look really pretty, Mummy!'

'Thank you, sweetie,' she smiled. 'And thank you for babysitting, Teddy!'

'Yeah, no worries. It's good practice for me. Compared to these four rascals, a class full of nine year olds won't be a problem!'

Nova pulled a face at him. Rose just rolled her eyes.

'Well, we definitely appreciate it.'

'Honestly, it's the least I can do. After all, you're letting me and my friends rent the house from you while you're gone!'

Draco walked in, fastening the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt.

'So, what exotically romantic place you two jetting off to tonight?' Teddy asked, perching on the edge of the sofa.

'Well, we decided we're in the mood for some tapas...' Draco said.

'You know, most people go to the nearest city for dinner. Maybe London. Not actual Spain!'

'I'm not most people,' Draco said, winking.

'No kidding,' Teddy laughed. 'You've doomed the rest of us to a lifetime of looking bad! What do you guys do when you fancy a Chinese take away? Do you go down the street, or just pop off to Beijing?!'