Opening Day (Teddy/open)

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

She'd been informed that she was crazy to open any kind of store with things as they stood, but Lisette had never been one to listen to nay-sayers. Her impenetrably sunny outlook (inherited from her dad, at least that's what Aunt Jak said) had driver her to persist and, finally, the Lollipop Café was open for business! Because everyone could use a cup of coffee and sweets, no matter what was going on!

However, since it was still early and most of Diagon Alley was still asleep, she had yet to have any patrons. She was sure that she would, though. Who in their right mind passed up baked goods and coffee? The thought was unfathomable.

Lisette hummed some song she'd heard on a muggle radio station the other day as she placed the mug she'd been drinking her own coffee from in the sink. Lisette lived in an apartment over the store, but she was far too lazy to take the cup back upstairs at the moment. She just hoped that somebody came in, soon. She was getting dreadfully bored, and that was always a very bad thing.

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

Teddy had just woken up this fine morning and decided to take a walk down Diagon Alley. Of course, there weren't many out as it was quite early in the morning. Most people thought he was crazy from the looks ge recieved. That could be because his hair kept changing from bright blue to neon green, then to red. or it could be because he was chanting "Teddy, Teddy, Teddy, Teddy. Teddy, Teddy, Teddy Teddy. Teddy Bear! Teddy Bear!" To the tune of the Batman song. That couldn't be it! It mist be something he was wearing.

Anyways, he was planning to go to the Twins' Joke Shop, when he saw it. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen! Well except for Victoire. The perfect symetry. The perfect perfectness! Candy and Cofee! Teddy had somehow inherited his sweet tooth from his chocolate obsessed father and his candy obsessed mother, or something, necause when candy was involved he couldn't resist. He jumped through the door and said, "Teddy is here!"

He approached the counter, spotting the owner or some worker. "Teddy Lupin at your servuce! Or you're at my service I guess... Anyways! One black coffee with lots of cream and whatever is the tastiest chocolate you have, I'll get a galleon worth of."

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

Lisette knew that it was probably rude to laugh at a patron, but the way that guy had entered the store was just funny! She couldn't help it! She laughed quietly, mostly to herself, when he announced his arrival. In terms of first customers, he didn't seem that bad.


"Welcome to the Lollipop Café. I'm Liz, the owner. The best chocolates I have made at the moment are the Cioccolatini. They're essentially little chocolates with assorted fillings. They're this section of the case," she explained, pointing to new rows of the little candies that she'd made in the wee hours of the morning. "The row closest to the case has a brandied cherry filling, the next after them have a hazelnut cream, the third row are milk chocolates but the filling is a dark chocolate mousse, the fourth are dark chocolate with a lime filling, the white chocolate ones in the fifth row are filled with a homemade strawberry whipped cream, and the sixth row are filled with a mixture of honey and almonds. The variety of available Cioccolatini change every day. For a galleon, you can pick out twelve."

She'd heard of Teddy Lupin before, she reflected as she went about making his coffee. He'd been born around the same time that she was. He'd gotten wrapped up with the Resistance in England, though. She was actually glad that her distant cousin was alright.

She continued humming the muggle song as she poured the coffee into a mug and made a little picture of a cartoonish griffin using the cream. She turned and placed it on the counter in front of him and waited for him to pick out his candies.

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

"Oh sooooooo many choices!" Teddy said looking at the flavors. Which one? Twelve to choose... "Ok, ok. I want two of each except, three of the first and second rows." Yes! Perfect! He loved this! Yummy yummy chocolate. He took the coffee and drank it. "Delicious!" Teddy was never a big coffee guy, but it was great! Plus there was a griffin! That was cool.

"You just earned yourself a regular!" Teddy stated happily, pulling out his money. It was a good thing he'd saved up most of his money in preparation of this year because now he had plenty he could spend easily. Sophie might not be happy with him 'wasting' money on such trivial things. It didn't matter. He was going spend his money however he wanted.

"So, what's your name? I haven't seen you around before. Mind you, I just got here about a year ago, so I don't know everyone," Teddy asked taking a drink of his coffee. The chocolate was just waiting in front of him to be devoured. Though Teddy would force himself to savor each chocolate, because if he had a favorite, it might not be there the next day.

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

She laughed softly as she pulled out a box for Teddy's chocolates and used a little pair of tongs to pick out the selected candies and gently placed them in the box. Working for her aunt in their bakery had worked out well for Liz; she was good at things like this.

She handed him the chocolates with a smile and accepted the galleon, returning the rest of the money.

"You're my first customer, so the coffee's on the house," she explained.

He was a pretty exuberant person, she noted to herself as she carefully closed the case. It had to be closed and sealed so that the candies inside would stay good. She made those candies herself, and she wouldn't have time to make more later. Well, hopefully. She didn't want business to be slow; she hoped that it picked up once everyone was up and about.

"Oh, I'm Lisette Weasley. I just got back into town about a year ago myself," she replied offhandedly. "Lots of new faces. Lots of not-so-new ones."

The Weasleys were a large clan; it wasn't odd for them to have out-of-town cousins. God knows she'd had to avoid her own cousins for a while.

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

As soon as he took possession of the chocolates, he pulled one out at random and smiled once he placed ot in his mouth. Chocolate, yum, yum. Well worth a galleon for twelve of "Why thank you!" Teddy exclaimed, accepting the money back for his coffee.

Weasley? Did she say Weasley? She just shot up higher on his people he liked list. Maybe she would know Vicky. And she came here about a year ago herself. Maybe she was a transfer. Lisette. He didn't know her, but the name sounded so familiar. At this point, lost in thought he probably looked like he was thinking harx, so he smiled and look at Liz.

"Weasley? Do you know Vicky? Oh well, that's a stupid question, you probably wouldn't know her by that anways. See, I'm in love with one of your relatives, Victoire Weasley. Do you know her?" Teddy asked. There was something familiar about her. What was it? Je went through all of the Weasleys, stopping on George and how she looked a lot like her... He still didn't connect the dots.

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

"Sorry, I actually don't know my cousins, like at all," she explained with an apologetic smile. "I was raised by my aunt Jak. My mother and father are both long dead."

And she only knew them from pictures. She looked more like her dad, Fred; she hadn't inherited much in the department of looks from her mother, Lisa. Aunt Jak said that she acted like Lisa a bit, though. Lisette suspected that her aunt had said that only to calm her nerves when she freaked out over her lack of similarities to Lisa. From the old home videos that Liz had seen, her mother had seemed like an...unusually brave Hufflepuff. She'd been told that Lisa had been a Hufflepuff. Aunt Jak told her a lot of stories about her mother and father when she was a child. It had helped, admittedly.

"I hope you and Victoire work out, though," she added. "You seem nice."

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

Jak. Lisette. What was he missing here? He knew all of the Weasleys that were alive, and heard of those who died. These names seemed so familiar! Where did he hear them before? Teddy was, oh so desperate, to find the information he was so clearly missing. Maybe he should look right in front of him. She looked a lot like George. She was a Weasley. He wasn't going to give up without a fight in his own head.

"Oh that's terrible. My parents are both long dead too, but at least I was raised around those I consider family. I mean, I never knew my cousins until much later. And even then I didn't know they were my cousins for a long time," Teddy explained with a smile, before adding, "Sorry if I'm rambling." But at least he grew up around Uncle Harry and the other Weasleys. It still was bugging him that he didn't know where he heard Liz's name from.

"I do too, though I'm the one screwing up, apparently I inherited my father's commitment issues," Teddy said smiling. Remus, Teddy, they both had a problem with women, but Teddy it was because he was afraid so much of losing her that he couldn't stand getting so close and then losing her. It was maddening almost.

Then it struck him. "I know who you are!" Teddy exclaimed, out of the blue, "Uncle Harry told us about you once before! You're parents died at the battle, and... and we all thought you were dead!" That was it! When Uncle Harry talked about Fred, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and the other Weasleys added in things about Fred, and the thing was that this Lisette was Fred's daughter! This was just fantastic! He had found the lost daughter of Fred! Just wait until he told Vicky she had another cousin!

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

"Aunt Jak was a camera fiend, so there are a lot of home videos and photos of them, so I guess it could've been worse. And Aunt Jak tried really hard to take care of me; she's just kind of...if you ever meet my aunt Jak, you'll understand," she decided with a wry smile. "And I don't mind your rambling; my aunt used to go off on huge rants in French. I'm used to it."

What was he thinking about so hard? She knew that all of her cousins lived in England, but she had always assumed that they knew that she lived in Venice with her aunt and hadn't been able to visit. Was that not the case....? Knowing Aunt Jak...

"Dead...? What...? My aunt and I lived in Venice! Since I was only a few months...old...she didn't tell anyone, did she?" she questioned in a deadpan.

How very Jak....of course she hadn't. Her aunt never thought about things like that! Liz had forgotten that Jak Lafayette was the furthest thing possible from rational.

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

"I think this Jak and I would get along quite well," Teddy said taking another chocolate and eating it. Oh, Lime. That was very nice. But he had yet to find his absolute favorite of today! Jak sounded like a very amusing and fun person. Teddy was sure they would get along. But then again, Teddy only really knew that Jak was different and raised Liz here.

But then again, this Jak conveniently didn't tell her family, ANYTHING about her. That was something he didn't like. But oh well, can't change it now. Well... they could technically, but he was already hoping to save her father, Fred! The one that George was so cut up about after his death. Then again, George did loose his other half, so it was harder on him then everyone else. Jak... Teddy would make sure Liz would get raised by her parents.

"Oh yeah, we never heard anything about you after the battle, and we all assumed that you were dead! Oh wow... I never thought I'd ever meet you! Even now, with so many things changing. Then again, those who knew about you didn't know you for very long, so we didn't know almost anything about you! Though, your father was a legend and a hero in all of the stories," Teddy said excitedly.

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

"She's...eccentric, my aunt," she mumbled. "And sometimes just plain odd."

She was usually just plain odd, actually. And Liz was a little peeved with Jak for letting herself lose contact with the rest of her family. She'd heard that her dad had a twin, George...poor guy. Lost his brother's entire family in one day. All because Jak hadn't had the foresight to write a note. It was so ridiculous that it seemed funny.

"I don't think Aunt Jak took losing my mother well; Mom pretty much raised her. She was always kind of out-of-it, my entire life; I chalked it up to her being a little odd," she admitted, smiling a little when he mentioned her dad. "Dead heroes are pretty useless, Teddy."

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

"Heh... sounds a bit like me," Teddy laughed slightly. He didn't really think that Jake was like him that much, but still, it was great.

Whoa, did she just say Dead heroes were pretty useless? Didn't she realize that even the dead heroes made it so that they could get to the point they were at? Oh well... it wasn't like he didn't think that occasionally. Seriously, he had thought so many times that if his parents would just stay put they wouldn't have died such a useless death. Of course he thought himself out of that usually, or Aunt Hermione did before she died herself. Actually... that made a lot of sense. Aunt Hermione died in a useless way, and afterwards it was completely useless. But what about Lily and James Potter, Lily was the reason Harry survived so many times against him.

"Poor Jak. It's like she lost her only parent, it's kinda sad. If she had contacted us in England, we would have been there for her," Teddy stated with a smile still on his face. Hey, he wasn't one to frown very often. His mouth muscles were very used to wearing a smile. "Not true. Everything those dead heroes have done get us to the point we are at. If my parents didn't die in the battle, just think of all those people they stopped from hurting others. If they didn't die... if they didn't die, then..." He trailed off thinking of how he wished they didn't die so much. "What about Lily Potter, then? She's the reason Harry Potter was able to escape from You-Know-Who so many times. Her death wasn't useless. She isn't a useless dead hero! I'm sure if I think about it hard enough that there is always a reason in everyone's death and they aren't just stupid useless deaths."

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

"Aunt Jak says that my maternal grandparents were alchoholics. She told me once that there were two reasons that adults might not talk about their childhoods: they were uneventful, or they were miserable," she recalled. "She said that her and Mom's was the second of the two. And it's not the deaths that are useless...it's the lingering feelings of regret, of betrayal. And to cope with all of those feelings, we call the sources heroes. They're not heroes; they're martyrs. It's different."

At least, that's what her aunt had always told her...

"Never call your parents heroes, Lisette; they were martyrs. Heroes live; martyrs die for a worthy cause."

It had been a worthy cause, she supposed. They'd been fighting to protect their loved ones. Liz couldn't think of a more worthy cause, to be honest, but...it still wasn't a pleasant thing to be the daughter of heroes.

[Theodore "Teddy" Lupin]

"My sister's parents was the second as well, until I met her and adopted her as my sister," Teddy said with a smile. Sophie had terrible parents, and he was happy that he was able to find her and have her as a sister, contrary to the beliefs some thought as the two of them had some good fights.

"To me, a hero is someone who does something extraordinary in order to save the life of someone else. For the hero, there is no intent or thought regarding death despite risks being taken," Teddy stated thinking about it. He still hated that his parents died and left him alone without real parents, no matter how hard Uncle Harry tried. But to him, his parents were heroes, not martyrs. However, he did see a lot of truth in what she said. The feelings were terrible that were left behind, the regret and betrayal, but just because he had to cope with them, he didn't label them heroes. Even if his parents didn't die, they would be heroes still.

"A martyr has their sights set on a particular cause, and has intent toward sacrifice, including death, in the outcome of their action. Uncle Harry tried to be a martyr once, it didn't work out very well," Teddy noted with a laugh at the last part. Uncle Harry tried so many times it seemed especially towards the end there, acting so rash trying to die it seemed, but it never worked. Uncle Harry would have been a martyr if Voldemort managed to win, though that didn't really happen, much to the happiness of him and many others. If Uncle Harry died, who knew what the outcome would be without him as their leader?

[Lisette Magdalena Weasley]

"Your sister? I think Pyre mentioned her when she came in the other day. Sophie, right?" Liz asked.

Geez, was she ever out of the loop...the end result of twenty-one years of living with her aunt Jak and uncle Jared, she guessed.

"Maybe you're right," she agreed. "I grew up in Italy; there, everyone that might have been called a hero was dead. We didn't want to call them heroes. I'm not even sure why, but it seemed like being called a hero was a death sentence. Hero, martyr, it was all the same when I was growing up. Italy isn't and never was a very stable place."

She smiled wryly when he mentioned his....and her, she guessed, Uncle Harry. Jak had told her stories about Harry when she was growing up. Some had been funny; most hadn't been. It was odd to think that he was her uncle.