A.N: I'm back! I'm so terribly sorry for the delay. Thank you lexi427 and laissankari for making my day. This chapter is for you both.

Disclaimer: Duly disclaimed! (This holds good for all three chapters.)

Clarification: I believe Teddy's real name is Edward. And he's a Hufflepuff in the canon, but I think of him as a Gryffindor.

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Lily Through The Ages

Chapter 2

Finding Teddy

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It has been only a week since Lily graduated from Hogwarts.

Aunt Hermione has been an absolute darling, helping her look at alternative options for a higher education, considering her performance in the NEWTs. The results will be out in a month.

Her aunt is highly proud of her for even considering higher education. Both Rose and Hugo have told her the truth, about Lily's problems. The best part is, Aunt Hermione doesn't judge.

In fact, it is Aunt Hermione who suggests that they spread the story that Lily fell sick in the middle of her NEWTs, so that she won't have to face the whole family's enquiries about how such a talented witch like Lily didn't get all O's.

Rose, Hugo, Albus and Louis agree to not tell anyone else what really happened, though Albus wishes that Lily would tell their parents the truth. Lily simply refuses to do that.

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Grandma Molly throws a graduation party for the three of them that weekend. She doesn't want to go to the Burrow, but she does anyway, hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain blue-haired man.

Even if The Burrow were to be magically expanded, it could never hold the entire Potter-Weasley clan at once, without the walls bursting. So Grandma Molly does what she does every Christmas, and arranges the whole party outside.

When she sees Teddy excuse himself from the party and make his way to the desolated backyard, she inconspicuously picks up a bottle of Butterbeer and a goblet of pumpkin juice, and quietly slips away from her family.

It's apparent that something's been bothering him. His usual azure blue hair is paler today, more of a sky blue shade. And even if she weren't in love with him, she would want to comfort him.

Her biggest fear and obstacle is that he'll possibly still see her as a child, as the girl he comforted when her brothers tore her favourite stuffed dragon, as the four-year old rebel who drank some wrongly brewed potion and literally turned green for the entire day.

She wants him to know that he can confide in her about anything that's bothering him, without censoring out details the way adults do to kids. She wants him to know that she'll always be there for him, no matter what.

So she quietly goes and stands beside him, to be his pillar of support, just in case he needs one.

/

"Feeling overwhelmed, Ted?"

"Hey, Lils. I didn't quite see you there. It's that obvious, huh?"

"What's wrong, Teddy?"

He doesn't reply.

She tries a different route. "Sometimes talking to some random person can help things, you know?"

"But you're not a random person. I've known you since your birth."

"Actually, you'd have to consider me a stranger. You knew who I was as a kid. But now I've grown up. I've changed. Which means what you think you know about me is not who I am anymore."

As an afterthought, she adds "I'm a stranger even to the people who've known me the longest."

He looks up at her, his eyes turning frost blue, to mirror her eyes. It's obvious that though what she has said has surprised him, it's making him think. He turns his face away, deep in thought.

After a few long minutes, he looks back at her and replies.

"You're right. I don't know who you are. So let's reintroduce ourselves, shall we?"

He pauses. And then with a slightly wolfish smile says, "I'm Edward Remus Lupin."

Lily gives him a breath-taking smile as she replies.

"Hullo, Edward. I am Lily Luna Potter. It's nice to meet you."

/

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Weeks flash by in bursts of light, warmth and laughter. She makes it a point to laugh as much as she can.

The results come out, but she doesn't care. She's passed, and that's all that matters. Her parents are so nice about how she's done. She loves the way her dad tells her not to bother about her grades, because though Voldemort got all O's, it never meant he was a good person.

Louis, Hugo and she go out as much as they can. They visit Uncle George at the joke-shop every week. They go traipsing through the Scottish greens every weekend. They try their best to be away from other company.

Because apparating is the best way to travel within the country.

But the nights are reserved for her special talks with Edward. They talk about everything and nothing. They never have a specific topic. They talk about the cosmos and they talk about the meaning of life. They talk about the latest Weird Sisters album and they talk about Quidditch through the ages.

He usually apparates around to The Potter Manor and they lie on the roof and talk. But it's impossible to meet every day. If he's too tired, they floo-call at least for a few minutes, and if he's working late, they rely on owl-post.

The summer is a beautifully hazy and Lily prays she'll never forget how she feels.

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Lily can't but help feel excited about the two weeks that she's going to spend at Uncle Bill's. She's so glad that Louis invited her and Hugo over, because now, she doesn't have to manipulate her uncle into inviting her to stay.

She's excited because there's going to be so much to learn.

It's all about reinvention.

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Surprisingly, it's Dominique who helps her out. Dominique, the silent beauty.

/

"How can you say that, Nicki?", she asks, her blue eyes opened wide.

"It's true, sweetheart. Once upon a time, boys didn't even know I existed. You see, their eyes were always drawn to my princess of a sister.

In my fifth year, a boy I really fancied asked me out. I was over the moon. I dressed up as best as I could, using perfume and even Muggle lip gloss. Our 'date' was in Hogsmeade. We met at this newly opened bistro Magic Delights...The place was lovely and the ambience? Absolutely mind-blowing. I was so thrilled that the first date of my life was so perfect.

But then, that dickwad started asking questions about 'that pretty girl in the seventh year... Oh wait, is she your sister?'. And I realised that he'd simply wanted to talk and find out about Vicky. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. I had never been humiliated that way. It turned out my first date was not even a real date, it was an interrogative session with a guy who wanted to get into my sister's knickers.

After going back to the castle and crying my heart out, I realised that sometimes males are so stupid that they'll bother to look inside only if the outside looks enticing as well. I didn't want to alter my looks just for some shallow male's attentions. So I decided to change certain things, without actually losing sight of who I was. So though I wore fashionable footwear from then on, on the inside, I was still the same old girl who loved walking barefoot on wet grass. I made a conscious choice to preserve the person I was on the inside, while simply changing what I looked like.

So that's what you need to remember, Lils. Don't lose yourself for the sake of some boy. He must like you for who you are on the inside. Don't tailor yourself for him. Tailor yourself for yourself."

Lily, who till then listens with awe, starts blushing at the last line. Nicki looks at her curiously.

"You know what, I'll give you a copy of the book in which I wrote the best magical and non-magical beauty remedies. Try it out and tell me how it works for you. "

Lily nods her head brightly at this and Nicki accios an aging thick leather book. She duplicates the book and gives Lily the copy.

Lily gives a fierce hug to her blonde haired cousin after she flicks through the pages.

"Thank you so much Nicki! Have you ever thought of publishing this? This will be an instant best seller! "

"Well, why don't you try it first? And if does and you get the guy, I'll publish it. Deal?"

"Deal."

/

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Soon it's time for everyone to split... For the time being, at least. Teary goodbyes and too bright smiles. Promises to keep in touch and meet up every vacation.

Lucky for her, Louis too plans to study at Romania. In the same university as hers. She's over the moon.

But she knows she'll miss not just Ed, but also Hugo and Al.

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Lily now studies WAMST at an obscure university in Romania. It's not her ideal choice of an educational institution, but she's made her peace with it.

After all, she can't blame anyone apart from herself for her mistakes. But she realises that she doesn't regret anything that she's done.

Isn't she lucky as it is, to have Louis as her roommate, and to have both their parents pay the rent?

She has her priorities fixed. To keep her head low, have fun quietly and get the best grades she can. To keep in touch with the people who matter the most to her.

She also has a routine for her weekends.

Every Saturday afternoon, she and Louis have lunch with Uncle Charlie on his dragon farm. Every Saturday night, Hugo floo-calls them and they all remain as thick as thieves.

But Sundays are meant for her letters to Ed. Floo-calls are way too expensive for all that they have to say. They owl each other every week and Sundays are when Lily writes her long-long replies to his long-long letters.

They talk of changing the world and following their dreams. They talk of travelling the world.

Lily doesn't know if she's still crushing on him. But she knows the relationship she has with him is special.

She learns to treasure it, instead of questioning it.

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Lily works hard and has tons of ideas about how she can bring about a total revolution in the Wizarding world. She jots them down faithfully in a tiny azure blue pocket diary.

Soon, it's the winter break. One semester down, seven to go. She can't wait to get started on her ideas.

Her parents have decided that the entire family celebrate Christmas in Venice, Italy. Ed has also been invited to join them.

Lily is so excited that she'll get to spend time with him for twenty-five whole days. Even if it means sharing him with her two brothers.

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Venice is such a beautiful place and the vacation is full of beautiful moments, even though it's so fucking cold. Her mother has obviously taken way too many bludgers to her head. With high waters and flooding, the experience is unique and ultimately, that's the only thing that matters.

It's the place where everything changes while nothing really changes.

With James at the bar, flirting with some Italian barmaid, Al catching up on his sleep and her parents spending the entire day at the spa, Lily finds herself sightseeing the place with Edward.

Lily experiences her first kiss in Venice and it's something she'll never forget.

/

The gondolier mistakes her and Ed to be a couple when they're on a gondola ride, and tells them how kissing while passing under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset will seal their love for each other forever. He then turns away, as if it to give them privacy.

Edward leans forward gently with a slight smile on his face, and she feels a slight pressure on her arm as he shifts. He whispers in a low voice, "Think of it as Italian mistletoe."

And as the shadow of the overhead bridge falls upon them, his lips gently meet hers. She's not exactly surprised, but she does give an involuntary gasp.

He uses that as an excuse to deepen the kiss, and she finds herself kissing him back, first hesitantly, and then, not-so-hesitantly.

But the moment is gone as soon as they pass out from under the bridge, into the setting sun's light.

He pulls back and winks at her and says, "Merry Christmas in advance, Lily."

Lily merely nods at him.

/

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The rest of the trip is awkward, to say the least. She blushes every time she sees him, and he grins back at her with his stupid secretive smile. They have this unvoiced agreement of sorts, to not talk about it.

She unconsciously starts holding his hand when no one's around, followed by jumping away from him when she realises what she's doing, which amuses him to no end. Lily develops this new habit of resting her head on his shoulder whenever they sink into a comfortable silence.

And surprisingly, it's her oblivious older brother, James, who asks if Lily and Teddy have a secret.

Lily likes the fact that she and Edward have a secret, just between the two of them.

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/

On the last night in Venice, she and Ed sneak out onto the roof of the hotel, to watch the stars together.

That's when he tells her about how he's written his Potions Masters Exam and about how he plans to quit his job as an Auror the minute he gets his results and how he's anxious about them.

Lily takes his hands in hers and rubs her thumb in circles to calm him down. She promises to help him out with all her ideas she's got from studying WAMST.

In the distance, a church bell rings twice, making her realise that two hours of the new year have already gone by.

She leans into him a little more as she looks up at the sky. "This is perfect, isn't it?", she asks.

When he doesn't say anything, she turns to look at him. He smiles at her and as he squeezes her hand, he says "Yes, this is."

As she burrows her head into his shoulder, Lily can't think of a better way to have started the new year.

/

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Lying in her bedroom in Romania, Lily still can't think of a better way to have started the new year. She hasn't felt this content in a long time.

When Ed floocalls one lazy Sunday afternoon, announcing how he's been accepted into the Potions Master Academy, Lily can't help but feel happy for him. Somehow, along the way, his dreams have become her dreams and hence she feels doubly happy about it.

Lily's heart soars when he tells her that she's the first one he wanted to tell. Lily wonders if a person's heart can break from too much happiness.

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Life has never seemed more perfect. Everything seems to be falling into place and the mist around her eyes slowly seems to be disappearing. All the puzzle pieces seem to be lining up, and Lily can't wait to see what picture they will form.

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AN: I did promise that this would be a two chapter story. But I felt that one more chapter would be needed to complete the story.

The next chapter is named 'Finding Happily-Ever-After' and I'll mostly be done within a fortnight. It's a narration of how Lily and Ted get together. I really hope you'll come back to read it.

Thank you for putting up with me. Please do review / follow / favourite to let me know how I'm doing.