Time After Everything || a Sequel to Saving Myself

XX: Extra

Teddy Lupin hated working the night shifts at St. Mungo's. It was exhausting, attending to children all night. But it was rewarding to see them smile. The children called the other Healers "mister" and "miss", but Teddy let them call him by his first name. However, few only called him Teddy. Most of them called him Mister Teddy.

The children and teenagers that he attended to seemed to trust him more than the rest of their assigned Healers and being one of the youngest Healers had its perks; he got to move around the room, helping anyone that needed healing or attention.

But it was always sad whenever he accidentally walked into the wrong room and found a child sitting alone, looking at a picture book. The child must have been new because Teddy had never seen her. He did his best to make her laugh.

Teddy strolled down Albion Way, cold despite the midsummer heat. He had kept a cooling spell along the inside of his black sweatshirt. To him, it was pleasantly cool outside.

He turned into a small coffee shop that he went to often. Thomas Finnigan, who was his fellow Hufflepuff in their Hogwarts years, worked as a barista there and would boost Teddy's spirit a bit. When Teddy caught his eye, he called, "Teddy Lupin? It's been too long!"

The strong scent of coffee filled his senses. Sometimes, it paid off to have a werewolf as a father. His sense of hearing, smell, and taste were heightened. "It's been two days, Thomas."

"Exactly, " he said. "The regular?"

"Thanks, man."

"No problem, " Thomas said as Teddy handed him a wad of Muggle pounds. "How's Professor Lupin?"

"He's alright, " Teddy replied with a shrug. "He's been arguing with my mum again."

"That sucks, man, " Thomas said sympathetically, handing him a foam cup. Teddy, who couldn't stand the taste of coffee, always ordered hot chocolate. "Tell him I said hi."

Teddy grinned. "Will do."

Teddy thought about sitting down at a table, but he frowned when every one of the tables were filled with people. He was about to leave when he saw someone that caught his eye; there was a bloke around his age, maybe a year or two younger. He had a long-sleeved button-up, white shirt that was rolled up past his elbows. He had black slacks along with matching suspenders along with dress shoes.

He was reading a thick book, pushing his Warby Parker glasses up the bridge if his nose and straightening them. In a daze, Teddy walked over to his table, asking, "Is it alright if I sit here?"

The bloke looked up and his hair caught the artificial light, making it shine. His skin was dark, darker than Harry's. His eyes were green, like the skin of an avocado and they were turned upward at the corner a bit. His hair was dark brown. His eyes raked Teddy's teal-coloured hair and he pursed his lips a bit.

He nodded and Teddy sat across from him, tilting his head a bit, trying to read the title. After a few minutes, the bloke across from him lifted his book up. "Oh, I've read that before."

His green eyes lit up. "You have?"

Teddy grinned. "Yeah, how do you like it so far?"

The stranger babbled on and on about his book, speaking amiably. Teddy smiled. He used his hands a lot while he talked. Teddy sipped his hot chocolate as he spoke, nodding along with the stranger as he talked.

"What did you order?"

"Er, " Teddy told him, "black coffee."

"Oh, can I try it?" Without thinking, Teddy handed him his foam cup. The stranger took the lid off and chuckled in confusion. "This isn't black coffee."

"You can pretend if you really want to."

For hours, they spoke about nothing in particular, but, when Teddy finally looked down at his watch, frowning. How could it be nearly five already?

He sighed and said, "I should get going." Teddy stood, adding, "Thank you for letting me sit here."

Teddy grabbed his cup and made to toss it in the rubbish bin when the stranger blurted out, "Oliver. Whitney."

"What?"

The stranger blushed. "T---that's my name. Oliver Whitney."

Teddy grinned and shook his hand. "Well, it's very nice to know your name, Oliver, " he paused, his grin flashing. "Whitney. I'm Edward Lupin. Friends call me Teddy."

Oliver Whitney smiled and grabbed a napkin, taking a pen out of his pocket. He scribbled a series of numbers on the napkin, saying, "Call me, yeah? Maybe we could do this again. If---if you want to."

Teddy grinned. "That would be nice."

He left and went to the department store, buying a landline to call Oliver Whitney tomorrow.

וווווווווווווו×

The next afternoon, just as Teddy was about to call Oliver, an owl zoomed in through the window of his apartment with an urgent message from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. He swore, forgetting that he had scheduled a get-together with Oliver Whitney.

Meanwhile, Oliver was sitting in the coffee shop, waiting for Teddy. When the sun began to set, he left, strolling back to his apartment. He sat on his couch, flipping through the television channels and eating ice cream.

At around ten, the telephone began to ring. He answered it, setting the bowl of ice cream on the coffee table. "Hello?" he said.

"Uh, hello, " a familiar voice said. "This is Edward---er, Teddy Lupin. From the coffee shop on Albion Way?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, look, I'm really sorry about today. I got owl---er, called into the hospital I work at. It was an emergency with one of the kids I work with."

"You work at a hospital?"

"Yeah. With kids and teens. Again, I'm really sorry if it looked like I blew you off."

"I. . .it's okay."

"No, it's not. But I'm off tomorrow anyway, so could you meet me again? Tomorrow? Maybe two?"

"Sure, " Oliver said. "I'll see you then."

"Thank you." There was a bit of an awkward pause, but then Teddy told him, "Have a good night." Then, he hung up, leaving Oliver with a wide grin.

The next afternoon, Oliver arrived at the coffee shop an hour late, just to see if Teddy Lupin would be there. He peered through the window, seeing the familiar head of teal hair talking to one of the baristas. He was about to walk in when he caught Teddy's eye and the slightly taller bloke walked outside and held his face gently, kissing him.

Shock coursed through Oliver's body as Teddy pulled away, grabbing his hand. "Let's get some ice cream, yeah?"

They walked hand in hand down the street, Teddy swinging his arms and Oliver in a daze.

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