The mirror in Teddy's dorm room offered a sad reflection of the events within. He stood before it then, white button-up tucked cleanly into his black trousers, matching vest slipped on with slow deliberate movements as if he feared it would tear.
The dress robes had been his father's as well as the vest, and though Remus had never gotten the chance to wear them to a ball, the vest had been put to good use as his father always had a taste for the marvel at it all. Teddy smiled somberly as he remembered the story in which he'd been told about the one and only time Remus had gone to Black Manner. He'd worn the vest then simply to fluster Sirius in front of his parents and make a fool of his friend.
The Yule Ball had called for straight black and white from the boys at Hogwarts but Teddy knew he had no one to dress for and calmly smoothed the wrinkles of the vest of which now borne an air of withered gray from its years of use.
He had no date to go with. He simply hadn't the time to put the energy into asking someone. Paired with his half-manic state that night in the library and his hours reading and tuning out the outside world, he was sure he had indirectly turned down Marceline Ackley in such a way that consisted of him being entirely absent of a means to properly respond. That was-- that he hadn't heard a word she had said.
His fingers stilled as he shrugged on the dress robes and fixed them over his shoulders. He contemplated finding her and apologizing but if the glare he had gotten in the hall last week from her was any indication, his presence would not be welcome.
And so, he resolved to go, at least for a few hours. But that calm reluctance he thought he'd always go with was gone. Instead, his heart beat steadily in such a way that he could feel its thump beneath his chest. The air felt cold even though the castle's walls were warm, and Teddy realized then that, foolishly, he was expecting something.
He was waiting on Fred Weasley.
Teddy turned away from the mirror and sat on the edge of his bed to put on his shoes.
He wasn't daft. He'd been witness a many times to Fred's easygoing flirtation; a second nature to him as a course of conversation. But dancing alone in a common room? A slow waltz to forget the troubles of the day? Gifts and smiles against a persona who always seemed to be keen on ignoring a generalized reciprocation?
Teddy knew his personality was entirely off-putting when he wasn't entirely conscious of his words or actions and yet the Weasley boy kept returning, even after their obligatory partnership for the transfiguration project had passed.
This constant return of the said redhead, however, allowed Teddy to study him and come to the conclusion that he could not be the one to ask him to dance. Fred must do it alone or he would scurry off with an awkward scratch at the head and a mumbled excuse of having somewhere to be.
Teddy came back into focus when he found the act of tying his shoes had finished and he realized, stupidly, that he was smiling.
"Damnit, Weasley." He muttered again, a common phrase he found himself muttering aloud to himself. But this time, for an entirely different reason. He stood quickly before he could talk himself out of it and left his dorm room with a flourish, glad he was the last of his dorm mates to leave.
Walking quickly through the halls gave Teddy enough to do so he was more focused on not crashing into anything instead of letting his thoughts run wild. He didn't even know why he was going in the first place. From the moment it had first been revealed that there would be a ball, Teddy had vowed he would go home for Christmas and spend it with his father and Sirius instead of staying just for the sake of dressing nice and drinking fake champagne.
He walked toward the space where amiable chatter was emanating from. The Great Hall had been done up brilliantly. White adorned every surface imaginable, glittering snowflakes hung suspended in the air and a grand Christmas tree stood proud at the end of the hall, snow clinging to its branches as if its life depended on it.
Teddy must have missed the first dance because everyone was on the floor, dancing with their partners to a string quartet of violins and cellos.
This, of course, was where Teddy stopped moving entirely, frozen to the outer edge of the area, suddenly unsure of what to do with himself. He was never one for crowds, nor for several voices talking at once. His eyes carried his gaze upward toward the tall roofs that arched several feet overhead. Teddy wondered what the whole spectacle would look like from above. Dimly, he knew, it would be beautiful.
He was brought back to the spectacle at hand by the telltale sound of a familiar laugh. It was one Teddy had heard several times during the year and one he now easily placed as belonging to the infamous Fred Weasley.
He was talking to Angelina Johnson and was idly leaning against one of the room's wide pillars, arms crossed as he listened to what she was saying. He donned an easy smile and had cleaned himself up impressively. His hair had been combed and his robes fitted him nicely, revealing a burnt umber shade of vest over an ironed white button-up.
It almost looked entirely off as Teddy supposed he had grown so accustomed to seeing Fred in his half undone, rolled up wrinkled sleeves of his uniform that he never did wear properly. And Angelina? Teddy had forgotten about that breakfast when Fred had unceremoniously asked her to be his date.
There was his excuse right there, staring at him in clear sight. He could leave, go to bed early, and read or work on his unfinished homework by candlelight.
But then Angelina was leaving, hand lingering on Fred's forearm as she smiled and muttered something. Teddy was sure he would have been able to hear it if there weren't so many other voices filling the space.
And then, as if he could sense Teddy looking, Fred met Teddy's eyes across the room and then winked. The bastard actually winked. But then he was turning his gaze back to the ball as if he were bored; as if he were waiting for something to happen. Usually, whenever Fred had caught sight of Teddy, he would be walking over within the second to try and loop him into a conversation or prank him in some way that was bound to fail but now he was doing nothing of the sorts.
Teddy would have had to contemplate it for a while longer if it weren't so obvious what he was trying to do. And so, setting aside his pride, Teddy once more broke the script of their usual encounters and cut through the hall, weaving through dancers, trying to avoid as much contact as possible.
He tried to think of something witty to say; to strike up a conversation in a luring manner in which Fred always seemed to easily achieve but all he was able to come up with was,
"Hi."
Fred looked at Teddy then, as if he hadn't been expecting him, that cunning bastard, and smiled. "Hi yourself. I didn't think you were coming."
"I didn't think so too."
Fred let his head rest on the pillar as he studied Teddy quizzingly, that small smile never once leaving his lips. "What made you change your mind?" He waggled his brows suggestively. " A date?"
Teddy shook his head. "No."
Fred grinned and Teddy suspected he had just been read like a book.
A moment of silence elapsed before Teddy, taking great pains to do so, spoke. "This afternoon was fun." He said instead, to try and guide the conversation.
"Oh, skip the pleasantries," Fred said, cutting straight to it. "I know it was fun. Anything you have the pleasure of doing with me is fun."
Teddy scoffed and opened his mouth to retort but Fred spoke first.
"And you didn't come over here to strike up some childish banter with me so let's... go out there and... dance."
The bluntness of it all was not entirely expected and Teddy took a moment to realize that Fred had extended his hand outward for Teddy to take, waiting expectantly.
"But Angelina?" Teddy asked as he took Fred's hand and let himself be guided across the room.
"Oh, don't worry about her," Fred said. "I made a deal. If I don't join her by the drink table in five minutes, then she's free to find someone better than sorry old me to dance with. If I did, then she would be stuck with me for the rest of my night." Fred grinned. "She loves me and was more than happy to oblige." He added sarcastically.
Teddy rolled his eyes though he was smiling. "Where are we going?" He asked when he noticed Fred was leading him away from the crowd and into the outside hall instead.
"I've got you all figured out, Lupin," Fred said, walking backward now. "You don't like crowds or parties." He began. "You like reading instead of mingling, and you find it easier to argue with someone than to talk with them."
"Ouch," Teddy said as Fred still held fast onto his hand until they reached the hall where unto Fred slipped his other hand into Teddy's and they started dancing to the beat of the music that could still be heard through the walls.
"I wasn't finished," Fred said. "You're always working with a chocolate or candy in your mouth because you like the taste and it stops you from biting your lips. You like detective stories because you like to challenge yourself to solve the mysteries before Sherlock Holmes can. You wear those jumpers every chance you get because you feel they protect you from the world even though I know you could conquer it without. Your favorite color is red, and you like me but you avoid admitting it because that means braving the fear of confrontation you claim you don't have."
They turned in a wide circle in the hall, dancing fluidly now. Fred leaned in then almost as if he were about to confide a secret. "So you can stop asking me things like 'why' because the answer will always be 'because I know you'."
Teddy almost messed up the next step of the dance but regained his senses. He opened his mouth to reply, a dumb smile on his lips when he realized he had nothing witty to say. "My favorite color isn't red." He said; a pitiful rebuttal.
"No," Fred said smugly. "It's Agean blue but that didn't matter because you just proved my point."
Teddy blinked as the song came to an end and the violins withered away from one song to the next. "I see your unlimited confidence has not wavered since the Gryffindor party."
Fred smirked. "It hasn't."
They started dancing again without a word exchanged between them. The next song that played was slightly slower this time and their steps slowed into the ballroom pace Minnie had taught weeks before.
"You're quite perceptive," Teddy noted. "You nearly put me to shame."
"That may be, but you aren't listening." Fred continued. "All this talk and you haven't caught on yet." He looked at Teddy then with such intense severity that Teddy was nearly struck dumbfounded. "I like you, Theodore Lupin."
Teddy exhaled and found Fred looking for a response of any kind. A slap across the face, a jeering laugh, a fullfronted snog.
"You anger me, relentlessly, you do," Teddy said instead. "You annoy me and ruin my peace and vex me every time we talk—"
"Well, that's not at all promising." Fred chuckled, a hint of nervousness laced in his tone.
"— but I like you too, Fred Weasley." Teddy finished.
Fred blew out a breath. "I think this might be our first ever moment of honesty," he said, half whispering. "It feels nice, doesn't it?"
Teddy shrugged after a moment, a teasing smile on his face. "It's weird." He said after a moment.
"It is definitely weird," Fred agreed with a light laugh. Then he got a mischievous look in his eyes. "I think we both said what we needed to," he said, his tone suddenly changing. "And now I think it's time for me to ruin this moment."
Teddy's face dropped. "No. Weasley. Whatever you're planning. No." A prank, a staged act, it was something, knowing Fred. He swore he had made sure that Fred didn't have a clause to prank him tonight.
Fred held back his laughter as he spoke to Teddy. "And yet, I'm still going to do it," he said with a smirk. "You can try to stop me if you want to."
Before Teddy could respond, Fred spun Teddy just like Minnie had taught the Gryffindor students how to spin their partners. He brought him back close so their noses were nearly touching. "What's our next move?" Fred asked.
"My next move might be to hex you." Teddy said though he was smiling like an idiot.
Fred tsked. "I thought we went over this, love. Confrontation is not always in angry monologue but in--"
"Oh, shut it, Weasley." Teddy said as he tipped Fred's chin down with a pull of his finger and kissed him beneath the moonlight shining in from the snow-plated arched windows.
And that's when those thin lips that were always seen to be stretched into that wry smile melted as Fred Weasley's eyes fell shut and his hands wrapped around the Lupin boy, one resting on the small of his back and the other grazing his hip.
Teddy's hands lifted to softly cup Fred's face and the moment, impossibly, felt both alarmingly dreamlike and palpably real. The dancing stopped as they forgot anything and everything about the world around them because for once, none of it seemed to matter.
When Teddy pulled away, Fred was smiling, still leaning forward as if to kiss Teddy again. "I think, I'm not entirely too sure-- but I think we need to do that again, you know, just to make sure this is all real and you aren't some weird impersonator of Teddy."
Teddy laughed breathily, cheeks flushed as he tilted his head up and caught Fred's lips with his.
"It's me." He said. "Merry Christmas, Fred."
Fred grinned wide and looped an arm around Teddy, holding him close.
"Merry Christmas, Teddy."
Starting the new year with this absolute treasure of a chapter.
SBB