My Yellow // Teddy Lupin

Teddy Likes Chances

"Tuition with Hazen Davies?!"

Teddy flinched when his best friend dropped all of the books she'd been holding at once. Even without the loud bang, Teddy was sure he would've flinched solely because of Lioba's expression. She looked absolutely vivid.

"Are you mad!?"

"I-"

"No, don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question! Of course you're mad, you have to be if you think that's a good idea!"
Lioba didn't even seem to think of picking up the books from the floor, she was way too busy towering over him and scolding him like a child.

Teddy glanced past her, scared that Madame Pince would be attracted by the voices. Just to be sure, he slipped out of his chair and picked up Lioba's books before Madame Pince could yell at them for disturbing the silence and mistreating her sacred books.

Six, for Merlin's sake. When did Lioba plan to read these??

As soon as all of the books were neatly stacked on the desk and when Lioba's silence got too deafening, he dared to reply quietly.

"It's not like I asked to get tuition by Davies. I just couldn't say no to Professor Selwyn when she suggested it; she made reasonable points. He's the best in Potions and he's got the time. I couldn't exactly say no to that just because of his reputation..." He dropped himself back on the chair.

"Oh, Ted..." Lioba's expression softened as she sighed and sat down on the chair opposite him.

Taken aback by her sudden mood change, Teddy stared at her.
With the warm and slightly curly brown hair, her few cute freckles on pale skin and her confusingly dark, blue-ish grey eyes, Teddy believed Lioba Tygris to be the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, inside and out.
She always brightened Teddy's day, which often lead people to assume that they were dating. They were both aware of the rumors, but didn't care. It was no reason for them to act less attached to one another. Teddy didn't care about all of it, as long as he had his best friend.

So he didn't mind that people could see and took Lioba's hand after she'd put it on the table for him to take.
"I know that you want to see the best in everyone, Ted. It's one of the things I love most about you. But it's also the reason you get hurt more often than you should. Merlin knows you've got enough on your plate already, don't let Davies be another one of your problems!"

Teddy chose not to talk about his problems. He wouldn't have to worry about them for a little while longer, so he didn't want to think about them at all whenever he could afford it. Teddy lowered his eyes to his and Lioba's intertwined hands.
"Well, I can't exactly go to Professor Selwyn and say that I don't want tuition anymore. Besides, we don't even know if Davies is as bad as everybody thinks. He's so quiet, have we ever actually heard him talk outside of the lessons?"

Lioba raised an eyebrow, even though she knew that Teddy wasn't looking at her face anymore.
"Well, every rumor has to come from somewhere. Whether it's true or not, I don't want it to hurt you. So you better find a way to stop this soon. And if I end up having to tutor you, so be it. I'll convince Selwyn."

Teddy shook his head, making his bright, light blue curls fly around his face until he stopped to look at Lioba again, trying to make her see sense. "I ought to try it first, though! I can't say it's bad when I don't even know it'll be... I'm gonna do it, and I'm gonna do it with an open mind. Maybe the rumors come from someone who wants to bully him or something. Merlin, you and me of all people know that not all rumors are true, Lee. And if it's as bad as you think it'll be, I can prevent it from becoming my problem, so you don't have to worry about it. Okay?"

He didn't even know why he asked her that. Of course it was okay, he'd made up his mind and it was his decision, not Lioba's.

His best friend seemed to have read that in his eyes. A beaten smile made its way onto her lips as she sighed. "You're right. It's your decision." She squeezed his hand once. "Just wanted to remind you to be careful."

"When am I ever not careful?!"

Lioba seemed to have waited her entire life for this question.
"Well, this one time in third year, I told you Professor Longbottom would see if you tried to take a piece from his tarrantula. Then this time in our fifth year, you didn't even make it hard for the prefects to find you, when you - against my warning - snuck out to meet Victoire. Of course there are many minor incidents, like when you wanted to learn ice skating on the black lake, or when.... Well, you get what I'm trying to say."

Teddy gawked at her, not able to voice his reply for a few seconds.
"I didn't think you'd see this as an opportunity to full-on bash me like that??" He was completely stunned by how much she'd came up with on the spot. He'd actually kind of forgotten about these incidents, and the question had been meant rhetorical. Now that Lioba mentioned all of it, though.... oops?

"Yeah." Lioba smirked. "You just thought about it, didn't you? It's always the same: I warn you, you decide to do it anyway and it goes wrong."

"Lee! Not this time, definitely! I promise I'll be careful - and I'll stick to the publicly acknowledged definition of the word."

It seemed as though the intertwined hands in the beginning of October were getting too hot for her, so Lioba let go of Teddy's hand and absentmindedly wiped it on her robes as she smiled at him. "And I'll take your word for it. I did my part, I warned you, there's not more I can do now. We both know I always let you do whatever you want in the end anyways ... Why do I do that, while we're at it? I should know better by now!"

Teddy chuckled. "Well, you let me do my thing because you love me and always hope I succeed against all odds... And you don't learn from the past same as me because we're both stupid potatoes, but that's why we're friends!"

"I love you too, asshat." She'd crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head with an unsuccessfully suppressed smile. "This is why Professor Selwyn knew it was a bad idea to have me tutor you... You get away with everything!"

"What? Me?" Teddy put a hand on his chest and innocently looked around them, trying to see if anyone close by was looking. They were quiet enough, so nobody paid attention and Teddy grinned as he began to use his metamorphmagus abilities to turn his trademark blue hair into a glowing, white-golden colour, with two strands connecting and forming a halo.
"I don't know what you could possibly mean!"

Teddy laughed when he saw that Lioba couldn't suppress her grin anymore. He knew that she absolutely loved the metamorphmagus abilities Teddy had inherited from his mother.

Still grinning, Lioba stood up, her hands on her hips. "Stop it, you wannabe angel, or I'll smack the halo off of your head! Now, help me carry all of these books to the common room. I'll read them and you can make sure that Davies won't find too much to tease you for." She sighed dramatically, her facing getting a little more serious again. "Prepare yourself for one hell of a ride with him."

So, now the introduction of the story is done! Just wanted to get you acquainted with the dual point of view and all the main characters 🥰
Let's see when and how it'll continue from here on!

This is also to celebrate that Love you in my mind is millimeters away from hitting 300k reads, so yaaay! Thank you for that!

Until next time, stay happy!

Xoxo, your fangirl💙