AN: Hello, loves. This is a story for anyone who ships Teddy and Lily. I hope you enjoy it.
Clarifications: In this story, Lily is the youngest of all her cousins. James, Albus and Ted are respectively three, one and ten years older than her. Hugo and Louis are both her age.
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Lily Through The Ages
Chapter 1
Finding Lily
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Lily Luna Potter has always been a very smart girl. She has always kept to the shadows, enjoying her solitude, rather than being the centre of attention.
Not only is she intelligent, but she also has a wicked sense of humour. She can charm anyone, if she wants to, with her wit and her beguiling smile. But being a person who hides at the fray, not out of shyness but out of wisdom, she only uses her charm on her professors at Hogwarts.
When she got sorted into Slytherin, just like Al before her, James was furious. He'd been hoping that he wouldn't be the only Potter in Gryffindor. He really gave both her and Al the cold shoulder for the better part of her first year.
But now, two years later, he's over it, as he's been for the past one and a half years. In all honesty, he'd already decided to reconcile with them, when he realised that he would be the ONLY Potter royalty in Gryffindor. Because yes, even twenty-two years after the war, the Potters are not just considered celebrities; they're also considered to be heroes and saviours.
Though she's only thirteen, Lily often worries whether she'll be able to live up to her parents' greatness. But before she can truly panic, her senses always kick in, and she knows that she'll do well in life, regardless of public expectations.
It's during her third year Christmas break, that she realises two things. One, Teddy Lupin looks bloody hot and two, she'd ideally like a boy-friend like him some day.
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Time flies by, the way it usually does, when everyone is having fun in life. This is Albus' last year at Hogwarts and in a year's time, it would be her last time too.
James is there, standing next to their parents, along with Teddy. They've all come to say good bye to the two of them and their cousins.
Seeing Teddy waving at them makes something inside her twist. But she doesn't pay much attention to it. Rose suggests a game of Exploding Snap, though the train started less than five minutes back.
She pushes what she felt to the back of her mind, and focuses on ensuring that Scorpius Malfoy, her brother's best friend, loses the game.
After all, Slytherins can be excessively competitive.
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Her sixth year is a mess. She realises that she's not as pretty as her mother or her grandmother, the one after whom she was named. This realisation is a serious blow to her self esteem.
She guesses that she always knew she wasn't pretty, but rationalises that she probably never paid attention to it before, because she was way too content with who she was. But now, she's sixteen, and she's never been kissed.
It's not because she's Harry Potter's only daughter. It's because though people love her, it's in that little-sister way.
Apart from her lack of a love life, everything's fine. Her grades are still decent, and she gets invited to almost all the houses' parties. People confide in her, and she's always happy to help.
After nearly seven years of flirting, Scorpius and Rose decide that it's best if they get into a proper relationship. Lily is SO happy for them. Initially, Albus resents Rose for stealing his best friend, but when Lily points out that this way, Scorpius would be more than just a mate of his, he'd be family, Al feels elated about Rose and Scor.
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Christmas comes by, and the Weasley-Potter-Malfoy clan decide to stay back in Hogwarts to enjoy their last Christmas together. Her parents' letter doesn't make it clear if they're fine with it, but she doesn't care.
She resents her parents for being so fucking perfect, with an impossible legacy to live up to. James is already living up to the Potter surname; he's the Seeker for the Chuddley Cannons. They have had an unbroken winning-streak, ever since James was signed on as Seeker.
She's proud of James, but wishes she had some special skill too.
Al too is working hard towards becoming an Auror. The subjects he's chosen are the subjects required to be eligible to write the Preliminary Auror Exam. Lily isn't sure how she could have been so stupid as to not notice it before. But the way he's working hard, Lily knows he'll become a brilliant Auror, even if their dad isn't Harry Potter.
Lily respects her brother for being so dedicated and hardworking.
Christmas at Hogwarts is truly breath-taking. The castle is beautifully decorated and the food is even more delicious than usual, if that's possible. They all spend loads of time playing Exploding Snap, Wizarding Chess and Magical Charades.
One night, as she's watching Rose and Albus play a spectacular game of Wizarding Chess, she realises that she's thankful for their close-knit group.
As the younger half of the Potter-Weasley clan, they had to band together, in order to not be trampled upon by their older and bossier cousins and siblings.
In her head, she'll always remember the way Rose, Albus, Scorpius, Louis, Hugoand herself spent Christmas Eve in the Room of Requirement (rebuilt after the war, of course), simply having fun.
She'll always remember how they downed Firewhiskies with wild abandon, and how they pitched tents inside the room and had one last wild sleepover at Hogwarts.
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It's summer now and Al has graduated from Hogwarts. Their parents still don't know that he's studying to clear the PAE. They think he's working hard to clear the Potions Master Entrance Exam, seeing as he's always been obsessed with Potion making (like the person from whom he gets his middle name).
That's the thing about Slytherins. They're experts at deceiving even the people who are closest to them, and often, even themselves.
Lily spends loads of time wandering about the house, and sleeping in any comfortable nook she can find. She's glad that she'll soon be of age. Then she can cast a Silencing charm before she takes a quick nap.
Teddy spends a lot of time at their house, and Lily finds herself getting more and more enthralled by him. She convinces herself that it's not a silly crush, but a strong friendship. After all, they've always been sharing stories and getting advice from one another through letters.
It is initially a bit odd to do it face to face after such a long time of hiding behind paper and ink, but it's not long before she finds total comfort in it, for after all, he did pinky swear to always be her Teddy bear, seven years back.
Her seventeenth birthday comes and goes. She receives quite a few presents from friends and family, but somehow, presents don't really matter to her. She's more interested in knowing how many people actually mean their wishes to her. She performs Legilimency on the relatives whom she knows aren't Aurors or training to be one.
She sticks only to her generation; because the generation which faced the battle would be proficient in Occlumency.
She's not very shocked to learn that Rose hates her. Rose had always seemed falsely sweet to her. But it still hurts. She's very surprised to learn that Scorpius once had a crush on her. Overall, she learns that almost everyone except Rose meant their wishes to her.
She doesn't feel guilty about treading on others' private thoughts.
Because she's a Slytherin, and Slytherins are sneaky bastards.
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There's only a month of vacation left. Teddy is such a good companion, he takes her out to all the Muggle movies she wants to see. She's obsessed with all things Muggle now. Muggle movies, Muggle story books, Muggle serials, Muggle music, Muggle cooking... Simply all things Muggle.
So she asks her Grandpa Arthur to take her to the Muggle Awareness Conference For Wizards and Witches, which is being held in Dublin. The old man smiles so broadly, that she can see his fillings. Everything's a blur, as she gets ready to learn about Muggle technology and soon, they're off.
She and Grandpa come home a week later. She's currently pissed off with himfor not letting her drink Irish Firewhiskies. Her parents take his side.
She decides she's pissed off with them too.
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Two days later, it's her turn. It's her last time. But she doesn't feel bad. She wants to get this over with.
As she sits in the train, waving goodbye to her parents, her brothers, Teddy, and a few of other relatives, she introspects.
She remembers how she'd once wanted a boyfriend who would be like Teddy. Now, she doesn't want her future boyfriend to be like Teddy.
She wants it to BE Teddy.
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She's never been close with Hugo before. She's always been close to Rose (that bitch). But things always change, and she finds herself becoming closer and closer to Hugo.
She, Hugo and Louis form a trio and they start going to Hogsmeade together. Though Al writes to her twice a week, she misses him terribly. But she has Hugo and Louis, and she's glad she has them.
But things start going wrong right around November. Phillip Zabini asks her out, and she says yes. She soon realises that he doesn't want a date, he wants a drinking buddy.
They start drinking regularly, often sneaking out of Hogwarts late at night to get sloshed. She lives for the buzz that alcohol fills her with.
At first, Louis and Hugo don't notice anything. But slowly, they start retreating from her, seeing as to how much time she spends with Zabini. If they notice her drinking habit (it's NOT a problem... yet.), they don't let it show.
They still spend time together, but their conversation seems strained. She no longer writes to her parents or her brothers or her cousins or Teddy. TEDDY.
Does he care that she no longer writes to him?
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During Christmas, she refuses to go home, and her parents oblige when she plays the 'I'm-seventeen-and-am-no-longer-required-to-listen-to-you' card. Albus sends her huge letters asking her what's wrong, but she doesn't reply.
Zabini too stays behind, happy that his drinking buddy and he can get super drunk. They manage to get their hands on some Felixweed, which when smoked, puts the smoker in a state of hallucination. Lily loves it. She loves living in these hallucinations, where she's much happier.
On Christmas Eve, Zabini kisses her under the mistletoe. But it's a chaste kiss, nothing more. And then they open a new roll of Felixweed.
After all, the night is young.
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During one of her hallucinations, she sees her own funeral. But she doesn't see many people there. And of the few people there, only her mother is crying. Her father looks broken. James looks angry. Albus' face is expressionless.
But what hurts her the most, is that Teddy isn't there.
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It was only a hallucination, but Lily takes it as a divine message from Merlin himself. She starts writing long letters to her family members, apologising for her poor correspondence. She seems to be welcomed back with open arms (from what she could make out from the replies). Her granddad seems to be glad to get his favourite granddaughter back.
Al still seems suspicious, though. But he can't do anything about it apart from writing her letters as he's in that phase of the Auror Training Programme where the trainee is cut off from the rest of the world and has no contact with their family, except through letters.
That is why all Aurors are also excellent writers.
She starts spending lots of time with Louis and Hugo. Hugo works like a maniac as he wants to get into International Wizarding Law. Louis seems more relaxed, but he's working hard too. She decides to start studying too. But she's sure that mid-February is definitely late. At least, she still has a month and a half left.
However, all this doesn't mean she's stopped seeing Zabini. How could she? She needs at least a couple of bottles of Butterbeer to get through the day. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, she knows that she's an addict.
Alcohol can be her poison. She hopes she never sees a roll of Felixweed ever again.
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The NEWTs are here.
Professor Longbottom secretly tells her that she has scored the highest in Herbology (as told to him by the external examiner). Potions goes by without a hitch.
But before Charms, she messes up her revision schedule. She wonders what she's doing on this Earth. Her will cracks and she ends up drinking two entire bottles of Firewhisky, while sitting on the Astronomy tower. She's alone this time, though. Even Zabini isn't with her.
She somehow manages to write her Charms paper without passing out on top of it completely. Hugo's seen the entire thing though.
During lunch, he pours out two drops of a hangover cure into her pumpkin juice. She's so ashamed of herself that she nearly breaks down, right there. But Hugo presses the goblet into her hand, before she can react further.
She's grateful to him. It's only because of him that she manages to do decently in the Charms practicals examination held after lunch.
It's because of her marvelous grades in the second part of the exam that she manages to pass Charms, even if it's just barely.
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When the full consequences of her actions hit her, Lily becomes inconsolable.
There goes her dream of studying Wizarding Applications of Muggle Sciences and Technology in France. She's heart-broken.
She needs at least an E in Charms to get in. She knows she can't, now. It's all too late.
She tries to find solace in the one thing that's always been there for her.
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When Hugo and Louis can't find their elusive cousin the day after the Charms exam (which is also the day before the Transfiguration exam), they confront Zabini. He swears he doesn't know where she's gone, but under Louis' truth speaking charm, he does admit that his pack of experimental drugs has gone missing.
They bribe Becca Parkinson into getting an old piece of parchment from Lily's trunk.
Trying to remember what his father once told him, as a story, a long time back, Hugo speaks the necessary words and taps the old piece of parchment.
The Marauders' Map shows that Lily is in the Forbidden Forest, doing Merlin knows what.
When they find her, she's far gone. Louis sends two Patronuses for help, and with the help of the Invisibility cloak (which Lily has left on a tree branch), they drag her to the Shrieking Shack, by prodding the Whomping Willow at the right place.
Once inside, she cries and cries and starts speaking everything in reverse (as Louis figures out). In a matter of moments, Rose arrives inside the shack.
She's horrified to find her youngest cousin in this state. She asks the boys for the drug which Lily has injected into her veins. As she's examining it, Albus comes rushing in, with a large suitcase.
Albus Severus reveals the large portable Potions laboratory, disguised as a suitcase. He doesn't question anything. His face is emotionless. He examines the drug with Rose, and starts brewing a potion that usually counteracts the base of all drugs.
Rose, in the mean time, gets the boys' help to pump Lily's stomach. She then starts blood purification spells, which makes a black, sticky substance pour from the screaming girl's orifices.
Albus hops over, collects the material, examines it, and starts brewing another potion, just as Rose takes the first one off the flame. Rose forces the first potion down Lily's throat. Everything becomes quiet.
The unconscious girl now has pale skin, like that of a corpse. Soon, the second potion is ready, and with that, she seems to regain some colour.
Three hours later, ice blue eyes open up and stare at the ceiling.
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As soon as Al makes sure she's okay, he slaps her across her face. But she doesn't protest. She knows she deserves it. All four faces around her have a varying mixture of relief, anger and disappointment (in Hugo's and Albus' cases).
Rose leaves without a word, and Albus promises to check in the next day, with Hugo.
Hugo and Louis help her get back to the Slytherin common room, but they stay there with her. As she sleeps on the couch, they start revising for their Transfiguration examination.
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Lily once again fares poorly in the theory paper, but outshines everyone else in her practical examination. Luckily, Louis and Hugo do well, despite not having revised (much).
The rest of her exams are a breeze, and Arithmancy might just be her most favourite subject, ever.
Hugo and Louis haven't let her out of their sight since the 'incident'. She truly regrets doing what she did, and she's never been more grateful to the two of them.
They demand an explanation from her, and she starts telling them about why she thinks she got this way. But she refuses to tell them about what she experienced on the eve of the Transfiguration exam.
At the end of it, as Lily begs for forgiveness, with tears streaming down her face, Hugo and Louis pull her into a tight group hug, and they hold her that way, till she stops crying.
Because while it sounds hard to believe, Slytherins too can get hurt and emotional.
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The journey home is a peaceful one. Or rather, it's as peaceful as it can be. Louis, Hugo and she get a compartment all to themselves, and they spend most of the journey talking about trivial things.
They make a game of flicking Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Jelly Beans at each other, and the person who catches the most in his/her mouth gets to dare the others into eating the scarier looking ones.
They make a pact to meet up for lunch every year, on the same date as this day.
All too soon, Hugo and Louis fall asleep, and Lily has some time for herself. She thinks about what she's doing with her life. She doesn't even have a back-up plan... For now.
But all of a sudden, it's obvious, what she has to do. It's all so simple, but she's never realised it completely before. She feels oh so stupid now.
She's always known the answer. All she needs is to do what she truly wants to do. Her deepest desire. Teddy. TEDDY. TEDDY.
She should probably talk to Aunt Hermione and find out what alternative options are there for her to do something at least related to WAMST. Even if it's not in France.
Because Slytherins can always survive, even better than Gryffindors.
Next, she should swallow her pride and ask Victorie beauty tips. Or maybe she should ask Aunt Fleur. She could probably stay with Louis for a couple of weeks, while she learns her aunt's beauty secrets. And while she's at it, she might as well learn about what went wrong between Ted and Vicky.
Because Slytherins, when on a mission, can learn faster than even the smartest Ravenclaw.
Next, she'll have to re-invent her persona. She'll have to make Teddy sit up. She'll have to go back to the person she was before she let herself slide. She'll have to put in hardwork... Something that she hasn't done in the past four years.
When a Slytherin sets her mind to it, she can work harder than even the most sincere Hufflepuff.
And last, but not the least, while she gets her shit together, she'll have to ensure Teddy remains single. But she knows she'll have no trouble with that.
Because when it comes to planning, there's no one who can do it better than a Slytherin.
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As Lily steps off the Hogwarts express, with one arm around each of her best-friends, she catches a flash or turquoise hair somewhere in the crowd.
Her heart beats faster and her palms get sweaty. Her face breaks into a grin, as she catches the blue-haired man's eye.
Her plan to get Teddy, is SO on.
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Lily Luna Potter has always been a smart girl. She has always liked sticking to the shadows. She still does. And she will probably always like being on the fray of everything, rather than be at the centre of one thing.
But for now, she plans to draw attention to the shadows. She plans to shine from the shadows.
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AN: The second (and last) chapter will be up in a week's time. It will have much more of Teddy than this chapter, I promise.
The aim of this chapter was to explain Lily's method of thinking.
Please leave reviews, or follow, or favourite this, so that I know how I'm doing. And please DO be brutal with the criticism. I have a lot left to learn.