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in
vintageflame
Of Promises and Marching [Harry Potter]
Title: Of Promises and Marching
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG
Summary: Teddy/James WWII AU.
Characters: Teddy/James
Notes: Written for etacanis.
Word Count: 218
Of Promises and Marching
James stood ankle-deep in the dense mud of northern france, staring out at the horizon before him. He couldn't say how long the platoon had been on the march. It might have been a week, it might have been a month. He would have been shocked to learn it had only been four days, though.
Teddy affectionately elbowed him. "You alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're stopped dead in the road staring off at the sky. Though maybe you were losing it."
James forced a smile, but his voice was dead serious when he asked, "Teddy, if I don't get home, will you tell my dad I wasn't scared."
"That's bullshit," Teddy answered. He didn't refute that James might not make it home from war. Instead he said only. "We're all scared. You dad fought in a war, too. He knows."
"I don't want that to be anyone's last memory of me." James stared at his feet and fell back into the column at a sullen march. He hoped the conversation was over.
Teddy, however, caught up deftly. "I promise." He was not promising to lie to James's family-- the family that was as good as his own. Instead, what he was secretly promising to himself was that James would not die here. Could not. No matter what else happened.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG
Summary: Teddy/James WWII AU.
Characters: Teddy/James
Notes: Written for etacanis.
Word Count: 218
Of Promises and Marching
James stood ankle-deep in the dense mud of northern france, staring out at the horizon before him. He couldn't say how long the platoon had been on the march. It might have been a week, it might have been a month. He would have been shocked to learn it had only been four days, though.
Teddy affectionately elbowed him. "You alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're stopped dead in the road staring off at the sky. Though maybe you were losing it."
James forced a smile, but his voice was dead serious when he asked, "Teddy, if I don't get home, will you tell my dad I wasn't scared."
"That's bullshit," Teddy answered. He didn't refute that James might not make it home from war. Instead he said only. "We're all scared. You dad fought in a war, too. He knows."
"I don't want that to be anyone's last memory of me." James stared at his feet and fell back into the column at a sullen march. He hoped the conversation was over.
Teddy, however, caught up deftly. "I promise." He was not promising to lie to James's family-- the family that was as good as his own. Instead, what he was secretly promising to himself was that James would not die here. Could not. No matter what else happened.