Dreaming of what used to be... [TAG: Teddy Lupin]

[tonks]

Nymphadora walked down Diagon Alley hastily, her eyes watching everyone she passed. She was not known for her ability to spot details, but now her life depended on it - or rather, the way her life passed, was depending on it. She had only recently been freed from Azkaban - it having taken longer for her as her dear cousin, Bellatrix, had seemingly delighted in teasing her with the ability to give and take her freedom. Still, she had finally got out of that awful place, and she was delighted to have the wind blowing through her hair.

However, this newfound freedom had an awful price. The world was not how she had known it, ten years before. The new supremacy that purebloods had given themselves was just sickening. According to the purebloods - anyone who was a halfbreed or one of the impure, such as Tonks herself was, was not worth anything. They were looked down upon with hatred and malevolence and were forced to live in little more than slums. Nymphadora half wondered if she would have preferred being back in Azkaban - and then forced that thought out, as fast as she could. Due to these...laws...Tonks was careful to not draw attention to who she was, and now relied on the fact that people had grown so used to seeing her bubblegum pink hair, so that she could go unnoticed when she changed its colour. Needless to say, her attitude and demeanour sometimes gave it away - and people were more wary of others, as they all knew her abilities.

Walking down, Tonks' hair was an auburn colour, and it just reached the bottom of her spine. Her eyes were emerald green, and they sparkled like jewels. She wore a long black cloak, with a white tank top and jeans on underneath. They were only cheap, but they were comfy - and Nymphadora loved anything comfy. Her wand was stowed in a side pocket sewn into the cloak, and her feet were encased in a pair of old trainers. All things considered, she didn't really look too bad, and she just had to hope that no-one would realise she looked slightly like someone who fought their dear Voldemort ten years beforehand.

[beethoven]

cause i'm a picker, i'm a grinner
i'm a lover, and i'm a sinner

it didn't really look like a day that would change his life.
teddy was always looking out for those kinds of days, the kind where you woke up and you could just feel that something was going to go your way today, or that something bad was going to happen so you were twitchy all day and avoided danger as if you could smell it coming. naw, teddy woke up that morning, but nothing happened. it was just an average sleep waking up to an average morning and leaving in a painfully average way, and as he walked down the hogsmeade streets, everything seemed to only go downhill from there. teddy didn't often leave just to go wander about the country like a stray dog, it was more like he left and had some idea of where he was going so he could come back and go back to sleep, but this could be his change for the day. perhaps he'd find a dog like he'd always wanted among the homeless that lined the broken and shattered shop walls, or maybe he'd make a new friend, or maybe he'd help save someone's life?
...alright that last one was a little drastic. even teddy didn't have the stomach, or the balls if i may say so, to deal with a dying person, knowing magic or not.

as his black shoes carried him across the long, paved streets of diagon alley, his gray eyes couldn't pry themselves off of all the people. i mean, there weren't really that many that someone would go, "holy cow that's a lot of homeless people," it was more like, "oh those poor people." they were scattered amongst the bricks and the cement like if someone took ten coins and threw the all over the street. scattered. like i said.
most of them watched teddy as he passed them, their eyes hungry and their clothes shivering against their bodies with the wind that pressed itself through the rubble and underneath pieces of paper, but their expressions weren't always as pleading as you might've thought. they were looking more confused than anything else, but you would too if you saw a twelve-year-old boy with teal hair. you'd think, with all the purebloods around, the kid would think to change it to a more ignorable color, but that wasn't happening. it's not that teddy liked the attention..
okay, maybe he did. a little bit. but getting it from hungry homeless people made him feel even more left-out and stared at than at hogwarts. with some hesitation, teddy pulled the hood of his heavy, gray sweater over his head and looked around, painfully obvious to the starving eyes of the homeless, and then quickly rounded a corner to get away from all their questioning faces. once on the other side of the street, teddy exhaled and then swallowed roughly as he tightly pulled his head backwards, stretching at the muscles on the back of his neck to change the color of his hair, as he hasn't changed it in a while, and therefore, never really got the hang of it because of how seldom the act was done. as his head raised forward, the teal of his coiffure faded quickly into a deep chocolate color, looking like the dark liquid itself was pouring onto his head.
feeling normal-looking, yet oh-so-different, he turned the corner again to walk on the same road he was before, this time catching different eyes only for a moment before they continued with their homeless businesses.
teddy itched at his chocolate head.

he felt so out of place it made his stomach turn, but
oh, to be free.

as he continued to walk, teddy reached his arms up to the light gray clouds above him and stretched his arms, his head following them to the sky at first, and then closing his optics to move them to where his ears were, feeling the muscles tighten and relax around his shoulder blades and his upper back.
but when your eyes are closed in a place you don't know very well, even for a second, something can go wrong.

when his hands were above his head and his eyes were closed, his shoe heel clicked onto the cement, and then he brought all his weight down on his leg, unaware of the cat's tail that was right were he was stepping. as he pressed down to the pavement with his shoe, an incredible screech was heard from the animal that made everyone within ten feet of the animal and teddy jump with fright. teddy, himself, even screamed a little bit and jumped up, only to get his pants scratched by the scraggly feline. he staggered backwards on one of his feet, and then managed to grab a hold of someone's arm before falling over on his bottom, unable to keep himself upright.
as everything around the boy settled down, he breathed in, long, and then buzzed his lips as he exhaled, managing a small "ow," before he looked up to the person who's arm he was still holding on to.
it was a girl.

teddy felt his face go pink and he quickly lifted his arm off of the girl's arm, "oh, i'm sorry," he said, rather honest sounding, grinding his teeth together, fighting the urge to rub his sore collarbone at all the people who were staring.
again.

character: mister ted lupin
music: the joker - the steve miller band
count: 895
comments: <3 <3

[/size]

[tonks]

Tonks suddenly heard a "yowl". A loud one.

Then..almost as suddenly, she felt something of weight latch on to her arm. A hand. Feeling herself fall with this... person... who had frightened the cat, she supposed, she grabbed on to a windowsill to her left, and regained her balance. She straighened up, and exhaled - a whoosh of air escaping from her lungs. She grinned though, and then looked towards hte boy who was sitting at her feet. She heard his apology... and froze. That voice, that single voice... was the one she had heard so rarely, but she missed so much. She had been introduced to him as a person or two by her mum occasionally (well, when her back was turned), and had only heard her son speak a couple of words or so. Even so, she knew it was him.

What did she say? "Hi, don't worry about it, I'm your mum who left you with your grandmother to keep you safe. Don't think of me too badly, will you?" didn't exactly sound like the best idea in the world. She could pretend to be someone else, as she had done so often beforehand, but again, he was her son, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

After a couple of moments, she realised she hadn't spoken yet, and she really didn't want to alienate him. No way. "Don't worry," she began, helping hoist the 11-year-old to his feet. "It's okay. Are you alright? You seemed to take a rather hefty fall, there." She was doing okay, she thought, friendly, chatty...nothing major...nothing that seemed to give herself away. She had to play it cool - just like she had done all those times as an Auror. But it was so hard. She didn't want to have to hide from him - but she had chosen to, 11 years beforehand, when she was young, foolish...and fearing for all their lives. She resisted the urge to let a few tears fall, and she inhaled quickly and sharply. It wouldn't do for her to break down in the street, especially while he was standing there. She could let her emotions go free when she got back home - if a small run-down cottage could be called anything like that.

She took in her son's appearance, and she smiled softly, yet slightly sadly. The only photo she had of him was one that was taken of them all - Remus, Teddy and her - when he was a newborn. Of course, he had changed majorly. She had only ever seen him with his shocking, turquoise blue tuft of hair - and her smile grew happier as she knew her Metamorphosis skills had obviously been passed to him. However, she herself knew of the downsides. Many a time, when she was learning to control it - her hair flicking through shade after shade of random colours - had she run from the common room in tears, as the others teased her. She had spent many days sitting in a tree in the grounds - she had always been an able climber - and scratched into the wood. Her initials and name had become deeper and depper engraved upon its bark that she supposed it might have survived even the past eleven or twelve years, provided the tree itself had not been blown to pieces in the chaos of the Battle of Hogwarts.

She shook her head gently and came back into the real world. "Anyway," she began, her lips pursed. "How come a lad of your age is wandering the streets alone? Is anyone here with you?" Tonks hoped Andromeda wasn't around. She had only introduced herself to Teddy when Andromeda's back was turned. Her mother was one of the only ones who could always tell it was her; mother's instinct Tonks guessed, especially when even Tonks herself could do it to Teddy. Andromeda had always sent owls to her afterwards, rebuking her. They generally followed the lines of "You chose to leave him here with me - you can't play about with him, all this "pretending to be someone else" nonsense. Either you tell him you're his mother and face the consequences, or face the fact that you left him for me to bring up." Therefore, she didn't really want yet another message along those lines. She'd had enough of feeling guilty - after all, did her mum not think of how she missed him? How every time his birthday came and went she wished she could be with him? Did it not occur to her that she wanted to have seen him grow up, how she wanted to help raise him? If Andromeda was around, she'd have hell to pay. And paying hell at the moment, was not exactly what Tonks wanted.

[Finished!]
[Word Count: 801]
[Comments: Your turn! <33]

[beethoven]

the violets explode inside me
when i meet your eyes

he smiled as she apologized and lifted himself, the pulling upward of the woman aiding him in a standing position. when his eyes flickered to her face, there was something that kicked him in the back of his head, some small note that poked his memory telling him that this was important. his brown eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her face, the words between the two of them were brief and didn't seem worthy of paying attention to. he blinked after a second or two and then grinned, "yea yea, i'm alright." he looked down at his gray sweatshirt and brushed himself off with his hands although nothing was on his front, all the dirt collected on his back. he thought of brushing off his bottom, but the pain from landing on the concrete still echoed through his rear and he didn't want it to hurt anymore than it already was. "sorry about that though...there was a cat who didn't notice me i guess." the words drained away the farther his sentence went.
stupid cat. he wondered where it went for a moment or two, xanthic optics sliding around the area and then some, before locating the raggedy creature who was half glaring at the metamorphmagus and half licking his tail to make the hurting stop. teddy narrowed his eyes at the creature in return. it wasn't that he didn't like cats, but this particular one he decided he just didn't like. it was big and orange and it's fur was all sick and matted-like, it's eyes a bright, loathing green. teddy felt a pang of sorrow for the thing now that he saw what kind of shape it was in, but that didn't change matters one bit. teddy would be stubborn with this one, he decided. the beast should've heard him coming in the first place, seeing as teddy walks without picking up his feet most of the time. his long, black converse shoes were skidding across the pavement like a snake in the sand, and though the noise wasn't terribly loud or painful to the ears, it gave some attention, enough, at least, for the cat to look around and scamper away playfully for god's sake.

or was it teddy's fault?
....nah. he was only stretching. cat should've been on the sidewalk chewing on the homeless or something to that effect.

when the 'anyway' reached his ears, teddy looked to the woman with slightly surprised eyes, and they seemed to cool down as soon as she continued talking. such a short jump from mind to reality made him jump a little, and he turned his body around to look at the girl again, his eyes on her eyes.
she was a very pretty person, wasn't she? kind of looked like grandma, and kind of didn't. then again, most older people looked the same to teddy, but something in his head told him otherwise. it was the way she talked that seemed so familiar, the warmness and the pangs of sorrow and apology and care that reminded him of something...someone so close.
meh.

but her question made him smile. "no, i'm out here on my own." ...and that was the way he liked it. it was better than being hounded by grandma, and other than that there was no one he'd really be with anyway. where grandma lived there wasn't anyone for a while, and as soon as you reached civilization it was mostly purebloods who could beat you up just because they could. his silver eyes moved to his shoes and then back up to the girl, asking the question that was trying to get out of his mouth ever since he looked at her.
"uh, do i know you?" he tilted his head when he said it, looking a bit like a puppy.

music: starlings - elbow
count: 632
comments: eughlsdkfj this suuucks sorry :c

[/size]

[tonks]

Tonks saw her son lift himself to his feet, aided by her, and she removed her hand from his arm. She wanted to just pick him up and hold him tight; her son with her again. She knew she couldn't do it, though - not without completely freaking him out, and probably never seeing him again. She felt her hair tingle slightly and dreaded what might happen. She had never had an issue with her hair changing colours on her since her years at Hogwarts - except the time that Remus had refused her love - but she never spoke of that. "Not now. Please...I beg you..not now...not now...any time but now..." she thought, desperately. She couldn't risk him seeing it - no doubt he knew that there were only two people in the country with the ability to change their appearance, her and him - what would she say...?

It stopped. She played with the ends nervously, glancing at the colour. They were still auburn. "Thank heavens", she thought. She saw his eyes narrow as he looked at her - she had the feeling that he recognised her - it was an odd feeling - one of both hope and despair. If he recognised her, she'd feel so glad, almost elated, but if he did, he would probably realise there was something up...and she'd be in the difficult situation of trying to decide to tell him she was his mother or not. As he grinned up at her, she smiled. He had such a wonderful smile - most definitely Remus'. She saw him brush himself down with a reply that suggested he wasn't hurt in the least. She smiled again, more broadly. From the way he had fallen, she was certain he was slightly sore, but it was almost just like her, that he brushed it aside. She both loved and hated seeing parts of her and Remus in him, it made her feel so close...but yet so distant with him.

As he apologised and blamed the cat, Tonks chuckled gently. "It's okay, don't worry about it!" She replied warmly. "I used to know a cat that got under everyone's feet." She was thinking of Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, who had almost certainly knocked her over many a time. "I was clumsy anyway, so it didn't take much for me to land...well, pretty much like you, actually. Thankfully for me, though, I was landing on carpet!" She laughed. "Anyway, if you're not majorly hurt, I consider that I've done my good turn for the day, ok?" She leaned in to him and winked. "I won't tell anyone you fell if you don't. Deal?" She said, confidentially, and then returned to standing normally, smiling.

She saw his surprise as she spoke, and as she continued, she saw him gradually warm again. He was astute, she gave him that. He was looking in her eyes - something she had never learned to do confidently until she had reached her Auror training - and yet he was only eleven. He seemed confident enough, and not too self-righteous. He was the person Tonks had hoped he'd turn out to be - she only wished she could have taught him it herself. However, his reply to her question shocked her a bit. She looked at him, slightly concerned. "On your own? Isn't it a bit dangerous to be out here on your own?" She nodded surreptitiously to the pureblood snobs walking past. "I mean, you don't know who might be out here - you could get in danger..." She continued, considerably concerned that her son should be wandering the streets of London alone. She didn't like Andromeda's way of talking to her - especially when talking to her own son - but she was not a bad grandmother. "I don't like the idea of you being out here on your own." She said after a long pause. "Stay with me, ok? I promise I'm not one of those people who'll hurt you, but I..." what did she say? "...I'm worried you'll get hurt."

However, it was his next question that posed her the most problems. The dreaded "do I know you?" How did she respond. "Um," she said, a look of slight surprise on her face, while looking for an answer. "You've met me with your gran before." Now for a name. Could she really bring herself to lie. "I'm...Dora." She wasn't lying. She just hoped her mother had never really spoken much of her nickname. Her father had originally given it to her, and Andromeda had not been happy, so it stood to good reason that he would never have been told - but he was a smart lad, she could see it. No doubt he'd connect "Nymphadora" and "Dora" together. Of course, they were so similar. Still, she had said it and she had to go with it. "I'm Dora. I don't think you've ever known me by name, though. You only met me in passing. I'm surprised you recognised me, actually. My hair was a slightly different colour. It was a lighter brown last time - and shorter." She had to hope that she had seen him with that look. If not - he was definitely going to get suspicious.

"Oh well," she thought, her heart heavy. "Here goes nothing."

[Word Count - 888]
[Comments - No worries, hopefully you'll have something to play with here!]

[beethoven]

the violets explode inside me
when i meet your eyes

this time, teddy listened, though his face didn't really show that he had his full attention on the woman, he did. there was something about the way her face was that made him think they used to be so close. his mouth was curved in a slight, concentrated frown as her words walked into his ears and tumbled straight out the other.
he was listening, he just didn't remember what she said after she said it.

when she laughed, teddy smiled, while something in the pit of his stomach beat him up and told him that something was different. but, the curious thing was, he also felt like he shouldn't touch the matter, as if he could reach out and grab it if he wanted to, but the urge to feel whatever it was that was hiding from him wasn't there, and it didn't feel right to teddy to want to taste the truth. but one thing was clear, she sure did like to tell stories. it made teddy raise his eyebrows the way she trailed off into something related to whatever he had said before. he noted the fact that she sort of rambled like grandma used to when teddy was younger and something had happened to him earlier in the day, whether it make sense to tell the story or not. sometimes he would trip and fall and then come crying home, and andromeda would hold him and tell him some weird story about an ant and a dog or something and he would feel totally better after, though nothing in the story was relevant. it was strange how just hearing her talk seemed to warm a place in his heart and make all the pain run off him like raindrops on feathers.
as she asked her question and leaned into him, teddy smiled and winked back, the wrinkling of his skin looking like he was made to do the gesture. his teeth clamped together in a slightly flirtatious smile and he raised an eyebrow, "you got it."

but when she frowned, teddy did the same, and another punch was directed to the inside of his stomach. he swallowed as she spoke, his violet eyes looking first, at her lips, and then down at his shoes. he felt as if he was being punished for leaving the one place where he always felt crowded, the small little hut where his shoulders were against his neck with all the stress and the fear and the agony of being cooped up in one place when the sun was setting outside his window. that's how he got out, by the way. even though there is no tree by his window on the second story, teddy jumped out the window and landed on all fours, his pants skidding across the grass, leaving a long, hazel stain on his knees. he liked them that way, his pants, and he liked sneaking out of the house probably more than he should. he was always home before andromeda found out he was gone, mostly because she falls asleep drinking her tea and then wakes up in the middle of the night thinking she was only out for a few minutes. some days it's handy, living with an elderly woman, teddy has to admit that.

"Stay with me, ok?"
teddy frowned.
he didn't want to go with. he didn't want her to come and he didn't want her to follow him around.
another reason he left was so that he could be on his own for a while in the middle of a city filled with homeless people. teddy didn't care if people were going to get him or whatever was going to happen to some twelve year old boy alone in a city. he would rather just wander around like he usually did on his own rather than have another collar around his neck like some dog. he narrowed his eyes and asked his question, and she seemed, to teddy, a little reluctant to answer. he guessed this because she had started with an 'um' instead of a smile and a hold-out-of-her-hand kind of thing. he crossed his arms and watched her fiddle with her hair, nodding when she handed more words to him and told him her name.
at her name, he raised his eyebrows and gave her a slightly unimpressed look mixed in with a smile, "dora?" he laughed once, his chest moving quickly with the breath of air that carried out his chuckle. "your name's dora?" teddy was sure that if he had ever seen one of grandma's friends named 'dora' he'd remember her face, or hearing the name at least.
aaaaand there it was again, that tugging feeling on the back of his eyes. he only got irritated and ignored it, pushing his black eyebrows together in frustration. "okay then, dora," he started, un-crossing his arms and turning around so that he faced the same direction as her. his shoes moved so that he stood next to dora, and he looked forward and began walking, expecting her to tag along, since that's what she seemed to want from him.

"do you know anywhere that i could get a dog?" it was a serious question, but it didn't seem like it. shoving his hands into his pockets, teddy watched his shoes as they hit against the tar. "i think my grandma needs some company while i'm gone at school and she won't admit it, so i think i'll just bring one home."

music: michelle - the beatles
count: 913
comments: sorry for the wait, but it still sucks :c

[/size]

[tonks]

Tonks saw her son's frown and she restrained herself from asking why. She could guess. She guessed that it was because he recognised her, simply by the look in his eyes. She felt awful, like she was being incredibly mean to her son by denying him the information that his mind seemed to be looking for. But she couldn't tell him she was his mother, not here, not now...not ever, maybe.

She saw him smile as she laughed, and she wondered whether he had guessed who she was or not - she wanted to change her hair in front of him, but knew she couldn't. She had to do one of two things, and she had to stick to them. Either she told him she was his mother or not. She couldn't be stuck between the two - there was no middle ground.

When she asked him the question, he seemed almost reluctant to reply, and Tonks felt a pang of worry. Was she being overly friendly? Did he feel awkward around her? She didn't want to alienate him; after all, he was her son, regardless of whether he knew it or not, so his reply was a relief to her. She smiled at him softly, and replied simply, "good." And promptly grinned. She was a bubbly person - she couldn't help it - not even Azkaban could get that liveliness out of her.

As he copied her frown, Tonks noticed something. He seemed to almost become sullen, and Tonks thinned her lips slightly. She didn't want her son to dislike her, but she was afraid. After seeing what these people were capable of, after being at the battles where some of these people had mercilessly slaughtered the Order members and the Hogwarts students alike, she didn't want her son wandering through them. They hated people like him and her, and she hated to think what some of the teachers might be like to him because of the fact he was her and Remus' son... She physically trembled at the thoughts, and a small wince escaped from her. She shook her head to erase the thoughts, and then looked down at the boy.

As he commented on her name, she laughed softly. she probably wouldn't have thought much of it, had it been a completely made-up name, but to see her own son's disbelief was almost priceless. She laughed slightly more as she thought of the look on his face when he realised it was actually the name of his mother...after the "I hate you for not telling me's", which she knew were likely to come - and she was dreading.

"Yes," she said, after the laughter had subsided. "Yes, I'm Dora. I know, it's a weird name, but...it was my mother's choice. Bit silly really, isn't it?" She said, shrugging. She saw his eyebrows furrow, and she looked at him enquiringly. However, when he agreed, she saw him wheel around to face the same way as her, and then move off. Realising her feet really ought to be keeping up with his - considering how she had suggest...told him to come with her, she hastily walked until she was next to him, and then slowed her pace. However, his next question came as a surprise.

"A dog?" She asked, wondering if she had misheard him. "Um...well..." She was cut off by his next words, though, and she smiled gently as she heard them. He was a very caring child, and it made her glad. She was slightly concerned her mother would not approve of an animal, but it was Teddy's decision, and her mother would soon get used to the animal...she hoped. She also hoped that Teddy was as conscientious as this all the time, though she knew even the best of people lost their temper. "Well, there is the Magical Menagerie. They're not known for selling dogs, but they may have a few."She suggested, pointing up ahead to a shop which had animals of all sorts in its front window. "I know they sell rats and cats, so they may have dogs too, I guess." She smiled softly at him as they walked up the narrow street together, and she then spoke. "You know," She said, with a hint of regret, almost, i her voice. "Your grandmother is very lucky to have you looking out for her." As she said it, she felt her lungs tighten, and her vocal cord constrict. She stopped at the Magical Menagerie, with an odd look on her face. It seemed half dreamy, half saddened. She looked at her son again. "Here we are," she said as breezily and lightly as she could manage. "I'll wait out here for you. Go and see if there's a dog in there." She smiled, as brightly as possible, and as he went in, turned away, trying to hide the tear that was steadily making it's way down her face, wiping it away as quickly as she could manage.

"I can't do this." She thought, suddenly. "I can't pretend - not now."

[Word Count - 845]
[Comments - I know it's not great, my muse seemed to desert me for a few weeks.]

[/quote]

[beethoven]

come up to meet you, tell you i'm sorry
you don't know how lovely you are

teddy had never heard of 'Magical Menagerie,' but to his twelve-year-old head it really sounded like the place where you go to discuss the funeral preparations of your mother's mother's mother. he swallowed at the thought of what in the world he would have to do if andromeda ever died, but he forced the thought out of his head with a scowl at his shoes, kicking away a pebble and then turning his head up again to see the streets of diagon alley to morph into somewhat of a market place, the people looking less like homeless and more like wizards as they walked on.
dora started, and teddy looked at her with listening eyes that moved around her face as she talked, and then they flickered back down to dora's shoulder, and then down to the floor where they were before. it was true, and even though it sounded vain of teddy, he knew andromeda needed him more than anything, and as much as he loved to leave like he always did and go explore around the town a bit, he always knew there would be that pang of worry about andromeda, worries like 'what if she didn't wake up?' i mean, god knows the doctors probably wouldn't do anything for her, everyone knows about the tonks family and how andromeda black married a muggleborn wizard.
shame on her, hm?
yeah, they most likely would turn her away with an upturn of the nose and a quick spin around so all you could see was their snobby backs. teddy blew out his nose and then wiped it with his sweater sleeve, dull fuchsia optics watching his converses as they tapped away on the road. "yeah, i know she is," was all he said to dora about her statement. teddy didn't feel like pouring out everything to her, especially since they just met. he couldn't help but feel some distance growing between them, even though every time dora looked at teddy's face and eyes and hair, her own eyes were filled with a look of mourning and love and her smile was always covered in sadness like she needed a napkin to wipe it off. this woman was strange, wasn't she?

the metamorphmagus looked up at the sign as dora noted their presence in front of the shop. sure enough, inside there were cages filled with feathered animals and ones with claws and everything else. when his eyes rested on the store window, he wasn't as excited as he probably would've been if he was younger, and if the shop didn't look like it were built in a day. teddy understood, of course, that someone probably had to rebuild it after the war, and it looked like it was either done by a group of volunteered kids or a really old, frail man.
the latter seemed to be the choice, because as teddy nodded his brief farewell to dora and opened the door with a small dinging sound, there was the elderly man, his hand wobbling as it gripped a long, black quill on some parchment. the old man didn't seem to notice him, but teddy noticed that he wasn't even writing anything on the paper, his hand was just shaking. the boy's expression grew to one of pity for the old man, and he decided to take another step back and slam the door instead of close it since the man didn't seem to hear the door close.
as the door cracked into place, the old man looked up, and teddy smiled and shoved his arms into the big pocket in his gray sweater. the man looked up, adjusted his glasses, smiled widely, and then held his arms up in the air, "ah! welcome, welcome!"
it seemed like he hadn't seen a customer in ages. teddy smiled at him. "hey," and the boy held out his hand. the old man smiled and scrunched up his nose and took teddy's hand with enthusiasm, which gave the boy a tickle of laughter in his throat.
"what can i do you for, lad?"
teddy asked about the dog, and to his disappointment, the shopkeeper frowned and looked at him through his thick-rimmed glasses. after a few moments of staring, teddy blinked and furrowed his brow and decided to repeat the question, "do you have any dogs?" he said it rather loud, and the man raised his eyebrows and then smiled, "now, now, i think so, son." the man hobbled off, leaving teddy feeling like he was in a mouse trap underneath all the staring eyes of the animals. after a few minutes of that, the man hobbled back with a muggle's pen in his hands, then approached teddy. "we don't seem to have any at the moment, perhaps coming back later?"
teddy nodded his head and looked down at the pen, but the old man's pale hands curled around it like he was a skeleton. teddy's pink eyes looked the man back in the face and then he smiled, awkwardly, "thanks anyway mister." teddy patted him on the shoulder and then walked calmly out of the store, watching the man hobble back to the back of his desk.

teddy closed the door gingerly and looked at dora. he blinked and studied her arms before shrugging casually and walking back to her side. "it seems as if they're all out. to be honest i don't think they ever had any." he half laughed the last words, though he honestly felt a pang of sorrow for the old man, he seemed so scared of something, even when he smiled. teddy's eyes faded slightly to a smoky purple as his mind wandered over the poor elderly man and whatever he was going through. somehow he had a feeling it had something to do with the malfoys, but then again, what didn't these days? they were like the second highest power in everywhere.

he had a frustrated look on his face.
inside his sweater, his hands balled up into fists.

music: look what you've done - jet
count: 993
comments: i love this old man c: plus takkkkeee your time jet x3

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