Just a Fine Line (Between Hate and Love)
A/N: This story is inspired by and for:
Nina (turn out fine)'s story beginnings challenge, prompt: The first sentence of this story!
Nina (turn out fine)'s fan-fiction terms category competition, prompt: drabble– write about something unexpected.
xPerfectlImperfect's Scrabble Challenge, prompt : vanish
MOLLY THE MONSTER's Next Gen Confessions Challenge, prompt: There's a beautiful meadow behind Teddy's house. It's where he and Victoire had their first kiss.
Cheeky Slytherin Lass' Word Count Game Challenge - "Sanity is boring.", "Look me in the eye and say it. I dare you." , Incredulous, Truth, Serendipity; word limit: 1550
Word Count: 1563 (without A/N)
Her worn sneakers pounded the pavement, and she ran. She was more than aware of the footsteps thundering behind her and she ran harder as her lungs threatened to explode any second.
"Victoire!"
She refused to look back, zigzagging between houses and through the narrowest of cobblestoned pathways. It earned her a fair share of angry glares from quite a few pedestrians who were enjoying their peaceful morning walk, but she couldn't care less. She was taking an annoyingly long route to reach her favourite place in the world despite the fact that it was a mere minute away from where she was a minute ago, which was Teddy's house.
"Victoire Weasley, stop running you wild, crazy, hippogriff!"
She fumed inwardly but didn't stop running; years of running away from her mum, from her nanny, from her younger siblings and even the professors at Hogwarts had trained her pretty well.
"Not in your dreams, traitor!"
Her breath came in hard puffs now and she nearly sobbed with relief at the sight of the lush green meadow sprawled out before her. She tumbled onto the ground, momentarily forgetting all about Teddy's presence.
His foot caught on a little pebble that Victoire had dislodged during her wild run and he fell spectacularly, nearly cracking his jawbone as he came to a stop a few yards away from Victoire.
"Serves you right, you slimy git!" she exclaimed, refusing to give the struggling boy a hand.
He dusted himself off and got up gingerly. He slowly moved towards where Victoire sat and plonked himself right in front of her.
Her nose wrinkled in disdain and she placed her palms on the slippery grass in an attempt to move away, but Teddy was too fast for her. He caught her delicate hands in his large ones and smirked at her for a good ten minutes, refusing to let go while she struggled and then gave up. She sat in silence, glowering at him menacingly.
He just laughed.
"Why are you so mad at me, Vic?" he asked beseechingly, his jet black hair fading to her favourite shade of turquoise.
Her heart melted if only a little; but she' rather die than go easy on him.
"You know why!" she yelled while her death glare faltered a little, an expression of hurt taking its place.
Teddy's eyes widened.
"What did I do to anger you this time?" His tone was slightly resigned as he recounted the numerous fights he'd had with his best friend over the years and wondered what it would take to make up with her this time. No doubt he'd end up apologising, as always.
"Stop pretending!" She exploded again and Teddy grew a little worried.
"I saw you in Diagon Alley this Saturday with that hag, Mirinda Parkinson, when you told me you were busy looking after Albus and Lily for Uncle Harry! We were supposed to go on a road trip and you blew me off for Mirinda?" She ended on a shrill note, all out of breath and Teddy couldn't help but notice how much she resembled her grandmother Molly with her famous temper.
Still, he blushed a deep red, averting his gaze. He chewed on his lower lip nervously. "You must have seen someone else!" he attempted feebly, and Victoire attacked him again.
"Oh, really? Look me in the eye and say it. I dare you!" He couldn't.
"Why am I not surprised? If you fancied that hag, all you had to do was to tell me and I would have left you two alone! Gosh, Ted, you're such a little hypocrite!"
"Hey, that's not true!" He looked so wounded; Victoire couldn't help but stifle a giggle.
"It's nothing but the truth."
"Rubbish. Vic, what can I do to prove to you that there's absolutely nothing going on between Mirinda and I?"
His tone was beseeching and Victoire slowly melted at his puppy-dog expression. The wicked jealousy that had seized her was slowly ebbing, and she knew from Teddy's expression that he had been there at Diagon Alley with the hag, but there was absolutely nothing between them.
"What were you doing with her in the first place, and why did you have to lie to me? We're best friends, Teddy, we never lie to each other!" All the hurt she'd been harbouring for a week poured out through her incredulous eyes and wounded voice and Teddy looked down again, ashamed.
"Umm…you know how Jason McLaggen had been asking her out for over a year now?" Victoire nodded as she groaned. She knew full well where this was going.
"Well, she didn't quite like him the way he liked her…and shewantedmyhelpingettingridofhim," he finished off.
By way of response, Victoire slapped his arm sharply.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"For being such a blind moron! Don't you see? The hag fancies you!"
"It's Mirinda, Vicky." But even he couldn't suppress the grin that now spread across his lips. And all of a sudden, Victoire couldn't look Teddy in the eye.
"She doesn't deserve such a pretty name, she's a hag and a boyfriend stealer!" she exclaimed into the ground.
"Vicky?" Teddy looked at her slyly. "But I am not your boyfriend, so what's gotten your knickers in a twist?"
"Oh, shut up, Ted, you're completely missing the point; as usual!"
"And what does the point happen to be? That you're absolutely insane?"
"Well, sanity is boring."
"Spoken like a true Weasley."
"And what's wrong in that?"
"Oh, nothing. By the way, has anyone told you how absolutely adorable you look when you're all angry like that?"
His tone suddenly dipped into a gentle caress as he placed a finger beneath her chin, forcing her to look at him. Her cheeks were a flaming red and her breath was hitched. Her cerulean eyes darted all over the place, taking in the sun's slow descent and she refused to look at Teddy directly.
"Victoire," he said, his throaty voice causing goose pimples to erupt all over her bare arms.
Around them, the sun was now sinking fast, setting fire to the low hills and streaking the skies in dazzling hues of violet and magenta and orange. A light breeze had picked up and Victoire shivered slightly, the thoughts buzzing like angry bees in her tumultuous mind.
"Talk to me." His voice dropped lower, now a seductive whisper and he pulled her even closer to her. She froze.
"Are you jealous?" he asked her, bending till he caught her eye. She began shaking her head violently in futile denial but then paused, nodding slowly.
"I was," she choked out, her throat suddenly parched.
"You know there's no reason for you to ever feel jealous, don't you? You're my best friend, Vic; no one can ever take your place in my heart." She nodded mutely, a kitten in his able hands.
"But…Mirinda…she's always liked you, Teddy, I've heard her croaking about you way too many times on the corridors and during the unpleasant potions class I'm forced to share with her…"
She paused for a moment as the unexpected feelings that had begun to form within her churned tempestuously, threatening to swallow her already faltering composure.
"Teddy, I'm warning you, if you're just playing games to mess with my head, I swear I will destroy you - "
The rest of that sentence never got a chance at being expressed as Teddy pulled her by the waist and placed his warm lips on her cool ones, kissing her sweetly. Instinctively, Victoire kissed back throwing her hands around his neck and cuddling close to him and Teddy smiled with please as he felt all traces of her pent-up anger and frustration vanish.
The broke apart for a minute and Teddy caressed her cheeks with his big, warm palms, gently pulling her face closer to place a kiss on her forehead. She stared at him with huge, blue eyes before tackling him to the ground, giggling loudly.
"Teddy Lupin, you've fancied me all this time!"
He stared at her, breathless as he watched her face come alive beneath the glow of the stars that were now shining down upon the pair.
He nodded. "You actually believed that I'd go for someone as…well, someone like Mirinda?"
She smiled sweetly at him. Even despite his obvious distaste for the obnoxious girl, he didn't have it in him to insult her. Just another reason I love him so much. The words hovered around her mind as her brain wrapped itself around it and she smiled some more.
"Well, you are famous for being a dim-witted git and I've had the privilege of watching you make an utter arse out of yourself on numerous occasions, so…" she shrugged her delicate shoulders and he laughed, slightly bashful.
"I can't deny what you just said," he laughed. "But there's no way I could have feelings for anyone else, especially someone like the hag - " here, Victoire let out a huge peal of laughter – "when I've been falling for my best friend all this while," he ended simply.
Victoire sat up, pulling Teddy up with her.
"I'd been falling for my best friend, too, for more than a year now."
She leaned towards him and caught his lips in hers, kissing him soundly.
"And finally, he's all mine."
The day had been a sweet serendipity.
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