Christmas eve
The next two weeks passed in something of a manic blur, in the same way as the fortnight leading up to James leaving for New Zealand for the first time had. He had done one final excursion as team leader, which had almost certainly earnt him a glowing reference from Mo (not that he wasn’t likely to get one anyway) and gave him more of a solid basis to put team leader experience on his new CV, which he felt fairly optimistic about. What with everything else happening James hadn’t had any time at all to consider what sort of jobs he’d be applying for once he got back home. He figured that was probably something to be tackled in the new year, and he may as well enjoy the holidays first.
He’d packed up his entire flat and given notice to the landlord that he was leaving earlier than planned. He was going to lose some money because of that, which was less than ideal given that he was currently unemployed with no real idea where his next pay check was likely to come from, but it wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. Shipping all of his stuff back to the UK in the busy holiday period was also less than ideal, and he didn’t know exactly when it was all going to arrive, especially with all the bank holidays around Christmas. The next couple of weeks were likely to be a bit chaotic, but James couldn’t say he was really bothered about that when he knew he’d have Teddy back by his side throughout.
As happy as he was to be going home, saying goodbye to everyone in New Zealand had been difficult. He’d had a rather emotional farewell dinner with the whole team, in which they had all told him how much they were going to miss him. Mo especially had been sad to see James go, and had made James promise to keep in touch and let Mo know where he ended up career-wise back in England. It had been genuinely moving to see how much James apparently meant to them all, but that was nothing compared to the even more emotional one-on-one he’d had with Ella on his last night before leaving. She had said they would be friends for life no matter the distance between them, and hoped that circumstance would one day bring them back together in the same place. She had also promised to attend James and Teddy’s wedding, whenever and wherever it was.
All in all, it was with a bit of a bittersweet feeling that James headed to the portkey office on Christmas eve. He was going to miss Auckland, and he was certainly going to miss his job. Most of all he was going to miss Mo and Ella. But all he had to do was think of Teddy, and he remembered why he was doing all of this.
True to his promise, James had spoken with Teddy on the phone almost every day for the past two weeks, and not out of obligation, but because he actually wanted to. Everything sounded like it was going well. Harry had given Teddy his promotion back at work, and Teddy was getting stuck into a new, big case that he couldn’t tell James anything about, but sounded excited about. He had moved back into their flat in Forest Gate, but was still seeing Luke more or less every other day, largely to discuss Albus.
Luke had been to see Albus in person, and it sounded like the two of them were getting on well, Albus responding surprisingly positively to Luke’s direct approach. Luke had set Albus up with an action plan for recovery, and although it was early days, it seemed to be going well so far. At the very least, he was sober, for the first time in who even knew how long. He was also seeing a therapist, which was an encouraging sign, even if they hadn’t seen a noticeable difference yet. Luke had said it might take some time to take.
Most of James’s updates about Albus had come via Luke and Teddy, what with Albus not having a phone (something that Luke was in the process of remedying), but James was pretty pleased with their progress reports. It sounded like they had things well under control in his absence. On the whole, everyone seemed cautiously optimistic, which was probably better than James could ever have hoped for. He hoped that the swanky designer sunglasses that he had bought for Luke as a Christmas present would serve as a halfway decent thank-you for all that he’d done.
James was at a bit of a loss this year as to what to get Teddy for a present, feeling like he really needed to pull something amazing out of the bag to contribute to his efforts in making up for all the pain he’d caused him. He was drawing a blank however, nothing seemed quite good enough. He’d thought about perhaps buying him an engagement ring, but given that he actually hadn’t said yes yet, James didn’t want it to be perceived as him piling on the pressure about it. They had spoken in rather vague terms about the proposal once or twice during their phone calls over the past two weeks, but Teddy hadn’t said anything about deciding one way or the other yet, and James didn’t want to press him on it. He also didn’t even know where to start with engagement ring shopping, and figured that was maybe something they could do together, after Teddy had said yes. That would be nice, to choose together.
So far he had gotten Teddy a book that he’d mentioned wanting to read, and he had mail ordered a coffee maker to their flat, as Teddy had been lamenting having to go back to drinking instant coffee at home after spending months drinking the decent stuff at Luke’s place. Teddy had confirmed that the package had arrived and that he hadn’t opened it, so that was something, at least. Still, James felt a bit like they were two very practical and horrendously boring gifts. He really wished he could think of something amazing, that would blow him away, but he just hadn’t managed it. Oh well, his birthday was in April, maybe James would try again then.
It was fairly early on Christmas eve morning when James arrived back in the UK at the international portkey office. It took an irritatingly long time to get through customs, much longer indeed that it had taken to get through on the other end. But that was the UK ministry for you, a tangled mass of red tape, if ever there was one. It was also incredibly busy, which didn’t help, with people presumably landing from all over the world, coming to see relatives for the holidays. The arrivals lounge was fuller than James had ever seen it, but it was never hard to spot Teddy in a crowd, his vibrant blue hair standing out amongst the sea of blonde and brown. James supposed he was fairly conspicuous himself, what with the mop of ginger curls atop his head, and Teddy spotted him instantly too, crossing the room to meet him in the middle and pulling him into a warm hug.
“Hey honey” James said quietly as Teddy held him tightly. It had only been two weeks, and it had felt like it passed quickly what with everything that had happened, but somehow James felt like he’d missed Teddy more than ever.
“Welcome back” Teddy said with a wide smile as he pulled back enough to give James a quick peck on the lips. James would have liked to give him a proper, schmoozy kiss right there, but the room they were in was very busy with a lot of people brushing past them, so he figured they probably ought to get out of here and out of everyone’s way.
“I missed you” James told him instead, grabbing hold of his suitcase again and taking Teddy’s hand, heading towards the apparition station.
“I missed you too” Teddy replied, with a rather pleased smile. “How was the journey?” he added casually, as they joined the back of a queue of people waiting to get into the adjacent room to disapparate.
“Yeah, fine” James shrugged. The portkey itself was smooth as ever, the lengthy part of the journey was all this faff at either end. “My body clock thinks it’s eight pm though, so I’ll probably start crashing in a few hours. I’m going to try my best to power through, and get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“The plan for tomorrow is still pretty open” Teddy told him. “Harry said dinner will be at around four, but we can go over whenever. I spoke to Gran the other day and she said she’ll be there early afternoon.”
“Luke still coming?” James asked.
“He hasn’t said otherwise, so I assume so” Teddy replied casually. “I should probably confirm that with him actually, now you mention it. I’ll text him in a bit.”
“Good. I’ve got him those Ray-bans he wanted” James told him, and Teddy huffed a laugh.
“How much did that set you back?” he asked incredulously.
“Too fucking much” James told him wryly. “But he’s been a star, hasn’t he? It was the best way I could think of to thank him.”
“Well he’ll like that” Teddy said, smiling. There was a peaceful lull in the conversation for a moment, in which James wondered if the subject of Luke was something they needed to discuss a bit more. Not here, obviously, but perhaps once they got back to the flat. They certainly hadn’t talked about it over the past fortnight in as much depth as they had that morning in bed two weeks ago, and James wasn’t one hundred percent sure where they had landed with it. Before he had too long to dwell on that, Teddy changed the subject.
“Is that what’s in your suitcase?” Teddy asked James, cutting through his train of thought. “Just a load of presents?”
“That’s more than half of what’s in here, yeah” James replied with a smile. “Our family is way too big, man. Christmas is starting to cost a fortune.”
“Tell me about it” Teddy replied shrewdly. “Although I did just get a pretty decent pay rise, so I suppose I can’t complain too much.”
“It’s a good job too, because as of yesterday I am officially unemployed” James put to him, and Teddy huffed another laugh, putting an arm around James’s waist and pulling him a little bit closer. There were nearing the front of the line now, so the conversation was paused there for a minute while they waited for a spot to become free and then apparated back to their flat, arriving in the living room.
James took a deep breath, smelling the familiar scent of home as he glanced around. The flat looked a little more lived-in than it had the last time he’d been here, two weeks ago - the cushions on the couch were askew, and there was the usual mess of letters and newspapers littering the coffee table. Even though James knew that Teddy had moved back home, it was something of a relief to see it with his own eyes. He hadn’t really registered it at the time, but the last time James had been here two weeks ago, the flat had been completely devoid of life. Cold and dusty, with that vaguely musty smell in the air from no-one having been occupying the space for quite some time. Now it was warm and cosy, and smelt like fresh laundry. Being here, in their flat, looking and feeling just like it always had, it felt to James like some sort of physical proof that the life they had together before the events of the past four months did still exist in some form. That they could get it back, if they wanted to.
“Welcome home” Teddy said softly, tugging on James’s hand that was in his own, making James turn to face him. James only had about a second to take in his warm and wide smile before Teddy was kissing him, the kiss itself every bit as warm and loving as that beautiful smile had been.
“Mmm, it’s good to be back” James said lazily as they parted a moment later.
“Yeah, it is” Teddy agreed softly, brushing a gentle hand over James’s cheek while he gave him another broad smile.
“If I didn’t need to reset my sleep cycle, I’d be taking you to the bedroom right now” James told him, and Teddy immediately smirked. “But I know I’d fall asleep, and I need to avoid that at all costs if I don’t want to be a zombie tomorrow” James added seriously.
“Fair enough” Teddy replied, looking mildly amused.
“Which is not to say I won’t be taking you to the bedroom at some point” James added as an afterthought. “Just not until later.”
“Let’s see how long your resolve holds” Teddy shot back, looking more amused than ever, and James huffed a small laugh. Teddy was probably right, impulse control wasn’t one of James’s stronger qualities. But he was willing to at least try, and that was half the battle.
“Shall I put the kettle on, then?” Teddy offered, nodding towards the kitchen.
“Mmm, yes please” James hummed appreciatively. Nestling down on the sofa with a cup of tea in one hand and his other arm around Teddy sounded pretty much like heaven right now.
“It’s going to be a long day, I suppose. Tomorrow, I mean” Teddy ventured vaguely as he headed into the kitchen. James followed him, for no particular reason other than because he wanted to keep looking at him, and that handsome face of his.
“It’ll be total chaos as well” James told him, and Teddy made a noise of amusement. Christmas at his parents’ place invariably was, mainly because of the sheer size of his family, various members of whom dropped by to exchange presents at various points during the day. Not to mention how impossible it was to get a word in edgeways anyway whenever two or more of the extended Weasley clan got together, never mind when vast quantities of mulled wine were also involved.
“You have given Luke a heads up about what he’s let himself in for, right?” James asked Teddy, who smirked as he flicked the kettle on and opened the cupboard to get two mugs out.
“I told him it’s kind of a lot” Teddy replied mildly. “But he’ll be alright, he can roll with just about anything, can’t he?”
“Suppose so” James agreed. That was actually something that all three of them had in common.
“I am sort of wondering how he’s going to be about this being his first Christmas without his mum, though” Teddy added seriously, turning to James to see what he made of that.
“Hmm” James hummed as he thought that over, frowning slightly. “I guess the three of us can go up to my old room for a breather if he needs it” James offered. “Or just the two of you, even, if he gets a bit overwhelmed.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea” Teddy replied evenly. “Christ, I might need that myself if it gets as loud as it normally does.”
“Which you know it will, when my Uncle Ron shows up” James said, with a fond smile, and Teddy huffed a laugh under his breath.
“We used to wait until him and Gin got into an argument about something and slip away while everyone was distracted, do you remember?” Teddy ventured with a wry smile. “Before we’d told anyone about us.”
“Of course I remember” James grinned back. It wasn’t actually that long ago in the grand scheme of things that the two of them had been sneaking around, hiding their relationship from the family. But even if it was, James would have a hard time forgetting how it had felt, pushing Teddy up against the back of his bedroom door, stealing desperate kisses, making the most of what time they had before someone came looking for them.
The kettle finished boiling with a loud click, startling both James and Teddy out of the rather intense eye contact they were holding as they both reminisced about Christmases past, and Teddy huffed another small laugh under his breath as he turned his attention back to the tea-making, getting the box of tea bags out of the same cupboard he’d taken the mugs from.
“No need for that anymore, of course” James offered calmly, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Nowadays you can just rail me good and proper in the morning and get it out of our systems before we head over there.”
“Is that a plan?” Teddy asked with a surprised laugh.
“Oh yeah, it’s a plan” James replied, his voice low and flirtatious, and Teddy laughed even more.
“You’d better stop flirting with me if you don’t want to go to bed yet” Teddy growled as he passed James on the way to the fridge to get the milk.
“I make no promises” James grinned back, but he knew Teddy was right, so he cast around for a change of subject, looking vaguely around the open plan living space of their flat.
“No Christmas tree” he observed, only just noticing that there wasn’t one in the living room. “Not very festive of you.”
“I’ve not had time” Teddy countered a little indignantly. “Between all the stuff with Al, and Luke and Harry and Gin. And I’ve been working right up until yesterday.” And he’d been on the phone to James pretty much constantly that whole time as well, which neither of them bothered to point out.
“Fair enough” James conceded. “Maybe we can steal one from my parents’ garden.” His parents did indeed have a number of evergreen trees in their garden, but he wasn’t sure his mother would take kindly to James chopping any of them down to take home. Something that evidently occurred to Teddy too, as he made a sceptical face.
“I think we may have to just go without one this year” Teddy said reasonably.
“But what are we going to put the presents under?” James asked, and Teddy shrugged.
“Well mine are all in that bag” Teddy said, gesturing vaguely to a large shopping bag next to the sofa. “We’re taking them to your parents’ place tomorrow anyway, so what’s the point?”
“The point is, it’s Christmas, you big scrooge” James replied haughtily as Teddy handed him his tea with a raised eyebrow., which James couldn’t help but laugh at.
“You know what, I was about to give you an early present, but just for that I don’t think I will” Teddy replied in an aloof tone.
“What? No!” James exclaimed, and Teddy laughed, any hint of sincerity in his pseudo-stern expression disappearing immediately. “I get an early present?” James pressed him.
“Hmm, I don’t know” Teddy said, adopting an appraising expression, but clear amusement still shining through. “Do you think you’ve earned it.”
“I don’t know, have I?” James replied a little uncertainly.
“I think you have” Teddy told him mildly, as he picked up his own cup of tea, cradling it in his hands to feel the warmth. “Go on, it’s under the coffee table” he added, jerking his head towards it.
“Oh, you mean an actual present?” James asked, this taking him a little by surprise. “I thought you were just flirting with me some more.” Teddy laughed at that.
“No, it’s an actual present” he confirmed. “Go and get it.”
“What do I get an early present for?” James asked him confusedly.
“I think that’ll become apparent when you open it” Teddy replied somewhat enigmatically. James frowned at him for a second, but Teddy nodded towards the living room again, and James figured that was all he was going to get in the way of an explanation.
“Alright…” he said uncertainly, scrutinising Teddy’s calm and rather impassive expression and shooting him one last puzzled look, before making his way over to the living room. Teddy said nothing more as James skirted around the sofa, putting his tea down on the table and crouching down so he could have a look on the shelf underneath. There was indeed a small package there, wrapped in star-patterned wrapping paper.
“This is it, I assume?” James asked as he slid it out and held up the present for Teddy’s approval. He noted something rattle inside the box as he tilted it to the side, but there were no further clues about what the package might contain. The small, rectangular box could have had just about anything in it. Teddy was leaning back against the kitchen counter watching him, and he nodded calmly.
“You want me to open it now?” James asked, standing up again. He must do, since he had brought it up now, but James thought he’d best double check before just diving in.
“Yes, open it” Teddy told him, looking amused. James wanted to ask him again what this this was all about, but he had said James would see for himself once he opened the present, so he went ahead and did that instead. He tore off the wrapping paper to uncover a plain cardboard box, which James gave a quick once over to see if there was anything written on it (there wasn’t) before carefully opening it, still wondering what on earth this was all about.
James froze the second he saw what was inside, his brain working rather slowly to try and figure out exactly what it meant. Which was rather curious, because there was only one thing it possibly could mean, but somehow he wasn’t quite able to process it immediately. This was about the last thing he’d been expecting. He was unable to do anything besides stare at it blankly. He was vaguely aware of sinking slowly into a seat on the arm of the sofa, but he didn’t pay very much attention to that, all of his brainpower currently focusing on the object in his hands. Inside the box was a small wooden plaque, the sort people put on their desks, with their name on. However, the engraving on the plaque didn’t say James Potter. It said James Lupin.
“Harry said you wanted to take my name” Teddy soft voice made James jump slightly, as he hadn’t noticed Teddy cross the room, and he was now stood right next to him. James looked up at him, dumbstruck.
“You…” James offered blankly, with no idea what it was he was actually trying to say. “This is…” he tried again, but his mind was still oddly blank. This must have been how Teddy felt, when James had proposed to him in the first place. No wonder he hadn’t answered right away, if he’d been even half as floored as James was right now
“It’s to go on your desk, at your new job” Teddy told him, with a warm smile. “Next to the picture of our kids.”
“You were listening, then?” James managed to get out. He wasn’t really sure how much of that whole speech Teddy had taken in, given his emotional state at the time.
“I was listening” Teddy confirmed calmly.
“So you... this is you saying yes?” James asked dazedly, and Teddy nodded.
“Yes. I’m saying yes” he said softly, and James felt a sudden rush of pure, unbridled joy, as the reality of it finally hit him.
“We’re getting married?” James asked him, not really needing Teddy to answer that, but just wanting to say it out loud.
“We’re getting married” Teddy answered him anyway, a satisfied smile on his face. James dropped the box he was still holding and scrambled up to his feet in order to lunge at a surprised Teddy, who laughed as he caught James in his arms.
“You… we’re…” James stammered some more, feeling overwhelmed all over again as Teddy held him tightly
“You happy?” Teddy asked him quietly, and James pulled back to get a good look at him. He looked extremely happy himself.
“Are you kidding?” James asked incredulously, and Teddy chuckled lightly. “Of course I’m happy! I don’t even know what to…” James huffed out a breathy laugh as Teddy beamed at him.
“Good” Teddy said simply, and James leaned in to kiss him, basking in the warmth of it as Teddy kissed him back softly.
“What made you change your mind?” James asked him, his voice barely more than a whisper, as they broke apart a moment later.
“I didn’t change my mind” Teddy replied, frowning slightly. “I never said no. I just needed to think it over.”
“So you’ve really thought about it?” James asked quietly.
“I wouldn’t say yes unless I had” Teddy assured him. “I’ve done a LOT of thinking. And a lot of talking as well. To Luke, that shouldn’t be a surprise. To Harry. Even to Al.”
“To Al?” James repeated, that catching him off-guard. Teddy nodded. “Let me guess” James went on with a smirk. “He told you to run a mile in the opposite direction.” Teddy huffed a small laugh at that.
“He wasn’t really invested one way or the other” Teddy told him. “Which is exactly why I wanted to talk to him. Bounce some of my thoughts off someone impartial.”
“My dad and Luke weren’t impartial, then?” James asked, and Teddy smiled.
“Not at all” he replied fervently. “Luke tried to be, but he kept telling me I was eventually going to say yes anyway. Which I suppose was inevitable, but it still felt like a big step to take right now. Speaking of which” Teddy’s expression turned quite serious. “I don’t think we should set a date right away. I think we need some time to let the dust settle, after the past four months.”
“That’s understandable” James conceded.
“That’s alright with you?” Teddy asked softly, and James nodded.
“That’s absolutely fine by me” James told him earnestly. “We can get married in ten years if that’s what you want. Just as long as you want me.”
“I do” Teddy replied, kissing him again. James smiled into the kiss, feeling probably more loved than he ever had in his life. They still had some things to work out, he knew that, but they would work them out together. That was all he’d ever wanted. This, right here, this was all he’d ever wanted. Him and Teddy, in it together, for the long haul.