The year after her brother James graduates, Teddy Potter returns to Hogwarts for her final year. With the Marauders gone, it should be a quiet, peaceful year despite the mounting tensions in the world outside of school.
The problem, naturally, lies...
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Hours later, Teddy is still lying miserably on her bed in their dorm. At some stage about an hour ago, Mary had gotten up and Alice had taken her place, snuggling in close to Teddy and playing with her hair.
"How are you feeling?" Alice whispers softly.
"Fine," Teddy sniffs. She'd been working hard on compartmentalising in the time they've been laying there, and she really almost is fine. "I'm so sorry that you had to cut your date with Frank short-"
"No, no, don't." Alice says quickly, shaking her head firmly. "He understands, and I'll see him again soon for Christmas, anyway."
Teddy nods, but it doesn't stop her from feeling kind of guilty anyway. After another minute or two, she wriggles her way out from beneath her blanket mountain to try and catch a glimpse of what Mary is doing. "Are you- are you cleaning?"
"What?" Alice pokes her head out right behind her, squinting in Mary's direction. Sure enough, the dorm is damn near spotless — all the dirty clothes that had been piling up in the corner are gone, and the clutter on the dresser and desk has all been tidied away. Mary has even carefully made both her own bed and Alice's.
Mary is still scrubbing away at a bit of candlewax that has spilled on their dresser, though she looks around a little guiltily when they speak up. "Erm," She says, smiling self-consciously. "I realise that now is probably not the best time to bring this up-"
Alice gasps. "Mary! Teddy is going through something right now!" She says reproachfully, before hesitating. "Besides, you've hardly invited Davey Gudgeon over after he stood you up in Hogsmeade, have you?"
Mary fidgets. "I'm sorry, Teddy, I swear I made the plans before all this drama with James happened! If you want me to cancel-"
"No, don't cancel." Teddy sits up, finally emerging fully from her blanket cocoon. "You should have fun. It's not really Davey though, is it? You could definitely do better."
"It's not Davey." Mary hedges, but she doesn't get any further before there's a knock on the door. She whips around, wide-eyed, then turns back to her friends. "Teddy, make your bed!"
Teddy makes a face. "Why? You're not going to be snogging on my bed-"
"Teddy!"
"Fine!"
Alice laughs and rolls out of the bed as Teddy gets to her feet to neaten the bedcovers, Mary rushing to answer the door. "I have to get to the hospital wing, anyway," Alice says with a shrug. "Madame Pomfrey said it would be excellent experience for me to help out a couple evenings a week. But... are you alright? I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I didn't go this evening."
"No, don't be silly." Teddy says quietly, smiling at her. "I'm fine, really. I was actually just going to have a bath."
"Oh," Alice says, brightening. "I think that's a wonderful idea!"
