Teddy was always the one that Hope turned to for knowledge as a little girl because as her uncle and close to her age, she looked up to her dear Uncle Teddy. But one thing Hope would learn over the years, was that she shouldn't listen to her Uncle Teddy as everyone told her. However, during one afternoon during the summer, Hope was sitting besides Henry watching as Stella and Teddy argued over "cooties."
"What are cooties?" Hope asked Henry, who only shrugged, looking just as confused as she was.
"It's what Stella has." Teddy said with a smile, before pointing at Stella as if she was some disgusting being. "Ick. Stella cooties are the worse."
Eliza sighed heavily waiting for her sister to retaliate and destroy the stupid boy.
"Wait..cooties?" Elliot repeated. "Do all girls have cooties?"
"Yes, all girls have cooties!" Teddy said.
"Hey, I don't have cooties!" Hope told her uncle. "At least I don't think I do."
"Yes, you do. Like I said, all girls have cooties!" Teddy announced before he was shoved the ground by Stella, into a pile of mud. "Hey, you can't do that! I'm telling."
"Oooooh, I'm so scared!" Stella said shaking in fake fear.
"Wait, so if girls have cooties.." Henry suddenly scooted away from Hope.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, I don't want to catch them!" Henry said.
"There's no such thing as cooties!' Hope replied.
"How do you know? You didn't even know what they were!"
Hope narrowed her eyes at the boy before looking to where Stella had Teddy pinned to the ground, refusing to get off of him as he tried to fight her.
"Yeah well...I'm going to find out!"
"Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad." Hope pulled on the bottom of her father's shirt every time she called out to him. His focus seemed to be on some sort of new product blueprint that she couldn't even begin to understand.
"Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope." He responded with a smile, finally giving her his attention somewhat. However, he didn't look up from the blueprint, making Hope grow agitated quickly.
"Dad-"
"Hope."
"Mum!"
Hope jumped along with her father as her mother startled them with a yell as she entered the shop where the two of them stood.
"Merlin's pants, Ellie, you can't be doing that." Hope's father said clutching his chest.
Her mother smiled proudly. "I was just trying to join in on the fun is all. Now pay attention to your daughter.'
Hope smiled as her mother swiped the blueprint from her father and left to one of the backrooms.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Hope, you have my full attention." he said looking down at her. "What is it?"
"Do girls have cooties?" she blurted out.
Fred stared at her for a moment. "Come again?"
"Cooties...do girls have cooties?"
"What?" the man laughed before picking her up and placing her down on the counter. "Who told you that girls have cooties?'
"Teddy. He said that Stella had cooties. And then Elliot asked if all girls had cooties and Teddy said yes."
Of course he did." Eleanor chuckled, returning to the main part of the shop. "What have I told you about listening to what Teddy tells you, Hope?"
"Not to listen."
"Exactly." Eleanor winked at her. "Don't listen to him."
"So girls don't have cooties?"
"No." Fred answered. "Girls don't have cooties...Teddy might but girls don't."
"I knew it!" Hope said. "That's what I tried to tell Henry, but he's not a very good listener, Daddy."
"Well, that's to be expected, but then again you're not a very good listener yourself." Fred teased her, poking her on the nose.
Hope giggled before hopping off the counter, adjusting her maroon knitted jumper as she straightened herself.
"I'm a better listener than Henry!"
"No one is going to argue with you on that." Fred grinned before turning around and searching for Eleanor. "Oh love, can I have that blueprint back, please? I need to go over something before George gets here."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Eleanor's voice rang out from a different aisle.
"Ellie!"
"Fred!"
"Hope!" Hope clapped her hands together with a laugh making her parents share in a laugh with her.
"Why don't you go get your shoes on, Hope?" Eleanor said coming around one of the corners of the aisle. "I'll drop you off to go play with Henry. Alright?"
"Alright!"
Hope skipped off up the stairs to the upstairs flat to retrieve her shoes.
"I knew it." she said to herself. "Girls don't have cooties...pfft...boys."
Arriving to Henry's house with her parents, Hope greeted Nixie and Sirius as Henry was upstairs putting his shoes on to go play outside.
"Hey Paddywhack give a dog a bone." Hope smiled at the man.
"Tiny Lupin Weasley Spawn." Sirius greeted her with a curt nod before looking away from her. She giggled until he looked back at her with a smile.
Before the two could get into it, Henry came running down the stairs before running over to Hope.
"Mum says we could play by the water, come on!" he said grabbing her hand and pulling her until they were outside.
The two were in the shallows of the water splashing about when Hope turned to Henry.
"My mum and dad said that girls don't have cooties! I told you so!" she said with a slightly smug expression.
Henry pushed his dark hair out of his face as it plastered to the front and sides of his face with the water.
"But Teddy said-"
"Teddy was wrong. My mum said so."
"Yeah well my dad says they do!" Henry countered.
"You dad also said that french toast comes from France!"
"It says FRENCH TOAST!"
"You're french toast!" Hope told him.
"What...what?!"
"I don't know." she shrugged.
Henry shook his head at her before splashing some water into her face. Hope wiped the water away using her sleeve before glancing over at him.
"What do cooties even do?" she wondered out loud.
Henry opened his mouth to speak but stopped as he had absolutely no clue.
"I don't know, but Teddy said you can catch them from being around a girl."
"But we've always been around each other. So that means you have cooties too!" Hope said throwing an accusing finger in his face.
"I do not! Wait! My dad said you get them from kissing a girl! So there! No cooties for me!" Henry crossed his arms triumphantly and sticking his nose in the air.
Hope narrowed her eyes at the boy, not willing to accept defeat before she walked over to him and kissed him straight on the lips.
Henry's eyes opened wide before she pulled away from him.
"There! Now you have cooties if I have them!"
"You kissed me!"
They made faces at one another before spitting to the side.
"I can't believe you kissed me!" He said only causing Hope to stick her tongue out at him.
"That's what you get!"
The two stood quietly as they entered a stare off. That was until the two of them burst into giggles.
"Do you feel any different?" Hope asked him.
"No." Henry shook his head. "Maybe you don't have cooties."
"That's what I was trying to tell you! Teddy was wrong."
"We really need to stop listening to Teddy."