I stepped off the train, bags in hand as I searched the platform for my dad. He said he would pick me up here, where could he be hiding? I wasn't particularly tall, but there weren't very many people in the station. I could see almost everyone and he was not there. I sighed, pulling out my phone. Thank god there was a service here. Figures, I'm gone for two weeks and they forget to pick me up. And to think I missed them, I mean really where is-

"SURPRISE!" I am swept off my feet. Three familiar faces tackling me to the ground with a hug. I scream instinctively, and then break into laughter, struggling to break away from their tight hold.

"You guys!" I exclaimed, hugging them each individually, "What are you doing here?"

"We asked dad if we could come pick you up instead. We had to scare you Junie, you should've seen your face." My brother grinned back at me, and I shook my head. Of course they did.

"So, James ruffled my hair, how much did you miss us? On a scale of my life is so empty without them to death."

"Shut up." I groaned, shouldering my trunk as I tried to shove my brother.

"Awww we know you missed us Junie." Leo nudged me cheekily.

"You love us." Charlie, James, and Leo beamed back at me. Those stupid boys. I felt a sharp twist in my gut when I realized there was a face missing. An empty space where another should be.

"Where's Lupin?" I murmured softly, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, I see the boys faces fall slightly, er..." Leo rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, "Erm- well we wanted him to come, but he...er- thought it might be best if he didn't. Given your...situation."

I twisted my hands guiltily. That was what I was afraid of. It was also exactly what I didn't want to happen. I felt bad that I was causing this rift in our friend group. Any other year and Teddy would've been right here with them, helping to scare me. Then again, if it had been any other year, I wouldn't have gone to Paris, and I was glad I had.

"Will you two just kiss and makeup already?" James asked sulkily, "Have you thought about how inconvenient this is for me?"

"Yeah Junie, James is the real victim here." Charlie teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I can't believe I actually missed you."

"I knew it!" Leo crowed triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air, "Now on to more important questions, what did you bring us from France?"

As we waited in line to use the fireplace the boys tore apart my luggage, "Hey!" I reprimanded, crossing my arms, "Who says I brought you anything?"

Leo, Charlie, and James gasped with hurt, looking at me with big puppy dog eyes. I almost laughed out loud. I forgot how fun it was to mess with them. "Calm down, I'm only joking. I've got presents for the whole family. But!" I smacked their hands away, "You have to wait til we get home."

They grumbled and whined loudly. James and. Charlie were first up at the fireplace, Leo hung back. He whispered in my ear, "So what is the whole situation with Teddy? He's been rather tight lipped about it."

"I'll tell you later." I whispered back, "But I'm going to talk to him. Is he gonna be at the house?"

"I dunno, Leo shrugged, we were all there earlier, before we came to get you."

We ventured towards the fireplace, watching James and Charlie disappear in the green flames. I picked up my own handful of ash, "Home!" And in an instant, I was there. Right back where I belonged. Mum, Dad, Vanessa, and Calista were there to greet me at the gate.

Mum got to me first, hugging me so tight I couldn't breathe, "Oof, mum you can let go now."

"You're not allowed to go away for the holiday anymore." My mum said sternly, "Your father and I have made an executive decision, we missed you far too much." Well that was certainly nice to hear.

"You should've seen your mum, she was a wreck." Dad teased, whispering to me.

"Excuse you?" My mum replied incredulously, "When it was time for the annual Quidditch match your father nearly broke down sobbing when we had one extra jersey."

My sisters come over to embrace me too. Well, Cali did. Vanessa's not really the affectionate type.

"I missed you I guess." Vanessa told me, patting me on the shoulder.

"Thanks Ness." I laughed, "Nice to see things haven't changed much around here."

Leo and Charlie went back to their respective houses, while I passed out presents for my family. They told me about how Uncle Ron fell off the roof of the Granger-Weasley house trying to take down Christmas lights, despite the fact that he could have used magic. I told them all abut Paris. Well most of it. I left out the parts involving the tattoos, the drinking, the trespassing, and Pierre.

Then I went over to Charlie's house to give them their presents. Uncle Ron was sporting a very large goose egg on his head, but looked okay apart from that. Rose and Aunt Mione loved the books I brought back, of course they can read French. Like mother, like daughter.

I went to Leo's house last, knocking on the door. "Leo? Hello?"

"Hey Junie." He opened the door slowly, and then stepped outside to greet me.

"Can I come in or...?" I looked at the doorway he was blocking with confusion.

"Oh er- everybody's sleeping I don't wanna wake them."

"Oh- erm ok." I had to admit, he was acting a little odd, "Well I have your presents here, and I wanted to talk to you about the whole Teddy thing, but if this is a bad time I can go."

"No it's fine." Leo shut the door quietly behind him, "So what happened?"

"I'm betting you already know the basics, but to sum it up, Teddy was threatening boys to stay away from me. I got angry, rightfully so, and ranted at him. I realized, with your cousins's help, that I still want to be friends with him, so I'm gonna have to resolve it somehow."

"That's a lot of information to process." Leo chuckled.

"Sorry about that." I bit back a smile.

"You know that Teddy wasn't purposely trying to hurt you right? Because he'd never-"

"I know Leo, but just because he didn't do it on purpose doesn't mean it hurt any less."

"He's overprotective, Leo sighed, almost to a fault. It's his brand. It's not just with you either, though you do get it slightly worse than the rest of us. The other day he was ready to give my boyfriend a whole ass talking to-"

"Wait!" My mouth dropped open, "You told them!?"

"Like how I slipped that in there?"

"Leo!" I hugged him, "How'd it go?"

"Fine, just like you said it would, the whole family's happy for me. Charlie, James, Vanessa, Rose and Teddy said they'd kick his ass if he hurts me."

"Sounds familiar." I squeezed his shoulder knowingly. A clatter of footsteps sounded from the second story, and a light flicked on. I viewed Leo suspiciously. Who could that be? And why was he so bent on keeping me out of the house. "I thought everyone was asleep Leo?"

"They are! I mean er- maybe someone woke up- erm I"

"Leo..."

"Yeah?"

"Teddy in there isn't he?"

"Yeah." Leo winced, "Sorry, he just didn't know if you wanted to see him, but we had a sleepover planned and"

"It's fine. Tell him to meet me in the garden in fifteen minutes."

"Wait- really?" Leo looked shocked. I was little shocked myself. I hadn't exactly planned on confronting him this quickly after arriving home.

"Sure, I shrugged, might as well get it over with right?"

"Okay I'll tell him, Leo turned to go back inside, I hope you guys figure it out."

"Me too."

I paced nervously in the back garden, rubbing my hands together to stay warm. It was quite cold outside, rather dark too. The thick clouds covering any source of moon or starlight. I suddenly wished I'd worn warmer pajamas, or at least put on a pair of trousers to stuff into my boots that were currently crunching on the slushy snow beneath my feet. What if he didn't show up? My feet would be numb soon. And then I saw him. He wasn't shivering, despite the fact that he was only wearing a light coat over a t-shirt and thin sweatpants. He approached me tentatively, like I was a bomb that could burst if he got too close. I guess I couldn't blame after our last interaction.

"I'm sorry." We blurted out in unison, and then shared a brief smile.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Teddy said softly, eyes widening as he stepped closer, "I was the one who fucked up."

"Yeah." I certainly agreed with that statement wholeheartedly, "But I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I shouldn't have gone off like that. I should've waited until I was calmer so we could have a rational conversation and-"

"No I- I deserved it, Teddy interrupted, you were right to do it. You don't have to-"

"Teddy, I gave him a look, will you just let me apologize?"

"But-"

"Teddy!" I swear to god. The two of us could make an argument out of anything, even if it was over something as stupid as letting someone to apologize to you. Sometimes I wondered if he wanted to fight, just for the hell of it.

"Sorry." He ran his hands through his hair sheepishly.

"S'ok." I took deep breath, I'd been practicing this speech the whole train ride. "Look, what you did was wrong. I'm sure you know that." Teddy hung his head and I almost forgave him right there, but I soldiered on, "I just don't understand why or how you would do something like that Teddy. You had to realize it was controlling. I don't know why you thought you could get away with it, someone was bound to tell me sooner or later. It just happened to be Xavier, so please don't go after him. And this is not about me wanting a boyfriend because I don't need a guy. I'm perfectly happy as I am, that's not the point. The point is, I was upset because I blamed guys' lack of interest in me on myself. I was really insecure about it actually. And then I come to find out you've been threatening them away with your fists? That was huge violation of my trust Teddy."

"I'm so so sorry Junie, Teddy reached for my hand but thought better of it, I don't know what to say. Fuck. I never, I never wanted to hurt you. You know that's the last thing I'd do. Please tell me you know that. That's part of the reason why I- you know. Not that that rationalizes it any way. Just the thought of some guy-" Teddy broke off, fists clenching. He exhaled slowly, "I have to protect you."

"No what you have to do is let me make those mistakes for myself. It's inevitable Teddy, some bloke will hurt me. I will get my heart broken, I-"

"But I can-"

"Teddy."

"Sorry." He rubbed a hand over his jaw, "I really am sorry Junie."

"I know."

"So does this mean we can- are you-?"

"We're still friends Teddy." I smiled lightly, scuffing the toes of my shoes on the ground, "If there's one thing I learned from this whole mess it's that I sort of... can't deal with you not being in my life."

A broad grin spread over Teddy's face, "Oh really?"

"Don't get too cocky Lupin. I'm still mad at you."

"I'll take it."

I felt like the weight of a thousand kilograms had just been lifted from my shoulders. I'd have to write Victoire a letter, she was keen to know how it went. Silently, I wondered how her own talk with her mother had gone.

"Hey Junie, Teddy's voice broke me from my thoughts, can I- I mean it is alright if I- erm...hug you?" He asked earnestly, holding his arms in question.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I- I just wasn't sure how you felt about it. I didn't know if you were still too angry or-"

"Get over here you stupid idiot." I rolled my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me. I relaxed at his touch, the familiar feel of his body next to mine comforting. He rested his chin on my head and I could feel his heart beating. Snow had just started to fall. Bollocks, now my entire body was going to be numb.

"Why are you so cold?"

"Why are you so warm?" I shot back. Teddy was always radiating heat, it's the reason my designated spot for the sleepovers we used to have was next to him.

"Seriously Junie your hands are literal ice cubes."

"You tell that to all the girls?"

"Only the ones in danger of dying from hypothermia."

"And here I am thinking I was special."

Teddy unzipped his jacket as I eyed him warily. How was he not freezing? He was in a t-shirt in the middle of winter, in Britain, at night. But he looked absolutely unbothered. Maybe this was a werewolf thing.

"What are you doing?"

"Here." He attempted to give me the coat, but I refused.

"You must be cold. I don't need it."

"I'm fine. A little overheated actually."

"You're telling me that you're hot?"

"I don't know am I?" Teddy wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively.

"Shut up."

"Just take it Potter, I know you're cold."

"I don't need it."

"Junie I can see you shivering."

"I'm not shivering!"

"Take the jacket Potter."

"No."

"Take it."

"No."

"Potter."

"I said-"

I never got to finish my sentence because Teddy gave up asking and decided to take matters into his own hands. He threw the jacket over me himself as I protested. He also wrapped his scarf around me for good measure. I grumbled the whole time, however, I was a lot warmer.

"I feel like a marshmallow." I complained, the many layers were kind of obstructing my ability to move.

"You're warmer aren't you?"

"No." I replied haughtily, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

"Mmhmm sure, Teddy smirked, you could just accept that I was right."

"Never."

"Stubborn girl."

"It's all part of my charm."

"Yes it is." Teddy gazed at me for a beat, "I should probably get back to Leo's. You just know James is waiting for an update."

I snickered, "I bet he is."

"Goodnight Junie."

See you tomorrow Teddy." I waved, watching him cross to the McGonagall house. I was infinitely relieved. It went far better than I could've hoped. We were already starting to get back in our groove. That did not mean that I was going to start falling for him again though. I'd never let that happen again. I'd learned my lesson. And I was going o take Victoire's advice about setting boundaries, there was no way in hell I was going to be a surrogate girlfriend anymore. I'm just glad our friendship is going to survive. I meant what I said to him earlier, I couldn't imagine life without Teddy Lupin in it. I didn't want to either.

UGH I LOVE THE BANTER
STAN JUNIE
BTW ANY GUESSES AS TO WHO LEO's BF IS?

THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, RANTING ➡️➡️➡️➡️

goodnight lovelies

colleen