Quarter Past Six
Series: Teddy Lupin, by the Numbers
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Teddy Lupin/James Potter(II)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 658
Note: For the Teddy/James Winter Holiday Fest, Prompt "Pocket Watch"
Quarter Past Six
"You look good."
Teddy finished tightening his tie and did his best to ignore the superfluous praise coming from the mirror. He really wished he hadn't caved when Gran hoisted it on him. Sometimes he thought she had helped decorate just so she could be rid of it.
As he opened the drawer to get out his gloves, his hands stopped over a dented,scratched, old wooden watch case. Teddy'd always had plenty of keepsakes from his mother-- Gran had made sure of that. But from his father, there simply wasn't much to be had. There were a few books and old records, but he'd long since listened to or read them all. There were some photos of course, but Ted only ever seemed to find himself looking at them when he was feeling wistful. Taken all together, everything he had from his father fit into his father's old traveling trunk with room to spare.
There was the map, of course, and a couple other things Harry had come across from when his father was at school with Ted's, but those weren't really his. Or, at least, not just his: they were his and James's and Lily's and Al's. And Harry's.
And then there was the pocket watch in this old wooden box. He remembered when Harry had given it to him. He was 15 and had just been made a Hogwarts prefect. It came with a clearly over-practiced speech about responsibility and was followed up with his first firewiskey.
The watch wasn't particularly flashy-- it was a simple silver piece without ornament. The only feature of note was the picture setting inside, opposite the watch face. The picture inside was of Teddy and his parents, just after he had been born. Gran had taken it, and his father had put it inside the watch a few days after.
For over a decade now it had been sitting in one drawer or another, only coming out for holidays. In truth, Teddy had always been afraid to use it more than that. Teddy knew his father never had much, and while the case was scratched and dented, the watch didn't have a mark on it. Teddy knew from that, and from the importance of the other pictures in the case, that it had been important to his father. It had always seemed like it was far more important to keep it safe than to use it.
Teddy took the watch out of the case and held it for a moment. As he passed his thumb over the picture of him and his parents, his eyes drifted to the picture of him and James which was sitting on the dresser. Uncle Arthur had taken it last Christmas-- the first big family holiday after James and Teddy started dating. There were certainly more... racy pictures of the two of them: James always seemed to favor the one of them beneath the mistletoe that Fleur had taken the same night. But they were happy-- the two of them were squeezed into a chair by the tree and James was playing with his hair. It had been a good Christmas.
“Ted-- you ready yet? It's quarter past six-- we're going to be late!”
Teddy smiled. He always found that odd, that James's nagging made him smile. But, then again, James did a lot that made him smile. “Just a couple more minutes Jamie. Don't worry, Molly will still be fussing over coats when we get there.”
Teddy looked back at the watch, and carefully removed the picture of him and his parents. He put the picture back in the watch case with the other pictures his father had, at one time or another, saved after taking out of the watch. Then he took the picture of him and James out of the frame and got out his wand to cut and shrink it.
This would be a good Christmas too.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Teddy Lupin/James Potter(II)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 658
Note: For the Teddy/James Winter Holiday Fest, Prompt "Pocket Watch"
Quarter Past Six
"You look good."
Teddy finished tightening his tie and did his best to ignore the superfluous praise coming from the mirror. He really wished he hadn't caved when Gran hoisted it on him. Sometimes he thought she had helped decorate just so she could be rid of it.
As he opened the drawer to get out his gloves, his hands stopped over a dented,scratched, old wooden watch case. Teddy'd always had plenty of keepsakes from his mother-- Gran had made sure of that. But from his father, there simply wasn't much to be had. There were a few books and old records, but he'd long since listened to or read them all. There were some photos of course, but Ted only ever seemed to find himself looking at them when he was feeling wistful. Taken all together, everything he had from his father fit into his father's old traveling trunk with room to spare.
There was the map, of course, and a couple other things Harry had come across from when his father was at school with Ted's, but those weren't really his. Or, at least, not just his: they were his and James's and Lily's and Al's. And Harry's.
And then there was the pocket watch in this old wooden box. He remembered when Harry had given it to him. He was 15 and had just been made a Hogwarts prefect. It came with a clearly over-practiced speech about responsibility and was followed up with his first firewiskey.
The watch wasn't particularly flashy-- it was a simple silver piece without ornament. The only feature of note was the picture setting inside, opposite the watch face. The picture inside was of Teddy and his parents, just after he had been born. Gran had taken it, and his father had put it inside the watch a few days after.
For over a decade now it had been sitting in one drawer or another, only coming out for holidays. In truth, Teddy had always been afraid to use it more than that. Teddy knew his father never had much, and while the case was scratched and dented, the watch didn't have a mark on it. Teddy knew from that, and from the importance of the other pictures in the case, that it had been important to his father. It had always seemed like it was far more important to keep it safe than to use it.
Teddy took the watch out of the case and held it for a moment. As he passed his thumb over the picture of him and his parents, his eyes drifted to the picture of him and James which was sitting on the dresser. Uncle Arthur had taken it last Christmas-- the first big family holiday after James and Teddy started dating. There were certainly more... racy pictures of the two of them: James always seemed to favor the one of them beneath the mistletoe that Fleur had taken the same night. But they were happy-- the two of them were squeezed into a chair by the tree and James was playing with his hair. It had been a good Christmas.
“Ted-- you ready yet? It's quarter past six-- we're going to be late!”
Teddy smiled. He always found that odd, that James's nagging made him smile. But, then again, James did a lot that made him smile. “Just a couple more minutes Jamie. Don't worry, Molly will still be fussing over coats when we get there.”
Teddy looked back at the watch, and carefully removed the picture of him and his parents. He put the picture back in the watch case with the other pictures his father had, at one time or another, saved after taking out of the watch. Then he took the picture of him and James out of the frame and got out his wand to cut and shrink it.
This would be a good Christmas too.