[FIC] More Than That (In Your Hands) [Part 2/2]
Author: mindabbles
Title: More Than That (In Your Hands)
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 15,000
Pairing(s): Teddy/James, James/Scorpius
Warnings: some very light bondage and D/s
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: James has his first real assignment - to outfit Teddy with a wand. He knows he has what it takes, but some people are harder than others to pin down, and if Teddy bolts again, James will shatter.
Author's Notes: Not really a warning, but just in case, there are flashbacks of them together when James is 16 and Teddy is 22. For the bulk of the fic, James is 20. This wonderful prompt grabbed me right away. I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my wonderful betas for their fabulous work, and another special thank you to J for lying awake, thinking of ways to fix it! Thank you a million times to the mods for running this fest and for their patience.
An intervention
"Oi you, Lord Layabout." Albus shouts, as he knocks and then flings open the door, striding into James' flat.
"I didn't say, 'come in'," James grumbles. Finn is standing behind Albus. "Is this an intervention?"
"Get your arse off the couch and come round the pub with me and Finn."
"I'm working, you pricks," James says, holding up the irrefutable evidence of his worn copy of Wands and Wandlore. What he had actually been doing is staring at the same page for an hour, thinking about Teddy.
"Speaking about pricks, it's been months since you've had any, or anyone else's rather," Finn said, waggling his eyebrows like a lunatic.
"Christ," barks Albus.
"Well," Finn says, shrugging. "He's becoming a hermit and that's not to be allowed."
"You're not going to leave, are you?" James asks, frowning at the pair of them.
"No," they chime in unison.
"Christ," James sighs and heaves himself from the sofa.
The Leaky Cauldron is packed with a Saturday crowd.
James squeezes in at the bar. Since Frank Abbott-Longbottom took it over from his mum, the place is always busy, always noisy, and always good for a laugh.
"Potter," a voice says from behind him.
James turns and there's a flash of blond hair and white teeth.
"Malfoy," James nods. He has nothing against Scorpius Malfoy. He and Albus were decent enough mates during school and Malfoy could always be counted upon for a challenge on the pitch, but he's not sure they've ever had a complete conversation.
"How's things?" Scorpius asks, pleasantly enough.
"Brilliant. You?"
"A bit better now." Malfoy smiles. "I just dropped by for a drink and no one I thought might be here is."
"Oh," James says. Malfoy looks good. He always did, but a couple of years seem to have favoured him. He was probably the first bloke - besides Teddy - who James knew was gay, and good reason or no, just knowing that he was pretty and an option had made James fancy him a bit ever since. "Well, join us. It's just me and Albus and Finn. I'm sure Al'd be happy to see you."
Malfoy smiles again, and this time it is broad enough to make a dimple appear on his cheek. He really is pretty. "You happy to see me at all?"
"Happy enough," James says, smiling back and little frisson of something stirs in his belly. "Come on, then," he says, leading Malfoy back to their table, acutely aware of Scorpius at his back.
"Look what you dragged in," Albus says as they pull over another chair. "Cheers, Malfoy."
Finn gives James a look that he ignores. He's just having a drink. But it's not just a drink. Malfoy sits next to James. The way he parts his lips to sip his drink should not be allowed in polite company. He smiles and James could swear he's flirting. When he talks to Albus, it's school mates, but when he talks to James there's a purr in his voice and a heat in his eyes and there's nothing mate-y about it.
"Where's Frank? I'm empty," James says, tapping his glass.
"Me, too," Scorpius says, drawing his finger around the rim of his glass.
"Ah, he's too busy tonight," James says, desperate for another drink, and to stop thinking about Malfoy and drawing fingers around rims. "I'll just go and -" he stands and lurches his way through the crowd.
He's about to catch Frank's eye when a hand touches the small of his back. It's been a while, and the hand feels so good there.
"It doesn't have to mean anything, you know," Scorpius whispers, close to James' ear, his breath ruffling his hair.
James turns and Scorpius is so close he can feel the warmth of his body, the press of his chest against his arm. He owes no one. He's beholden to no one, James thinks bitterly, and it has been a long time, and Scorpius is fitter even than James remembers him.
"No," James says, his hand falling to Scorpius' hip, "I don't reckon it does."
"As long as we both know what we want." Scorpius voice is still a near purr and the hand slides from James' back to his arse.
James draws his hand down Scorpius chest and stops, hooking his thumb into Scorpius belt buckle. "I know what I want."
The smile on Scorpius' face is utterly wicked, and James wants to trace it with his tongue. He drags his thumb across Scorpius' full bottom lip. The pub is so packed and everyone is jostling so at the bar, that James almost thinks they could continue as they're going unnoticed. He'd push Scorpius against the scarred wood and frot against him until they both come.
"Not here, you arse," Scorpius says, but he sounds less scolding and more delighted. He grabs James' hand and pulls him to the door.
James glances back at the table and sees a look of surprise on Albus' face and Finn, that smug bastard, grinning like he set this up. James turns, the sight of Scorpius leaving is infinitely better than the alternative.
Scorpius leans against the wall at the edge of the alley. He looks delicious. James takes in his smoky grey eyes, his mouth, parted and ready to kiss, and he wants. He has a hazy notion, blurred by alcohol and lust, that his might not be what he really wants, but he's here. Now.
"Doesn't have to mean anything," Scorpius says, as if he's afraid that James is about to complicate the arrangement. He must mistake the desire in James' eyes for something else.
"I always knew you were a slag, Malfoy," James murmurs, leaning to press Scorpius against the rough brick wall.
"You always hoped I was a slag, Potter."
There's no use arguing with that, and James can put that pretty mouth to better use than a debate. James leans up and presses his mouth to Scorpius' parted lips. Scorpius may be the one being pressed into a wall, but he pushes back, his hands everywhere and his cock hard against James' hip.
"Christ," James gasps as Scorpius palms his cock through his robes. He thinks vaguely that he is doing something treacherous as he works his hand into robes and touches warm, smooth skin, but Scorpius' cock feels so good in his hand and he's gasping into James' mouth, urging him to stroke faster. And there you are. He doesn't owe anyone anything. No one is waiting for him at home. It doesn't have to mean anything.
Scorpius bites his lower lip and growls, "Harder, Potter. Fuck-nearly."
James drops to his knees sucks Scorpius' cock into his mouth. He can feel that he's about to come, feel his body tensing and cock pulsing.
"Mm," he hums around Malfoy. He rubs his own cock with his palm. He's desperate to come at the same time as Malfoy, desperate to have that moment of blissful oblivion.
Malfoy gives a barely audible gasp and his fingers dig into James' skull, pulling hair from its roots, as he comes, hot and bitter and so fucking gorgeous in James' mouth.
He grinds his hand against his cock as his hips stutter against nothing. Trembling from his impending orgasm, he hauls himself to standing to kiss Scorpius, sharing his come. He rips open his robes and presses his cock against Scorpius' body.
"Fuck, Potter." Scorpius shudders as James' cock slides over his softening one, gasping into the James' mouth.
James slips his cock between Scorpius thighs and feels the head against his soft balls. Scorpius is beautiful, and it has been ages since someone wanted James enough to drag him into an alley and not give a shit about what it meant or propriety or anything other than - fuck - getting each other off.
"Oh my-ngh," James groans. His come coats Scorpius' thighs and he fucks between them until he can't stand it anymore.
Scorpius slumps against the wall, a cocky grin on his face. "Not bad, Potter. Worth the wait, I'd say."
James has a moment of panic that Scorpius wants more than this - that he's been harbouring more than lust. "Yeah," he croaks.
But then Scorpius is pushing James away, and James blinks as Scorpius rights his clothes, gives James a quick kiss asks, "Next time we both have nothing better to do, eh?" and walks back into the pub.
James stumbles after him. He considers just Apparating home because he knows he looks completely shagged and he doesn't particularly want to see Finn's smirking face.
He really should listen to those little niggling doubts. As soon as he steps inside, there's Teddy, standing at the bar, looking from a pink-cheeked Scorpius, who's just flopped bonelessly into the seat next to Albus, to James.
The look he gives James is so full of hurt and disappointment that James feels the room sway around him. Teddy drains the glass of whisky in his hand and pushes past James and out the door. "Nice one, James," he says in a low voice
It is entirely possible that he's missed something, James thinks.
It's them
He can't be here. There is no earthly way he can concentrate at work today. He had himself convinced this morning, when he forced himself to come in, that Teddy wouldn't show up. And yet, there is a very familiar figure lurking in front of the shop. James has watched Teddy pace past three times. His breath stopped in his chest each time Teddy passed the door, watching for a hand to reach out to the knob.
"Mr Ollivander," James says. "Sir? I'm feeling rather poorly. I think I ought not to be here."
"This is your task, lad," Ollivander says. He boxes the wand he's been studying all morning and shuffles to the back room.
The door creaks with a din to raise the dead. He'd overdone it a bit, James thinks. After Mr Ollivander binned the bell he tied to the door, James charmed the door to creak. He couldn't have Teddy sneaking up on him and Mr Ollivander could hardly say it added frippery and fuss.
Teddy is back in his work robes. The dark red suits him and James wants him so badly it aches.
"Well, this is awkward," James says after several seconds, or three hours, of silence.
Teddy rolls his eyes. "That's one word for it. I have a few others. Look, Ollivander seems to have made me the centre of some twisted experiment, so let's just move on, shall we?"
"Yeah, sorry," James says. "I'm sorry. I mean, I didn't-"
"Wands, James."
Teddy cuts him off, which is a relief, really. He has no idea what he was going to say anyway - babble that despite having Scorpius' cock down his throat, he only wants Teddy?
"Look," Teddy says. He scrubs his hand over his face. "Let's not make this any more difficult than it needs to be. I'm to start back at work, and until I have a wand, I'm on report writing. I didn't go through all that training to use a bloody quill. I am walking out of here with a wand today."
"We have a few new wands in," James says. He summons the boxes and lifts the first one out.
Teddy reaches for it and their fingers brush as he takes it from James' hand.
"Malfoy?" Teddy blurts out, glaring at James.
"Hold on a moment. Don't you even - you never said anything," James says, fury rising in his chest. "You never said a bloody thing."
"I never said anything, no," Teddy says. "My mistakes all 'round. I forgot how quickly you move."
"That's not fucking fair. I was sixteen -"
"You're not sixteen now."
"And you never - "
Someone shouts in the street. James catches "Gringott's…hostages…Aurors…", and James is saved from deciding if he's going to confess his longing or hex Teddy for being an arse.
"It's them," Teddy says, his knuckles white around the wand James has just handed him.
Teddy runs and flings open the door just as one…two…three…four Aurors Apparate onto Diagon Alley. Uncle Ron is the last one, and he looks grim and forbidding as he barks orders to the others. They run down the road and Teddy follows. James doesn't think, doesn't know he's even left the shop, until he is taking the steps in front of Gringott's two at a time, his wand drawn, listening to Uncle Ron's instructions to the others.
"You all right?" Uncle Ron shouts to Teddy.
Teddy nods and then he turns as sees James. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get your arse back to the shop and lock yourself in."
Teddy runs along the street. Uncle Ron is focused on the other others; he doesn't see him. The image of Teddy pale and near death in St. Mungo's swims before his eyes and he waits a moment as the Aurors burst into Gringott's. James follows on the tails of the distraction.
A group of about eight people are huddled in the corner. A masked wizard stands over them with his wand drawn. A man lies unconscious on the floor in front of the terrified group. A witch on the floor can't take her eyes of the man and her hand twitches towards him. A witch standing on the other side of them holds eight wands in her right hand and brandishes what must be her own in her left.
They look up, dawning awareness that the Aurors are here. Relief washes over their faces and then the world explodes. Five people in masks come from the door leading to the vaults. Spells and hexes fly across the room. A stone dais behind James' head bursts into rubble. Uncle Ron moves through the room as if in slow motion, working spells as he goes. He bellows at another Auror to get to the hostages. Teddy runs into the fray with his borrowed wand, and James runs after him.
"What the hell - Ron told you to go," Teddy shouts. "I can't worry about you."
James tries to stun the witch holding the hostages, but Teddy's stunning hex gets her first. One of the hostages, the woman who was staring at the unconscious man, manages to grab her wand and takes the masked man behind her unawares. The hostages are free. Half of them dive behind the counters where James assumes the Goblins are hiding. The other half join the fight.
A jet of green light whizzes by James' ear. He's knocked to the ground by Uncle Ron.
"James," Uncle Ron bellows, and for a moment James thinks he might kill him. "Get down behind that counter, and if you come out, you'll wish that had hit you."
A man in a black mask appears behind Uncle Ron and James sees him lift his wand, pointing it at Uncle Ron's head.
"Stupefy," James shouts and the man crumples to the floor.
"Nicely done," Uncle Ron calls over his shoulder. He fires off another spell. "Now get to cover."
James runs to the tall marble counter and ducks behind. That man would have never snuck up on Uncle Ron had he not been worrying about James. He watches as Teddy corners another of the bandits and binds him with silver ropes.
The bandits are trying to retreat. One or two manage to run for the doors, but most have been cornered and bound by Aurors.
"Good work," Uncle Ron says. He gestures at two of the Aurors. "Get them back to the Ministry." He turns to Teddy and says, "I see you've found a wand. You're back on tomorrow if you're ready. Oh," he adds, squeezing his temples with his fingers, "and take that one home and clean him up, would you? I won't tell Harry you let him follow you if you won't."
"Yes sir," Teddy says, cutting off James' protest.
Uncle Ron and most of the Aurors leave, and the Goblins grumble about having to clean up after wizards' mess as they have for hundreds of years. Looking about, James can't fault them their grumbling.
Teddy is suddenly looming over him, his jaw clenched. "That was the height of stupidity. You're bleeding and you could have been killed."
James lifts his hand to his face and feels his cheek is warm and sticky where a shard of marble hit him.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a kid. You almost were killed," James says. "And you didn't even know if that wand would work for you."
Teddy grips his arm and his fingers dig into James' flesh. "I signed up for it."
James feels the sickening pull of Apparition as, without warning, Teddy pulls him out of Gringott's and a dizzying moment later, he lands in Teddy's flat.
"What were you playing at?" Teddy asks, swiping the borrowed wand over James' cheek. It feels warm and then cool, and James feels his skin knit back together.
"I'm so sorry for trying to help. I don't think I did too badly." James' stomach burns with frustration.
"You know who you stunned?" Teddy asks. James shakes his head. "Tony Dolohov. His father..."
"The Death Eater's son? The one who -"
"And the one who nearly killed me before," Teddy says. "We think they're all the kids of Death Eaters. Fancy themselves finishing their parents' work. All of the hatred, none of the organization. They're just ruthless bandits. Nothing more and they do not hesitate to kill."
"They almost killed you." James says again. He can close his eyes and he's back at Gringott's, spells filling the room. Amazing, terrible, what all those different wands can do. He closes his eyes and he can hear the shouts and the shattering marble and the adrenalin filling his body.
He closes his eyes and a warm mouth is on his, harsh and firm, a world away from the soft kisses his remembers. He grips the front of Teddy's robes. Fingers slide grab and tug at his hair.
"Oh, oh," he moans as Teddy deepens the kiss and presses against his body.
Teddy's warmth withdraws and James panics. He leans into the kiss with everything he has, crashing against Teddy.
"This is what you want?" Teddy gasps, pulling open James' robes. "You want me to shove you against a wall and take you?"
James' back connects with the wall and Teddy is pressing up against him, sliding his tongue past his lips. There's none of the hesitancy, none of the caution James always associates with kissing Teddy. It's desperate and hard and so, so good.
Teddy's hands slide under his shirt, up his chest, too fast and too hard. James' cock twitches as two buttons pop off and skitter across the floor.
"Christ, Teddy," he breathes.
He reaches and unfastens Teddy's heavy belt buckle. Teddy's teeth sink gently into the curve where James' neck meets his shoulder.
"Don't fucking do that again," Teddy says. His teeth scrape James' neck again.
James is aching for Teddy to touch him, stroke his cock, make him come. He's waited years, his entire life for this. Teddy's hands stutter over his skin, his stomach, his chest. He slips his hand down the front of Teddy's open trousers, palming his hard cock through the cotton pants. Teddy's cock feels -- fuck -- so good in James' hand. Teddy's fingers linger at his waist, not dipping lower and not touch him like he needs.
"Please," James says. He pleads, but he doesn't wait. He's waited long enough. Teddy outweighs him and could knock him flat, but James has the height and surprise. He turns them and it's Teddy's back slammed into the wall. "Please," James says again as he leans into Teddy.
An odd look crosses Teddy's face and James feels something shift. Teddy's breath is ragged and he rocks against James so that their erections slide together. Teddy seems to hesitate, to be waiting, but when James demands, "Touch me," he groans and wraps his hand around James' cock.
James reaches to touch Teddy's cock. It's is gorgeous, thick, and shorter than James', just like his body. James watches Teddy's cock slip through his fingers, watches Teddy's hand stroking him.
"So gorgeous," Teddy says. He's watching, too.
Teddy thrusts into James' fist and groans just as he squeezes over the head of James' cock, and that's enough for four years of want to seize up in James' body and spill over into a blinding orgasm.
Teddy's cock is slippery with his come and James strokes him hard and fast. He wants this moment almost more than he wanted Teddy to make him come.
Teddy groans in what sounds like frustration as he fucks James' fist. James leans in to kiss him, and just as his lips press to Teddy's, Teddy whispers, "Tell me to come."
"Fuck, come. Teddy, come."
Warm come coast his hand and he watches, mesmerised, as Teddy's face crumples in bliss. Panting, Teddy presses his forehead to James', and for a moment of ecstasy, James thinks they're sorted.
He meets Teddy's grey eyes and Teddy blinks and looks away. Teddy pulls his robes closed with a jerk. James' stomach sinks to his ankles.
It doesn't have to mean anything, after all - hasn't James proven that again and again?
"Teddy," he says, the unease that has been the past two days creeping into his voice.
"One night doesn't make us different people," Teddy says.
"What the fuck does that mean?" James snaps. "I didn't think we needed to be different people."
"Shit," Teddy says. He straightens his clothes. "There are things you don't know."
"So enlighten me," James says through gritted teeth.
"This is still all you think sex is, quick fucks against a wall. Fucking simple. It could only be better if we were in some disgusting alley, like you're used to."
The words sting so badly that James can't draw breath fast enough to answer - to shout that Teddy is a fucking bastard who doesn't know a thing about wanting so much more since before was old enough to want it.
"Is this about Scorpius again?" James' voice trembles with anger.
"Scorpius? No, it's not about Scorpius. I didn't expect anything from him."
"No. No you don't," James shouts. His fingernails dig into the palm of his hand. He resists reaching for his wand. "You have no fucking right - you never said a fucking thing. You're the one who doesn't get what it's like to have what you want dangled in front of you for fucking years."
Teddy laughs, but it is a bitter sound. "Go home, James," says Teddy evenly. "Not now, okay?"
If he doesn't leave now, he'll say things that will make it impossible for them to work this out, and the part of him that doesn't want Teddy to die a painful death really wants to work it out. James stops himself from throwing something at Teddy and Disapparates.
The wand
James moves the lathe down the wood. Long, thin strips fall away. It is nearly too thin now to use the lathe. He uses his wand, shaping it, thick for the handle and tapering to a fine, precise tip. With each pass of his wand this new one emerges and the ache in his chest seems a little more distant. He's going to have to stop allowing Teddy to break his heart, maybe by working harder and getting him out of his bloody head.
He runs his fingers up and down the wand and he realises that it's finished. There is no more wood that needs to come off. He'd selected the core ages ago. Dragon heartstring - from a Hungarian Horntail, one of Uncle Charlie's charges that was supposedly 8,337 years old when she died. He lays the heartstring out on the wand and begins the spell. It rolls off his tongue like a poem, he's read it so many times, and the wand seems to swallow its core, sealing itself with no trace but a hum of magic under James' fingers.
Ollivander's secret recipe finishing varnish smells like a mix of Kneazle piss and mouldering flowers, but it is the essential final step and one day, if he's successful here, it will be his secret recipe. He siphons three teaspoons of varnish out of the jar with his old wand and slowly applies it to the new. The wand, in this final stage, is imbued with some piece of the wand maker's magic. The wood, the core, and the wand maker weave together what becomes a partially sentient object, as unique as a person; James repeats in his head what he has heard dozens of times as he watched over Ollivander's shoulder. Then the wand waits for its match.
James holds the first wand of his making, the first one with a piece of him inside it. It warms his fingers. It greets him, and he has two thoughts at the same moment. He's going to have to stop allowing Teddy to break his heart, maybe by never letting him get away again, and he's been going about finding Teddy's wand all wrong. He's been trying to replace his old one, his dad's wand. You can't replace a wand anymore than you can replace a friend.
An explanation
Teddy stands in his doorway, staring resignedly at James. His worn jeans hang low enough on his hips that a strip of skin almost shows beneath his t-shirt.
"You owe me an explanation," James says, controlling his voice, if not his temper.
"I know," Teddy says. He continues to stare at James as if he can't quite believe he's standing in his door.
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"I know."
"Malfoy was a distraction. It didn't mean anything more than that one time and you never said anything had changed. Maybe we were getting closer, but that could have been my bloody imagination - like every other fucking time over the past four years," James insists, before it registers that Teddy isn't arguing with him.
"My fault," Teddy says.
James isn't entirely sure if Teddy's humouring him, so that he won't shout, but Teddy steps back out of the doorway, and James chooses to take that as an invitation.
James steps into Teddy's flat and Teddy closes the door behind him. James rolls his shoulders and neck, stretching the tight muscles.
"You broke my heart, you arse," James says. That's not quite what he meant to say, but sometimes his mouth moves ahead of his brain.
Teddy blinks at him. "Are we talking about yesterday or four years ago?"
James opens his mouth and closes it again. He decides on, "Four years ago." That's when this started, after all.
"I'm sorry, but you do realise that you chucked me." Teddy crosses his arms over his chest and frowns at James.
"You weren't supposed to let me chuck you, you idiot," James says. He's suddenly feeling sixteen again, and thoroughly misunderstood.
"You chucked me and then shagged the first bloke who came along," says Teddy. He walks all the way into his flat, into the living room, and James can't help but hope they're making progress with every step.
"That was supposed to make you see how badly you'd fucked up."
Teddy sits on his sofa and shakes his head. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Well, as you were so fond of pointing out at the time, I was sixteen," James says, and he breathes with relief when Teddy huffs a little laugh.
"I do feel compelled to point out again that you are no longer sixteen, and you shouldn't have to be told not to shag Scorpius Malfoy. That should be obvious, and it's not exactly original," says Teddy. His gaze on James' face makes the room a few degrees warmer.
"We're not talking about Scorpius anymore. Scorpius isn't on the table," James says and Teddy laughs again.
"Isn't he, now?" Teddy smiles up at James; a touch of worry still lingers in his grey eyes. "I've made a spectacular mess of things."
James sits next to Teddy on the sofa. He hasn't been alone with him here for ages. Al is always about, or one of Teddy's mates. He curls his fingers around Teddy's knee, slipping one finger into a hole in the worn fabric. "I don't think it's all been a mess."
Teddy blinks and his eyes stay closed a split second too long. "James," he says, in that same warning tone he'd used when Teddy was sixteen and pressing eagerly against him.
"No," James says. He grips Teddy's knee. "Don't say James like I'm a silly kid. What the fuck is going on? You seemed eager enough with my cock in your hand last night." If he weren't watching Teddy so closely, he would have missed it: a tiny hitch to his breath, a slight shift in the way he's sitting. "What?" James says.
Teddy bites the corner of his lip and takes James' hand in his, peeling it from his leg where James is gripping it harder than he'd realised. "Okay, um, yeah. It was never you. I thought it was for the best that we ended it, and never meant for last night to happen, but not because I don't want you. It was never you, all right?" He takes James' face in his hands and pulls him close, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "All right?"
"Yeah," James says on a slow exhale. "But not quite."
"All right. Right. You're not a kid," Teddy says and James waits, his fingers twining with Teddy's on his thigh. "There's something you need to know."
"You're really a werewolf," James blurts out. He didn't even realise until that moment that he'd been wondering if that was Teddy's reason for backing off again and again.
"No." Teddy looks down, a smile that's more like a nervous grimace on his lips. "There are things I've always wanted to do with you, things I want you do to me, for me. Things I need."
"I don't understand," James says, but Teddy's words are working their way under his skin. He slides to the edge of his seat.
Teddy murmurs a spell and several lengths of black silk cord appear in his hands. He doesn't look up.
"Oh," James says. "Oh. You - you want to tie me up?" His heart is pounding so loudly he's sure Teddy must hear it. He's never thought about it, well not so much anyway, but he could. He could lie back and put his arms over his head while Teddy wrapped the smooth silk around his wrists, strain against the cords as Teddy pushed inside. Oh.
Teddy shakes his head. "No." His chest rises and falls. He hands James the ropes.
"Oh," James breathes. "You -"
"And it's about much more than that." Teddy meets his eyes and now he's the one who seems young and vulnerable. "And it's your choice, but I wanted you to know that it is not that I'm not interested and it's not Malfoy or anyone else. I never knew how to tell you, and the longer I didn't, well - I was hoping back then that I could do without...have what I thought was a normal life. Then when I saw you with other blokes, and that you could be normal...anyway, right or wrong, it took me a while to come to terms with it. Malfoy took me by surprise, that's all."
James realises with a start that Teddy thought there was a chance he'd be disgusted by him. James reaches and slides his hands over Teddy's palm. The skin is warm and the silk is cool. He curls his fingers around the cords and Teddy's breath hitches.
"I don't expect you to -" Teddy says, but there's a plea underneath his words.
"I don't know how." James lifts the ties and wraps them around his hand. "I don't know what to do, but I want to."
"I can show you, if you'd like. A little bit at a time," Teddy says. He's speaking in a quiet hush, almost as if he's in a library, and James feels so nervous he's afraid he'll laugh, which isn't what he wants to do at all.
"We've waited this long. I reckon I maybe don't know as much as I thought I did."
"James?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Teddy stands and James follows. James is shaking. He doesn't want Teddy to see, even although there is no longer any chance of him laughing. If Teddy bolts again, James will shatter. He takes Teddy's hand in his, the one holding the silk cords, and presses their palms together. Teddy's eyes burn, cheeks flushed with arousal. He's not going anywhere this time.
"Let's just start with whatever you want," Teddy says. He moves so he is toe-to-toe with James. His breath ghosts over James' cheek. "See where that takes us."
"Um, get on your knees?" James asks.
Teddy's lips are brushing his ear. The tip of his tongue traces the shell. "Don't ask," he whispers.
"Oh." James clears his throat. "Get on your knees."
Teddy looks at the floor and sinks to his knees in front of James. He glances up at James with lidded eyes and trust. James has to catch his breath. He hesitates.
"Whatever you want," Teddy says again. He doesn't move.
"Take off your shirt," James says, trying his voice.
Teddy does. His powerful chest is golden in the lamp light. James wants to fall to his knees next to him and lick the curve from his ribs to his nipple. James moves behind Teddy and runs his hand across broad shoulders, down beautiful arms, and he does kneel. Behind Teddy, James kneels and leans to lick the hollow under his shoulder blade. He keeps expecting Teddy to stop him, to tell him it was a mistake, but Teddy is still as if he's been petrified. James grips both of Teddy's wrists and pulls them together, bringing them to nearly touching behind Teddy's back.
"Don't move," James says against Teddy's ear. Teddy seems to holding his breath. James wraps the silk length around one wrist and then the other. The black fabric stands out starkly against Teddy's skin.
"Tighter," Teddy says. His tongue wets his lips and his voice is husky.
The muscles in Teddy's shoulders and arms flex as he presses them closer behind his back. His skin is hot under James' fingers. James' hands tremble. Teddy is strong enough that he could rip the silk cords in two without magic, and James has seen him cast wandless spells. He could morph his body and slip out of any bonds James could conjure.
"Like that?" James asks, his voice trembling as much as his hands. Teddy could get out if he wanted.
"Make me believe I can't get out," Teddy says so quietly that James isn't sure he heard him correctly.
James pulls the end of the cord and wraps it tighter around Teddy's wrists. He stands and undresses slowly, giving himself time, thinking. Teddy doesn't look back at the sound of buttons and zips and clothes falling to the floor.
"Look at me," James says. He moves around in front of Teddy. His cock stands out, inches from Teddy's face, but Teddy looks at James' eyes. "Suck me," James says. He's surprised at his own voice, how sure he suddenly sounds, and Teddy lets a small moan escape.
Teddy widens his knees on the carpet so he doesn't fall and tilts his head as James moves closer. The first touch of his tongue to the tip of James cock is nearly enough to make James crumple to his knees. James pushes forward and Teddy opens his mouth to accept James' cock. His tongue works the underside and James watches his length slide in until he feels the back of Teddy's mouth. He could ask him - tell him - to do anything right now.
"Wait," James says. His heart is beating against his ribs and his cock is aching and he wants to order Teddy to do every filthy thing he's ever fantasised. "Wait," he says again.
"What?" Teddy asks gently. His chest is heaving and flushed.
"I don't - I don't want to tell you to do something you don't want," James says.
"I think that's highly unlikely," Teddy says, breaking with character enough to give James a reassuring smile. "But you're right. I shouldn't have - taking it slow doesn't mean skipping steps. If there is something I don't want, I'll say 'not that.' Anything else, anything at all, I'm fine. Or better than, if you keep going as you are."
"All right then." James strokes his cock, still damp from Teddy's mouth. "I said suck me."
Teddy forces back a smirk and slides his mouth over James cock. It is so hot and so wet and when he closes his lips around the head and sucks, James buries his hands in Teddy's hair and groans. He wants more. He's waited so long and he wants Teddy to touch him, to be inside him. He wants everything he's wanted for years, now.
"Stop," he says, and Teddy's mouth opens immediately and Teddy pulls back. "I was too close."
He falls to his knees and slides his hands around Teddy's waist, pressing their chest together. His cock slides over Teddy's stomach and James groans at the friction when it rubs against Teddy's jeans. He kisses Teddy's open mouth. His hands wander over Teddy's lower back, the curve of his arse, and around undo the button on his jeans.
He kisses Teddy again. Teddy follows his every move, yielding when James presses his tongue inside Teddy's mouth and chasing James' until he's licking every corner of James' mouth. James presses their bodies close together and he's not sure what to do next.
"You can have whatever you want," Teddy says.
"I've always wanted, fucking dreamed about, you - " James stops himself. He does not, not now, want to disappoint Teddy. "I - do you want me to fuck you, because I always assumed, but now -"
"I want to please you."
"I've been dreaming about it since I was a kid," James says. "I wanted you to be my first."
"Then tell me to fuck you, however you want it," Teddy says, meeting James' eyes.
It's finally going to happen then. This isn't a mistake. Teddy isn't running away. It is not adrenalin, and there's no misunderstanding.
"Fuck me," James says, and his knees give a little at the look in Teddy's eyes. "Fuck me slow and hard and don't you dare come until after I do."
"Christ, James," Teddy moans. "You're a fucking natural."
He wants Teddy to touch him. He wants his hands on him and in him. "Get out of it," he says, tugging on the cord behind Teddy's back. "I know you can."
Teddy mutters a spell and the cords slither to the floor. He still doesn't move off his knees. His hands fall to his sides. James is tempted to tell him to touch him, to fall onto the rug and rub against him until his comes, but now that he knows he can have it, he wants more.
"The chair," James says, gesturing at the wide armchair by the fire. "Sit on the chair."
Teddy stands and walks to the other side of the room. He lowers himself into the large, plush chair. James takes a moment to just look at his powerful thighs pressed against the seat cushion, his thick cock jutting up, his back straight as he waits.
"Shame to waste these," James says, bending to retrieve the silk cord. Teddy groans as he watches James bend over and take the ties in his hands. He grabs his wand - the wand, the one he just finished, that still doesn't feel like his - and charms the cords around Teddy's ankles and the fat chair legs. "I want your hands free."
"As you wish," Teddy says.
"Yes," James moans as he slides onto Teddy's lap, his knees on either side of Teddy's thighs. He moves, his thighs stuttering against Teddy's, until his cock brushes Teddy's and he can rock, sliding their cocks together. "Touch me," James says. He braces his hands on Teddy's shoulders.
Teddy's fingers trail across his chest, brushing his nipples. His palms smooth over James' stomach, pressing more firmly as they move lower.
"Like that?" Teddy asks, and James can almost hear the Sir? hanging in the air. Part of him is glad Teddy didn't say it. Yet.
"Harder. Touch my cock," James says. "Oh god," he groans. Teddy slides one hand to cup his arse and wraps the other around his cock, stroking from top to bottom and back. "Both, yours too," James gasps.
He's gripping Teddy's shoulders so hard, it must hurt. Teddy's presses their cocks together wrapping his hand around both and squeezing. It's rough and dry and Teddy's hand almost hurts as it moves on them.
"May I -" Teddy begins, looking about for something. He nods at the wand, James' new wand. "Help us out a bit?"
"God, yes." James is aching, his muscles straining from his head to his toes. He can't help but thrust into Teddy's hand.
Teddy's fingers close around the wand and he freezes. He opens his mouth in a gasp and his eyes light. He rolls the wand in his fingers, and then shakes his head. He points the wand at his hand, which is immediately slick with lotion.
"Teddy," James says.
He means to ask what happened, but his thoughts are banished by Teddy's hand and cock sliding, now slippery and smooth, along his. He grabs Teddy's other hand and drags his fingers over their cocks, making them slick as well. Teddy's muscles quiver, holding himself back, when his hands squeeze the tip of his cock to James'.
"Your fingers," says James. "Inside me."
He holds his breath as Teddy's finger circles his entrance. It starts to push inside and pulls back, getting the sensitive skin slick and ready.
"Don't tease me," James commands. The tip of Teddy's finger slips inside and James rises up on his knees, arching back to push Teddy's finger in as far as it will go. "Fuck, Teddy," James says. He rocks back again. "Fuck me."
"Yes," Teddy says.
James can see that Teddy's control over his demeanour slipping. He starts to slip in a second finger without being told. James is new to this, but he gets the picture, and while Teddy losing it is hot as hell, James has an idea he ought not to allow it.
It takes every ounce of his own control, but he pushes off from Teddy's shoulders and stands. "I didn't tell you to do that."
Teddy clamps his lips together to silence a groan.
"Put your arms over your head," James says. "Incarcerous."
Two black ropes spring from the new wand, but they miss Teddy's wrists by a hair. James grabs them and ties one each to Teddy's wrists, securing his arms to the chair above his head. God, Teddy looks gorgeous, dishevelled and desperate and muscles straining against his bonds.
"Watch me," James says. He backs into Teddy's lap on the big chair, feet hooking over the back and knees at the front, so that Teddy can see every detail as James reaches back and slides two fingers into his own arse.
"Christ," Teddy gasps as James fingers himself open.
"You want to fuck me?" James says, grinding his words out between clenched teeth.
"If...you wish," Teddy says with measured control.
James pulls his fingers from his arse and reaches to hold Teddy's cock still. He wants him inside, now and fast and hard. He sits back and feels the wide end of Teddy's cock press against him, slip through his cleft until it catches on this edge of his hole.
"Yes," James hisses as he sits back, presses Teddy's cock inside. His muscles stretch and burn and the sensations slide up his spine, spreading molten heat through his body. He sinks down until his arse is against Teddy and he can't go in any further. "God, Teddy, yes." He pulls back up, using his thigh muscles to fuck himself on Teddy's cock.
Teddy groans with the effort of not moving as James goes faster, up and down. James knows that Teddy can see his cock pushing in and sliding out, can see James' arse gripping him. He rocks harder and grabs the arms of the chair to keep his balance.
"You feel so good, oh god, so good," James says, completely lost in the sensation, the stretch and pressure of Teddy's cock deep inside his body.
Teddy's hands are suddenly on his hips, squeezing into his flesh and moving with him. Teddy broke his bonds. Somewhere in James' brain he thinks he should do something about that, punish Teddy somehow, but Teddy's cock is so thick inside him, pushing through him, rubbing over every sensitive part.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," James chants. It's so good. He's so close. He wraps his hand around his cock and strokes fast and hard. Teddy keeps fucking him, deep, hard thrusts. James grinds down into Teddy's lap, onto Teddy's cock, circling his hips. Every nerve, every muscle, from his toes to his scalp, tightens and tingles and his orgasm tears through him. His mouth is open in inarticulate groans, completely beyond words as he comes over his hands, onto Teddy's knees, on the chair.
Teddy stills, his hands still on James hips. James can feel him trembling.
"Come," James says, his voice rough as gravel. "Fuck me and come."
Teddy makes a deep sound and thrusts into James one, two more times. His fingers dig into James' hips and his thrusts stutter as he pants and gasps, "Jamie, god, Jamie."
James collapses against him and Teddy's hands slide around James in an embrace. James doesn't move for a few breaths - he couldn't if he wanted to - and he listens to his heart slow and Teddy's breathing even out. Teddy's hands splay on his chest and pull him tight against Teddy's body.
"You okay?" Teddy asks.
"See now," says James. He shifts and whimpers a little as Teddy's cock slips out, "we could have been doing that for four years." He turns sideways in Teddy's lap and runs his hand over the faint red marks on Teddy's wrists. He curls into Teddy's lap, resting his head on his broad shoulder.
"You weren't ready. I couldn't risk it," Teddy says. His arms wrap around James. It's intimate and sweet and close to bliss.
"You never gave me a chance. I might've been ready." James knows as he says this that Teddy was right.
"I wasn't ready."
James presses his lips to Teddy's and Teddy opens his mouth to kiss him back.
"So, how did I do?" James asks, cheek pressed to Teddy's.
"Not bad, but we'll have to work on your knots."
James laughs softly. He can't muster a bit of regret that Teddy was able to get his hands free.
"Teddy?"
"Mmm?"
"The wand," James says. "I think I made it for you."
"James," Teddy says in quiet awe. "James. Thank you." He wraps his arms around James' body and buries his face in James' hair.
James is certain of three things: he's going to enjoy soaking up everything Teddy has yet to teach him; he is no longer an apprentice wandmaker; and they both - the wand and he - have chosen their match.
Title: More Than That (In Your Hands)
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 15,000
Pairing(s): Teddy/James, James/Scorpius
Warnings: some very light bondage and D/s
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: James has his first real assignment - to outfit Teddy with a wand. He knows he has what it takes, but some people are harder than others to pin down, and if Teddy bolts again, James will shatter.
Author's Notes: Not really a warning, but just in case, there are flashbacks of them together when James is 16 and Teddy is 22. For the bulk of the fic, James is 20. This wonderful prompt grabbed me right away. I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my wonderful betas for their fabulous work, and another special thank you to J for lying awake, thinking of ways to fix it! Thank you a million times to the mods for running this fest and for their patience.
An intervention
"Oi you, Lord Layabout." Albus shouts, as he knocks and then flings open the door, striding into James' flat.
"I didn't say, 'come in'," James grumbles. Finn is standing behind Albus. "Is this an intervention?"
"Get your arse off the couch and come round the pub with me and Finn."
"I'm working, you pricks," James says, holding up the irrefutable evidence of his worn copy of Wands and Wandlore. What he had actually been doing is staring at the same page for an hour, thinking about Teddy.
"Speaking about pricks, it's been months since you've had any, or anyone else's rather," Finn said, waggling his eyebrows like a lunatic.
"Christ," barks Albus.
"Well," Finn says, shrugging. "He's becoming a hermit and that's not to be allowed."
"You're not going to leave, are you?" James asks, frowning at the pair of them.
"No," they chime in unison.
"Christ," James sighs and heaves himself from the sofa.
The Leaky Cauldron is packed with a Saturday crowd.
James squeezes in at the bar. Since Frank Abbott-Longbottom took it over from his mum, the place is always busy, always noisy, and always good for a laugh.
"Potter," a voice says from behind him.
James turns and there's a flash of blond hair and white teeth.
"Malfoy," James nods. He has nothing against Scorpius Malfoy. He and Albus were decent enough mates during school and Malfoy could always be counted upon for a challenge on the pitch, but he's not sure they've ever had a complete conversation.
"How's things?" Scorpius asks, pleasantly enough.
"Brilliant. You?"
"A bit better now." Malfoy smiles. "I just dropped by for a drink and no one I thought might be here is."
"Oh," James says. Malfoy looks good. He always did, but a couple of years seem to have favoured him. He was probably the first bloke - besides Teddy - who James knew was gay, and good reason or no, just knowing that he was pretty and an option had made James fancy him a bit ever since. "Well, join us. It's just me and Albus and Finn. I'm sure Al'd be happy to see you."
Malfoy smiles again, and this time it is broad enough to make a dimple appear on his cheek. He really is pretty. "You happy to see me at all?"
"Happy enough," James says, smiling back and little frisson of something stirs in his belly. "Come on, then," he says, leading Malfoy back to their table, acutely aware of Scorpius at his back.
"Look what you dragged in," Albus says as they pull over another chair. "Cheers, Malfoy."
Finn gives James a look that he ignores. He's just having a drink. But it's not just a drink. Malfoy sits next to James. The way he parts his lips to sip his drink should not be allowed in polite company. He smiles and James could swear he's flirting. When he talks to Albus, it's school mates, but when he talks to James there's a purr in his voice and a heat in his eyes and there's nothing mate-y about it.
"Where's Frank? I'm empty," James says, tapping his glass.
"Me, too," Scorpius says, drawing his finger around the rim of his glass.
"Ah, he's too busy tonight," James says, desperate for another drink, and to stop thinking about Malfoy and drawing fingers around rims. "I'll just go and -" he stands and lurches his way through the crowd.
He's about to catch Frank's eye when a hand touches the small of his back. It's been a while, and the hand feels so good there.
"It doesn't have to mean anything, you know," Scorpius whispers, close to James' ear, his breath ruffling his hair.
James turns and Scorpius is so close he can feel the warmth of his body, the press of his chest against his arm. He owes no one. He's beholden to no one, James thinks bitterly, and it has been a long time, and Scorpius is fitter even than James remembers him.
"No," James says, his hand falling to Scorpius' hip, "I don't reckon it does."
"As long as we both know what we want." Scorpius voice is still a near purr and the hand slides from James' back to his arse.
James draws his hand down Scorpius chest and stops, hooking his thumb into Scorpius belt buckle. "I know what I want."
The smile on Scorpius' face is utterly wicked, and James wants to trace it with his tongue. He drags his thumb across Scorpius' full bottom lip. The pub is so packed and everyone is jostling so at the bar, that James almost thinks they could continue as they're going unnoticed. He'd push Scorpius against the scarred wood and frot against him until they both come.
"Not here, you arse," Scorpius says, but he sounds less scolding and more delighted. He grabs James' hand and pulls him to the door.
James glances back at the table and sees a look of surprise on Albus' face and Finn, that smug bastard, grinning like he set this up. James turns, the sight of Scorpius leaving is infinitely better than the alternative.
Scorpius leans against the wall at the edge of the alley. He looks delicious. James takes in his smoky grey eyes, his mouth, parted and ready to kiss, and he wants. He has a hazy notion, blurred by alcohol and lust, that his might not be what he really wants, but he's here. Now.
"Doesn't have to mean anything," Scorpius says, as if he's afraid that James is about to complicate the arrangement. He must mistake the desire in James' eyes for something else.
"I always knew you were a slag, Malfoy," James murmurs, leaning to press Scorpius against the rough brick wall.
"You always hoped I was a slag, Potter."
There's no use arguing with that, and James can put that pretty mouth to better use than a debate. James leans up and presses his mouth to Scorpius' parted lips. Scorpius may be the one being pressed into a wall, but he pushes back, his hands everywhere and his cock hard against James' hip.
"Christ," James gasps as Scorpius palms his cock through his robes. He thinks vaguely that he is doing something treacherous as he works his hand into robes and touches warm, smooth skin, but Scorpius' cock feels so good in his hand and he's gasping into James' mouth, urging him to stroke faster. And there you are. He doesn't owe anyone anything. No one is waiting for him at home. It doesn't have to mean anything.
Scorpius bites his lower lip and growls, "Harder, Potter. Fuck-nearly."
James drops to his knees sucks Scorpius' cock into his mouth. He can feel that he's about to come, feel his body tensing and cock pulsing.
"Mm," he hums around Malfoy. He rubs his own cock with his palm. He's desperate to come at the same time as Malfoy, desperate to have that moment of blissful oblivion.
Malfoy gives a barely audible gasp and his fingers dig into James' skull, pulling hair from its roots, as he comes, hot and bitter and so fucking gorgeous in James' mouth.
He grinds his hand against his cock as his hips stutter against nothing. Trembling from his impending orgasm, he hauls himself to standing to kiss Scorpius, sharing his come. He rips open his robes and presses his cock against Scorpius' body.
"Fuck, Potter." Scorpius shudders as James' cock slides over his softening one, gasping into the James' mouth.
James slips his cock between Scorpius thighs and feels the head against his soft balls. Scorpius is beautiful, and it has been ages since someone wanted James enough to drag him into an alley and not give a shit about what it meant or propriety or anything other than - fuck - getting each other off.
"Oh my-ngh," James groans. His come coats Scorpius' thighs and he fucks between them until he can't stand it anymore.
Scorpius slumps against the wall, a cocky grin on his face. "Not bad, Potter. Worth the wait, I'd say."
James has a moment of panic that Scorpius wants more than this - that he's been harbouring more than lust. "Yeah," he croaks.
But then Scorpius is pushing James away, and James blinks as Scorpius rights his clothes, gives James a quick kiss asks, "Next time we both have nothing better to do, eh?" and walks back into the pub.
James stumbles after him. He considers just Apparating home because he knows he looks completely shagged and he doesn't particularly want to see Finn's smirking face.
He really should listen to those little niggling doubts. As soon as he steps inside, there's Teddy, standing at the bar, looking from a pink-cheeked Scorpius, who's just flopped bonelessly into the seat next to Albus, to James.
The look he gives James is so full of hurt and disappointment that James feels the room sway around him. Teddy drains the glass of whisky in his hand and pushes past James and out the door. "Nice one, James," he says in a low voice
It is entirely possible that he's missed something, James thinks.
It's them
He can't be here. There is no earthly way he can concentrate at work today. He had himself convinced this morning, when he forced himself to come in, that Teddy wouldn't show up. And yet, there is a very familiar figure lurking in front of the shop. James has watched Teddy pace past three times. His breath stopped in his chest each time Teddy passed the door, watching for a hand to reach out to the knob.
"Mr Ollivander," James says. "Sir? I'm feeling rather poorly. I think I ought not to be here."
"This is your task, lad," Ollivander says. He boxes the wand he's been studying all morning and shuffles to the back room.
The door creaks with a din to raise the dead. He'd overdone it a bit, James thinks. After Mr Ollivander binned the bell he tied to the door, James charmed the door to creak. He couldn't have Teddy sneaking up on him and Mr Ollivander could hardly say it added frippery and fuss.
Teddy is back in his work robes. The dark red suits him and James wants him so badly it aches.
"Well, this is awkward," James says after several seconds, or three hours, of silence.
Teddy rolls his eyes. "That's one word for it. I have a few others. Look, Ollivander seems to have made me the centre of some twisted experiment, so let's just move on, shall we?"
"Yeah, sorry," James says. "I'm sorry. I mean, I didn't-"
"Wands, James."
Teddy cuts him off, which is a relief, really. He has no idea what he was going to say anyway - babble that despite having Scorpius' cock down his throat, he only wants Teddy?
"Look," Teddy says. He scrubs his hand over his face. "Let's not make this any more difficult than it needs to be. I'm to start back at work, and until I have a wand, I'm on report writing. I didn't go through all that training to use a bloody quill. I am walking out of here with a wand today."
"We have a few new wands in," James says. He summons the boxes and lifts the first one out.
Teddy reaches for it and their fingers brush as he takes it from James' hand.
"Malfoy?" Teddy blurts out, glaring at James.
"Hold on a moment. Don't you even - you never said anything," James says, fury rising in his chest. "You never said a bloody thing."
"I never said anything, no," Teddy says. "My mistakes all 'round. I forgot how quickly you move."
"That's not fucking fair. I was sixteen -"
"You're not sixteen now."
"And you never - "
Someone shouts in the street. James catches "Gringott's…hostages…Aurors…", and James is saved from deciding if he's going to confess his longing or hex Teddy for being an arse.
"It's them," Teddy says, his knuckles white around the wand James has just handed him.
Teddy runs and flings open the door just as one…two…three…four Aurors Apparate onto Diagon Alley. Uncle Ron is the last one, and he looks grim and forbidding as he barks orders to the others. They run down the road and Teddy follows. James doesn't think, doesn't know he's even left the shop, until he is taking the steps in front of Gringott's two at a time, his wand drawn, listening to Uncle Ron's instructions to the others.
"You all right?" Uncle Ron shouts to Teddy.
Teddy nods and then he turns as sees James. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get your arse back to the shop and lock yourself in."
Teddy runs along the street. Uncle Ron is focused on the other others; he doesn't see him. The image of Teddy pale and near death in St. Mungo's swims before his eyes and he waits a moment as the Aurors burst into Gringott's. James follows on the tails of the distraction.
A group of about eight people are huddled in the corner. A masked wizard stands over them with his wand drawn. A man lies unconscious on the floor in front of the terrified group. A witch on the floor can't take her eyes of the man and her hand twitches towards him. A witch standing on the other side of them holds eight wands in her right hand and brandishes what must be her own in her left.
They look up, dawning awareness that the Aurors are here. Relief washes over their faces and then the world explodes. Five people in masks come from the door leading to the vaults. Spells and hexes fly across the room. A stone dais behind James' head bursts into rubble. Uncle Ron moves through the room as if in slow motion, working spells as he goes. He bellows at another Auror to get to the hostages. Teddy runs into the fray with his borrowed wand, and James runs after him.
"What the hell - Ron told you to go," Teddy shouts. "I can't worry about you."
James tries to stun the witch holding the hostages, but Teddy's stunning hex gets her first. One of the hostages, the woman who was staring at the unconscious man, manages to grab her wand and takes the masked man behind her unawares. The hostages are free. Half of them dive behind the counters where James assumes the Goblins are hiding. The other half join the fight.
A jet of green light whizzes by James' ear. He's knocked to the ground by Uncle Ron.
"James," Uncle Ron bellows, and for a moment James thinks he might kill him. "Get down behind that counter, and if you come out, you'll wish that had hit you."
A man in a black mask appears behind Uncle Ron and James sees him lift his wand, pointing it at Uncle Ron's head.
"Stupefy," James shouts and the man crumples to the floor.
"Nicely done," Uncle Ron calls over his shoulder. He fires off another spell. "Now get to cover."
James runs to the tall marble counter and ducks behind. That man would have never snuck up on Uncle Ron had he not been worrying about James. He watches as Teddy corners another of the bandits and binds him with silver ropes.
The bandits are trying to retreat. One or two manage to run for the doors, but most have been cornered and bound by Aurors.
"Good work," Uncle Ron says. He gestures at two of the Aurors. "Get them back to the Ministry." He turns to Teddy and says, "I see you've found a wand. You're back on tomorrow if you're ready. Oh," he adds, squeezing his temples with his fingers, "and take that one home and clean him up, would you? I won't tell Harry you let him follow you if you won't."
"Yes sir," Teddy says, cutting off James' protest.
Uncle Ron and most of the Aurors leave, and the Goblins grumble about having to clean up after wizards' mess as they have for hundreds of years. Looking about, James can't fault them their grumbling.
Teddy is suddenly looming over him, his jaw clenched. "That was the height of stupidity. You're bleeding and you could have been killed."
James lifts his hand to his face and feels his cheek is warm and sticky where a shard of marble hit him.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a kid. You almost were killed," James says. "And you didn't even know if that wand would work for you."
Teddy grips his arm and his fingers dig into James' flesh. "I signed up for it."
James feels the sickening pull of Apparition as, without warning, Teddy pulls him out of Gringott's and a dizzying moment later, he lands in Teddy's flat.
"What were you playing at?" Teddy asks, swiping the borrowed wand over James' cheek. It feels warm and then cool, and James feels his skin knit back together.
"I'm so sorry for trying to help. I don't think I did too badly." James' stomach burns with frustration.
"You know who you stunned?" Teddy asks. James shakes his head. "Tony Dolohov. His father..."
"The Death Eater's son? The one who -"
"And the one who nearly killed me before," Teddy says. "We think they're all the kids of Death Eaters. Fancy themselves finishing their parents' work. All of the hatred, none of the organization. They're just ruthless bandits. Nothing more and they do not hesitate to kill."
"They almost killed you." James says again. He can close his eyes and he's back at Gringott's, spells filling the room. Amazing, terrible, what all those different wands can do. He closes his eyes and he can hear the shouts and the shattering marble and the adrenalin filling his body.
He closes his eyes and a warm mouth is on his, harsh and firm, a world away from the soft kisses his remembers. He grips the front of Teddy's robes. Fingers slide grab and tug at his hair.
"Oh, oh," he moans as Teddy deepens the kiss and presses against his body.
Teddy's warmth withdraws and James panics. He leans into the kiss with everything he has, crashing against Teddy.
"This is what you want?" Teddy gasps, pulling open James' robes. "You want me to shove you against a wall and take you?"
James' back connects with the wall and Teddy is pressing up against him, sliding his tongue past his lips. There's none of the hesitancy, none of the caution James always associates with kissing Teddy. It's desperate and hard and so, so good.
Teddy's hands slide under his shirt, up his chest, too fast and too hard. James' cock twitches as two buttons pop off and skitter across the floor.
"Christ, Teddy," he breathes.
He reaches and unfastens Teddy's heavy belt buckle. Teddy's teeth sink gently into the curve where James' neck meets his shoulder.
"Don't fucking do that again," Teddy says. His teeth scrape James' neck again.
James is aching for Teddy to touch him, stroke his cock, make him come. He's waited years, his entire life for this. Teddy's hands stutter over his skin, his stomach, his chest. He slips his hand down the front of Teddy's open trousers, palming his hard cock through the cotton pants. Teddy's cock feels -- fuck -- so good in James' hand. Teddy's fingers linger at his waist, not dipping lower and not touch him like he needs.
"Please," James says. He pleads, but he doesn't wait. He's waited long enough. Teddy outweighs him and could knock him flat, but James has the height and surprise. He turns them and it's Teddy's back slammed into the wall. "Please," James says again as he leans into Teddy.
An odd look crosses Teddy's face and James feels something shift. Teddy's breath is ragged and he rocks against James so that their erections slide together. Teddy seems to hesitate, to be waiting, but when James demands, "Touch me," he groans and wraps his hand around James' cock.
James reaches to touch Teddy's cock. It's is gorgeous, thick, and shorter than James', just like his body. James watches Teddy's cock slip through his fingers, watches Teddy's hand stroking him.
"So gorgeous," Teddy says. He's watching, too.
Teddy thrusts into James' fist and groans just as he squeezes over the head of James' cock, and that's enough for four years of want to seize up in James' body and spill over into a blinding orgasm.
Teddy's cock is slippery with his come and James strokes him hard and fast. He wants this moment almost more than he wanted Teddy to make him come.
Teddy groans in what sounds like frustration as he fucks James' fist. James leans in to kiss him, and just as his lips press to Teddy's, Teddy whispers, "Tell me to come."
"Fuck, come. Teddy, come."
Warm come coast his hand and he watches, mesmerised, as Teddy's face crumples in bliss. Panting, Teddy presses his forehead to James', and for a moment of ecstasy, James thinks they're sorted.
He meets Teddy's grey eyes and Teddy blinks and looks away. Teddy pulls his robes closed with a jerk. James' stomach sinks to his ankles.
It doesn't have to mean anything, after all - hasn't James proven that again and again?
"Teddy," he says, the unease that has been the past two days creeping into his voice.
"One night doesn't make us different people," Teddy says.
"What the fuck does that mean?" James snaps. "I didn't think we needed to be different people."
"Shit," Teddy says. He straightens his clothes. "There are things you don't know."
"So enlighten me," James says through gritted teeth.
"This is still all you think sex is, quick fucks against a wall. Fucking simple. It could only be better if we were in some disgusting alley, like you're used to."
The words sting so badly that James can't draw breath fast enough to answer - to shout that Teddy is a fucking bastard who doesn't know a thing about wanting so much more since before was old enough to want it.
"Is this about Scorpius again?" James' voice trembles with anger.
"Scorpius? No, it's not about Scorpius. I didn't expect anything from him."
"No. No you don't," James shouts. His fingernails dig into the palm of his hand. He resists reaching for his wand. "You have no fucking right - you never said a fucking thing. You're the one who doesn't get what it's like to have what you want dangled in front of you for fucking years."
Teddy laughs, but it is a bitter sound. "Go home, James," says Teddy evenly. "Not now, okay?"
If he doesn't leave now, he'll say things that will make it impossible for them to work this out, and the part of him that doesn't want Teddy to die a painful death really wants to work it out. James stops himself from throwing something at Teddy and Disapparates.
The wand
James moves the lathe down the wood. Long, thin strips fall away. It is nearly too thin now to use the lathe. He uses his wand, shaping it, thick for the handle and tapering to a fine, precise tip. With each pass of his wand this new one emerges and the ache in his chest seems a little more distant. He's going to have to stop allowing Teddy to break his heart, maybe by working harder and getting him out of his bloody head.
He runs his fingers up and down the wand and he realises that it's finished. There is no more wood that needs to come off. He'd selected the core ages ago. Dragon heartstring - from a Hungarian Horntail, one of Uncle Charlie's charges that was supposedly 8,337 years old when she died. He lays the heartstring out on the wand and begins the spell. It rolls off his tongue like a poem, he's read it so many times, and the wand seems to swallow its core, sealing itself with no trace but a hum of magic under James' fingers.
Ollivander's secret recipe finishing varnish smells like a mix of Kneazle piss and mouldering flowers, but it is the essential final step and one day, if he's successful here, it will be his secret recipe. He siphons three teaspoons of varnish out of the jar with his old wand and slowly applies it to the new. The wand, in this final stage, is imbued with some piece of the wand maker's magic. The wood, the core, and the wand maker weave together what becomes a partially sentient object, as unique as a person; James repeats in his head what he has heard dozens of times as he watched over Ollivander's shoulder. Then the wand waits for its match.
James holds the first wand of his making, the first one with a piece of him inside it. It warms his fingers. It greets him, and he has two thoughts at the same moment. He's going to have to stop allowing Teddy to break his heart, maybe by never letting him get away again, and he's been going about finding Teddy's wand all wrong. He's been trying to replace his old one, his dad's wand. You can't replace a wand anymore than you can replace a friend.
An explanation
Teddy stands in his doorway, staring resignedly at James. His worn jeans hang low enough on his hips that a strip of skin almost shows beneath his t-shirt.
"You owe me an explanation," James says, controlling his voice, if not his temper.
"I know," Teddy says. He continues to stare at James as if he can't quite believe he's standing in his door.
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"I know."
"Malfoy was a distraction. It didn't mean anything more than that one time and you never said anything had changed. Maybe we were getting closer, but that could have been my bloody imagination - like every other fucking time over the past four years," James insists, before it registers that Teddy isn't arguing with him.
"My fault," Teddy says.
James isn't entirely sure if Teddy's humouring him, so that he won't shout, but Teddy steps back out of the doorway, and James chooses to take that as an invitation.
James steps into Teddy's flat and Teddy closes the door behind him. James rolls his shoulders and neck, stretching the tight muscles.
"You broke my heart, you arse," James says. That's not quite what he meant to say, but sometimes his mouth moves ahead of his brain.
Teddy blinks at him. "Are we talking about yesterday or four years ago?"
James opens his mouth and closes it again. He decides on, "Four years ago." That's when this started, after all.
"I'm sorry, but you do realise that you chucked me." Teddy crosses his arms over his chest and frowns at James.
"You weren't supposed to let me chuck you, you idiot," James says. He's suddenly feeling sixteen again, and thoroughly misunderstood.
"You chucked me and then shagged the first bloke who came along," says Teddy. He walks all the way into his flat, into the living room, and James can't help but hope they're making progress with every step.
"That was supposed to make you see how badly you'd fucked up."
Teddy sits on his sofa and shakes his head. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Well, as you were so fond of pointing out at the time, I was sixteen," James says, and he breathes with relief when Teddy huffs a little laugh.
"I do feel compelled to point out again that you are no longer sixteen, and you shouldn't have to be told not to shag Scorpius Malfoy. That should be obvious, and it's not exactly original," says Teddy. His gaze on James' face makes the room a few degrees warmer.
"We're not talking about Scorpius anymore. Scorpius isn't on the table," James says and Teddy laughs again.
"Isn't he, now?" Teddy smiles up at James; a touch of worry still lingers in his grey eyes. "I've made a spectacular mess of things."
James sits next to Teddy on the sofa. He hasn't been alone with him here for ages. Al is always about, or one of Teddy's mates. He curls his fingers around Teddy's knee, slipping one finger into a hole in the worn fabric. "I don't think it's all been a mess."
Teddy blinks and his eyes stay closed a split second too long. "James," he says, in that same warning tone he'd used when Teddy was sixteen and pressing eagerly against him.
"No," James says. He grips Teddy's knee. "Don't say James like I'm a silly kid. What the fuck is going on? You seemed eager enough with my cock in your hand last night." If he weren't watching Teddy so closely, he would have missed it: a tiny hitch to his breath, a slight shift in the way he's sitting. "What?" James says.
Teddy bites the corner of his lip and takes James' hand in his, peeling it from his leg where James is gripping it harder than he'd realised. "Okay, um, yeah. It was never you. I thought it was for the best that we ended it, and never meant for last night to happen, but not because I don't want you. It was never you, all right?" He takes James' face in his hands and pulls him close, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "All right?"
"Yeah," James says on a slow exhale. "But not quite."
"All right. Right. You're not a kid," Teddy says and James waits, his fingers twining with Teddy's on his thigh. "There's something you need to know."
"You're really a werewolf," James blurts out. He didn't even realise until that moment that he'd been wondering if that was Teddy's reason for backing off again and again.
"No." Teddy looks down, a smile that's more like a nervous grimace on his lips. "There are things I've always wanted to do with you, things I want you do to me, for me. Things I need."
"I don't understand," James says, but Teddy's words are working their way under his skin. He slides to the edge of his seat.
Teddy murmurs a spell and several lengths of black silk cord appear in his hands. He doesn't look up.
"Oh," James says. "Oh. You - you want to tie me up?" His heart is pounding so loudly he's sure Teddy must hear it. He's never thought about it, well not so much anyway, but he could. He could lie back and put his arms over his head while Teddy wrapped the smooth silk around his wrists, strain against the cords as Teddy pushed inside. Oh.
Teddy shakes his head. "No." His chest rises and falls. He hands James the ropes.
"Oh," James breathes. "You -"
"And it's about much more than that." Teddy meets his eyes and now he's the one who seems young and vulnerable. "And it's your choice, but I wanted you to know that it is not that I'm not interested and it's not Malfoy or anyone else. I never knew how to tell you, and the longer I didn't, well - I was hoping back then that I could do without...have what I thought was a normal life. Then when I saw you with other blokes, and that you could be normal...anyway, right or wrong, it took me a while to come to terms with it. Malfoy took me by surprise, that's all."
James realises with a start that Teddy thought there was a chance he'd be disgusted by him. James reaches and slides his hands over Teddy's palm. The skin is warm and the silk is cool. He curls his fingers around the cords and Teddy's breath hitches.
"I don't expect you to -" Teddy says, but there's a plea underneath his words.
"I don't know how." James lifts the ties and wraps them around his hand. "I don't know what to do, but I want to."
"I can show you, if you'd like. A little bit at a time," Teddy says. He's speaking in a quiet hush, almost as if he's in a library, and James feels so nervous he's afraid he'll laugh, which isn't what he wants to do at all.
"We've waited this long. I reckon I maybe don't know as much as I thought I did."
"James?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Teddy stands and James follows. James is shaking. He doesn't want Teddy to see, even although there is no longer any chance of him laughing. If Teddy bolts again, James will shatter. He takes Teddy's hand in his, the one holding the silk cords, and presses their palms together. Teddy's eyes burn, cheeks flushed with arousal. He's not going anywhere this time.
"Let's just start with whatever you want," Teddy says. He moves so he is toe-to-toe with James. His breath ghosts over James' cheek. "See where that takes us."
"Um, get on your knees?" James asks.
Teddy's lips are brushing his ear. The tip of his tongue traces the shell. "Don't ask," he whispers.
"Oh." James clears his throat. "Get on your knees."
Teddy looks at the floor and sinks to his knees in front of James. He glances up at James with lidded eyes and trust. James has to catch his breath. He hesitates.
"Whatever you want," Teddy says again. He doesn't move.
"Take off your shirt," James says, trying his voice.
Teddy does. His powerful chest is golden in the lamp light. James wants to fall to his knees next to him and lick the curve from his ribs to his nipple. James moves behind Teddy and runs his hand across broad shoulders, down beautiful arms, and he does kneel. Behind Teddy, James kneels and leans to lick the hollow under his shoulder blade. He keeps expecting Teddy to stop him, to tell him it was a mistake, but Teddy is still as if he's been petrified. James grips both of Teddy's wrists and pulls them together, bringing them to nearly touching behind Teddy's back.
"Don't move," James says against Teddy's ear. Teddy seems to holding his breath. James wraps the silk length around one wrist and then the other. The black fabric stands out starkly against Teddy's skin.
"Tighter," Teddy says. His tongue wets his lips and his voice is husky.
The muscles in Teddy's shoulders and arms flex as he presses them closer behind his back. His skin is hot under James' fingers. James' hands tremble. Teddy is strong enough that he could rip the silk cords in two without magic, and James has seen him cast wandless spells. He could morph his body and slip out of any bonds James could conjure.
"Like that?" James asks, his voice trembling as much as his hands. Teddy could get out if he wanted.
"Make me believe I can't get out," Teddy says so quietly that James isn't sure he heard him correctly.
James pulls the end of the cord and wraps it tighter around Teddy's wrists. He stands and undresses slowly, giving himself time, thinking. Teddy doesn't look back at the sound of buttons and zips and clothes falling to the floor.
"Look at me," James says. He moves around in front of Teddy. His cock stands out, inches from Teddy's face, but Teddy looks at James' eyes. "Suck me," James says. He's surprised at his own voice, how sure he suddenly sounds, and Teddy lets a small moan escape.
Teddy widens his knees on the carpet so he doesn't fall and tilts his head as James moves closer. The first touch of his tongue to the tip of James cock is nearly enough to make James crumple to his knees. James pushes forward and Teddy opens his mouth to accept James' cock. His tongue works the underside and James watches his length slide in until he feels the back of Teddy's mouth. He could ask him - tell him - to do anything right now.
"Wait," James says. His heart is beating against his ribs and his cock is aching and he wants to order Teddy to do every filthy thing he's ever fantasised. "Wait," he says again.
"What?" Teddy asks gently. His chest is heaving and flushed.
"I don't - I don't want to tell you to do something you don't want," James says.
"I think that's highly unlikely," Teddy says, breaking with character enough to give James a reassuring smile. "But you're right. I shouldn't have - taking it slow doesn't mean skipping steps. If there is something I don't want, I'll say 'not that.' Anything else, anything at all, I'm fine. Or better than, if you keep going as you are."
"All right then." James strokes his cock, still damp from Teddy's mouth. "I said suck me."
Teddy forces back a smirk and slides his mouth over James cock. It is so hot and so wet and when he closes his lips around the head and sucks, James buries his hands in Teddy's hair and groans. He wants more. He's waited so long and he wants Teddy to touch him, to be inside him. He wants everything he's wanted for years, now.
"Stop," he says, and Teddy's mouth opens immediately and Teddy pulls back. "I was too close."
He falls to his knees and slides his hands around Teddy's waist, pressing their chest together. His cock slides over Teddy's stomach and James groans at the friction when it rubs against Teddy's jeans. He kisses Teddy's open mouth. His hands wander over Teddy's lower back, the curve of his arse, and around undo the button on his jeans.
He kisses Teddy again. Teddy follows his every move, yielding when James presses his tongue inside Teddy's mouth and chasing James' until he's licking every corner of James' mouth. James presses their bodies close together and he's not sure what to do next.
"You can have whatever you want," Teddy says.
"I've always wanted, fucking dreamed about, you - " James stops himself. He does not, not now, want to disappoint Teddy. "I - do you want me to fuck you, because I always assumed, but now -"
"I want to please you."
"I've been dreaming about it since I was a kid," James says. "I wanted you to be my first."
"Then tell me to fuck you, however you want it," Teddy says, meeting James' eyes.
It's finally going to happen then. This isn't a mistake. Teddy isn't running away. It is not adrenalin, and there's no misunderstanding.
"Fuck me," James says, and his knees give a little at the look in Teddy's eyes. "Fuck me slow and hard and don't you dare come until after I do."
"Christ, James," Teddy moans. "You're a fucking natural."
He wants Teddy to touch him. He wants his hands on him and in him. "Get out of it," he says, tugging on the cord behind Teddy's back. "I know you can."
Teddy mutters a spell and the cords slither to the floor. He still doesn't move off his knees. His hands fall to his sides. James is tempted to tell him to touch him, to fall onto the rug and rub against him until his comes, but now that he knows he can have it, he wants more.
"The chair," James says, gesturing at the wide armchair by the fire. "Sit on the chair."
Teddy stands and walks to the other side of the room. He lowers himself into the large, plush chair. James takes a moment to just look at his powerful thighs pressed against the seat cushion, his thick cock jutting up, his back straight as he waits.
"Shame to waste these," James says, bending to retrieve the silk cord. Teddy groans as he watches James bend over and take the ties in his hands. He grabs his wand - the wand, the one he just finished, that still doesn't feel like his - and charms the cords around Teddy's ankles and the fat chair legs. "I want your hands free."
"As you wish," Teddy says.
"Yes," James moans as he slides onto Teddy's lap, his knees on either side of Teddy's thighs. He moves, his thighs stuttering against Teddy's, until his cock brushes Teddy's and he can rock, sliding their cocks together. "Touch me," James says. He braces his hands on Teddy's shoulders.
Teddy's fingers trail across his chest, brushing his nipples. His palms smooth over James' stomach, pressing more firmly as they move lower.
"Like that?" Teddy asks, and James can almost hear the Sir? hanging in the air. Part of him is glad Teddy didn't say it. Yet.
"Harder. Touch my cock," James says. "Oh god," he groans. Teddy slides one hand to cup his arse and wraps the other around his cock, stroking from top to bottom and back. "Both, yours too," James gasps.
He's gripping Teddy's shoulders so hard, it must hurt. Teddy's presses their cocks together wrapping his hand around both and squeezing. It's rough and dry and Teddy's hand almost hurts as it moves on them.
"May I -" Teddy begins, looking about for something. He nods at the wand, James' new wand. "Help us out a bit?"
"God, yes." James is aching, his muscles straining from his head to his toes. He can't help but thrust into Teddy's hand.
Teddy's fingers close around the wand and he freezes. He opens his mouth in a gasp and his eyes light. He rolls the wand in his fingers, and then shakes his head. He points the wand at his hand, which is immediately slick with lotion.
"Teddy," James says.
He means to ask what happened, but his thoughts are banished by Teddy's hand and cock sliding, now slippery and smooth, along his. He grabs Teddy's other hand and drags his fingers over their cocks, making them slick as well. Teddy's muscles quiver, holding himself back, when his hands squeeze the tip of his cock to James'.
"Your fingers," says James. "Inside me."
He holds his breath as Teddy's finger circles his entrance. It starts to push inside and pulls back, getting the sensitive skin slick and ready.
"Don't tease me," James commands. The tip of Teddy's finger slips inside and James rises up on his knees, arching back to push Teddy's finger in as far as it will go. "Fuck, Teddy," James says. He rocks back again. "Fuck me."
"Yes," Teddy says.
James can see that Teddy's control over his demeanour slipping. He starts to slip in a second finger without being told. James is new to this, but he gets the picture, and while Teddy losing it is hot as hell, James has an idea he ought not to allow it.
It takes every ounce of his own control, but he pushes off from Teddy's shoulders and stands. "I didn't tell you to do that."
Teddy clamps his lips together to silence a groan.
"Put your arms over your head," James says. "Incarcerous."
Two black ropes spring from the new wand, but they miss Teddy's wrists by a hair. James grabs them and ties one each to Teddy's wrists, securing his arms to the chair above his head. God, Teddy looks gorgeous, dishevelled and desperate and muscles straining against his bonds.
"Watch me," James says. He backs into Teddy's lap on the big chair, feet hooking over the back and knees at the front, so that Teddy can see every detail as James reaches back and slides two fingers into his own arse.
"Christ," Teddy gasps as James fingers himself open.
"You want to fuck me?" James says, grinding his words out between clenched teeth.
"If...you wish," Teddy says with measured control.
James pulls his fingers from his arse and reaches to hold Teddy's cock still. He wants him inside, now and fast and hard. He sits back and feels the wide end of Teddy's cock press against him, slip through his cleft until it catches on this edge of his hole.
"Yes," James hisses as he sits back, presses Teddy's cock inside. His muscles stretch and burn and the sensations slide up his spine, spreading molten heat through his body. He sinks down until his arse is against Teddy and he can't go in any further. "God, Teddy, yes." He pulls back up, using his thigh muscles to fuck himself on Teddy's cock.
Teddy groans with the effort of not moving as James goes faster, up and down. James knows that Teddy can see his cock pushing in and sliding out, can see James' arse gripping him. He rocks harder and grabs the arms of the chair to keep his balance.
"You feel so good, oh god, so good," James says, completely lost in the sensation, the stretch and pressure of Teddy's cock deep inside his body.
Teddy's hands are suddenly on his hips, squeezing into his flesh and moving with him. Teddy broke his bonds. Somewhere in James' brain he thinks he should do something about that, punish Teddy somehow, but Teddy's cock is so thick inside him, pushing through him, rubbing over every sensitive part.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," James chants. It's so good. He's so close. He wraps his hand around his cock and strokes fast and hard. Teddy keeps fucking him, deep, hard thrusts. James grinds down into Teddy's lap, onto Teddy's cock, circling his hips. Every nerve, every muscle, from his toes to his scalp, tightens and tingles and his orgasm tears through him. His mouth is open in inarticulate groans, completely beyond words as he comes over his hands, onto Teddy's knees, on the chair.
Teddy stills, his hands still on James hips. James can feel him trembling.
"Come," James says, his voice rough as gravel. "Fuck me and come."
Teddy makes a deep sound and thrusts into James one, two more times. His fingers dig into James' hips and his thrusts stutter as he pants and gasps, "Jamie, god, Jamie."
James collapses against him and Teddy's hands slide around James in an embrace. James doesn't move for a few breaths - he couldn't if he wanted to - and he listens to his heart slow and Teddy's breathing even out. Teddy's hands splay on his chest and pull him tight against Teddy's body.
"You okay?" Teddy asks.
"See now," says James. He shifts and whimpers a little as Teddy's cock slips out, "we could have been doing that for four years." He turns sideways in Teddy's lap and runs his hand over the faint red marks on Teddy's wrists. He curls into Teddy's lap, resting his head on his broad shoulder.
"You weren't ready. I couldn't risk it," Teddy says. His arms wrap around James. It's intimate and sweet and close to bliss.
"You never gave me a chance. I might've been ready." James knows as he says this that Teddy was right.
"I wasn't ready."
James presses his lips to Teddy's and Teddy opens his mouth to kiss him back.
"So, how did I do?" James asks, cheek pressed to Teddy's.
"Not bad, but we'll have to work on your knots."
James laughs softly. He can't muster a bit of regret that Teddy was able to get his hands free.
"Teddy?"
"Mmm?"
"The wand," James says. "I think I made it for you."
"James," Teddy says in quiet awe. "James. Thank you." He wraps his arms around James' body and buries his face in James' hair.
James is certain of three things: he's going to enjoy soaking up everything Teddy has yet to teach him; he is no longer an apprentice wandmaker; and they both - the wand and he - have chosen their match.