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Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.


Chapter 1: September 2016

"I'm not ready to say goodbye yet," Victoire complained, refusing to let go of Teddy's hand. "Can't we just stay here another minute?"

"The whistle's already blown twice," Teddy said apologetically. "I don't think we have a minute."

"I don't want to go," Victoire insisted. "What's the point anyway? I should just drop out and come live with you."

"I won't let you do that," Teddy shook his head. "As much as I would love to have you with me every day, your education is too important to just throw away."

"I don't know if I can do this," Victoire said.

"You can," Teddy assured her. "We can. And I promise I'll visit the first chance I have."

The train whistle blew a third time and Teddy started navigating the two of them closer to the train.

"Wait! I just remembered! I left my herbology textbook at your apartment the last time I was there! We should both go back and get it, I can't go to school without it," Victoire exclaimed.

"Nice try," Teddy smirked. "I saw you hide it under my bed and I made sure to pack it away in your trunk earlier when you were saying goodbye to your family."

Victoire's shoulders slumped as her last ditch effort to convince Teddy to let her stay flew out the window.

"I guess I'm really going then," she muttered, the reality of the situation finally settling in. All summer, the prospect of their separation had loomed, but it had never felt as real as it did in that moment, as Teddy forced his hand open and relinquished his hold on Victoire.

"Have a wonderful term," Teddy replied. "Try not to let our separation affect your studies."

"I don't know how it won't," Victoire protested.

"I'll miss you," Teddy said.

"I love you," Victoire returned as Teddy forced her to climb onto the stairs of the train.

"I love you too," Teddy said, stepping away slowly as the train started to move.

Victoire continued to stand there and watch as Teddy got further and further away. When he became obscured, she hurried into the corridor and started running towards the back of the train, hoping for one more glimpse. She pushed and shoved her way through the crowds of students, barrelling from car to car until she had nowhere left to run. She pressed herself up against the window pane of the back of the car, straining her eyes as hard as possible in the hopes of locating Teddy. She saw him then, still standing where she'd left him, and she waved sadly, knowing that he probably couldn't see her anyway. As the train pulled even further away from King's Cross and the train station became only a speck in the distance, Victoire sighed and slumped to the ground.

"Victoire, there you are! We've been looking for you," an approaching voice exclaimed. Victoire recognized it as Kara's, and looked up to see both of her best friends approaching her.

"We thought you'd missed the train," Brianna added.

"Sorry, I just…" Victoire trailed off as her eyes welled up and a single tear fell against her will.

"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Kara asked, her voice filled with concern. She knelt down on the floor and wrapped an arm around her friend in comfort.

"It's nothing," Victoire claimed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and attempting to stand up. Unfortunately, at the moment she chose to rise, the train ran over an old patch of track and the whole cabin shook, causing Victoire to stumble.

"Whoa, careful!" Brianna exclaimed, grabbing her friend's arm and helping her to regain her balance.

"I'm fine," Victoire insisted, recoiling from her friends' aid.

"No you're not," Kara insisted. "Come on; tell us what's bothering you. We're your best friends."

"You'll think it's silly," Victoire said obstinately.

"No we won't," Brianna said. "We promise."

Victoire sighed. "It's Teddy," she revealed. "This is the first time we won't be in school together since we started dating. And with him always hanging around at all our family gatherings and the few times my parents let me visit him at his apartment, I haven't gone more than three days without seeing him all summer. And I know it's only been a few minutes since we said goodbye, but I know it's going to be ages before we see each other again and I just don't know if I can make it."

"Aww, sweetie, see that's not silly at all," Kara said.

Victoire bit her lip as she felt more tears welling up in her eyes. "And we couldn't even say a proper goodbye on the platform because my whole family was right there," she continued, her voice increasing in volume as she spoke.

"Why not just tell everyone?" Brianna asked carefully. "The adults all know, what harm could it be to tell your cousins?"

"I'm not ready for all the questions," Victoire replied. "Especially since I'm about to spend two years cooped up in a castle with half of them and without Teddy. Once I've graduated, I'll move in with Teddy and I'll only see them at family gatherings." Victoire sighed and leaned her head back against the window. "Four long months," she muttered, mostly to herself. "I'm not sure I can make it."

"I'm sorry, I know it's a long time," Kara said, unsure what else she could say. "But you'll see each other on Hogsmeade weekends, won't you? He'll come to visit?"

"I guess so," Victoire replied. "If he can get the day off work."

"Why would he need to work on a Saturday?" Kara wondered. "I thought he worked a desk job at the Ministry."

"He does," Victoire said. "But since he's only a junior employee, he's the one they make come in when they need someone to do overtime on a Saturday. It happens surprisingly often."

"But if he works for your Uncle, then it shouldn't be that hard, should it?" Brianna asked.

"Well I guess technically he works for Uncle Percy, since he's the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, but since Teddy's in the International Trading Standards Office, it would be his supervisor who would give him time off, not Uncle Percy," Victoire explained.

At that moment, Kurt Robins appeared, looking very unhappy. The badge on the front of his robes identified him as that year's new Head Boy.

"Victoire, there you are," he said. "You're supposed to be in the prefect's carriage. Maybelle's already started the presentation."

"Isn't it mostly a fifth year orientation?" Victoire pointed out, not really caring. "I don't really have to be there, do I?"

"Do you want your prefect's badge revoked?" Kurt threatened.

Victoire shrugged and Kara immediately jumped in.

"Of course she doesn't," she insisted. "Go on Victoire, you should go to the meeting. It'll give you something else to think about."

"Fine," Victoire shrugged, pushing herself up off the ground and following Kurt towards the front of the train. Though she didn't particularly care one way or another whether she was a prefect or not, Kara had a point. Maybe the meeting could take her mind off Teddy's absence.

Unfortunately, the meeting had the opposite effect. Last year had been her first year as a prefect and Teddy had been Head Boy, so he'd been running this meeting. Now as she sat among the rest of the prefects and listened to the Head Girl, Maybelle Hudson, give out instructions, all she could think about was the fact that Teddy wasn't there.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the prefects were excused and Victoire was free to find her friends.

"Done already?" Kara asked in surprise when Victoire entered and slumped down into her seat. "That was quick."

"Aren't you supposed to be out supervising the younger students?" Brianna asked when Victoire remained silent.

"What's the point?" Victoire sighed, staring out the window as the world rushed by her. "Teddy's not here."

"You do realize that being a prefect isn't about spending time with your boyfriend… it's about upholding the rules of Hogwarts," Brianna pointed out. Kara shot her a look.

"Look sweetie, it's going to get easier," Kara promised. "Just give it some time. Lots of couples have to go through this when one of them graduates."

"I guess," Victoire sighed. The problem was that she didn't care about those other couples that had gone through this before. All she cared about was Teddy, and he wasn't here.

VvVvVvVvVvV

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Victoire was still in a miserable state. Kara and Brianna tried to convince her that she could do this – that she could exist without Teddy always by her side – but Victoire was so caught up in her loneliness that she barely heard them. When Kara reminded her that she had prefect duties to attend to, Victoire unpinned her badge from her robes and shoved it into Kara's hand, insisting that if Kara cared so much, she could be prefect now.

Up at the welcome feast, Victoire barely heard any of what was going on, only realizing her cousins had both been sorted into Gryffindor when Brianna mentioned it and how odd it was that Victoire's whole family always went to the same house with pretty much no exceptions.

"That's the way of it," Victoire muttered, pushing her food around on her plate, but not really eating any of it. "Maybe Rose'll break the system next year and go to Ravenclaw. Course, if Molly couldn't do it, then she probably won't manage it either. Honestly, the hat might be biased."

After dinner, Victoire and her friends headed up to the common room, where seventh year Mason Wolf was organizing the annual upperclassman party.

"Hey, a party, this'll be fun," Brianna said optimistically, hoping that the celebration would perk Victoire up.

"Victoire can't stay," Kara reminded her. "She's scheduled for patrols."

"Actually, I think I'm just going to go to bed," Victoire declared. Being in the Great Hall, and now up in the common room was only making her miss Teddy more and more. Everything she saw in the castle reminded her of him. Every place held memories of their time here together and Victoire couldn't take much more of it.

"But the prefect's schedule," Kara protested.

"You can round for me," Victoire allowed. "I'm sure whoever I'm supposed to round with will show you how it's done."

"Victoire it's one thing to make sure the first years get to the boats," Kara said, "but it's a whole other thing for me to start doing patrols in your place."

"Maybe I'm not cut out to be prefect anymore," Victoire muttered. "If anyone was going to get it, it should be you."

Without waiting for Kara to respond, Victoire left, heading up the stairs to the girls' dormitories where she could go to sleep and forget how lonely she was feeling.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The next morning, Victoire wasn't feeling much better. In addition to the loneliness, she just felt empty. Without Teddy, she couldn't remember why she'd ever bothered to get up in the morning. She couldn't remember why she bothered to go to school, or do any of the things she used to do.

Kara and Brianna managed to drag her out of bed and down to the Great Hall for breakfast, insisting that even if she didn't want to eat anything, she needed to be present to receive her timetable for the year. Since she was a sixth year N.E.W.T. student now, the process would be a little more complicated.

It felt like forever before Professor Longbottom made his way to the group, but eventually he did. He cleared Brianna to take three classes: history of magic, transfiguration, and care of magical creatures. Next Kara requested to take four classes: charms, muggle studies, care of magical creatures, and transfiguration. When the professor asked Victoire what classes she was hoping to take though, she simply shrugged, not particularly caring.

"Sign her up for herbology and care of magical creatures," Kara directed. Herbology because Victoire was particularly good at it, and care of magical creatures because it was a class the three girls could take together.

"I still need one more class to meet the three class minimum for a Hogwarts student," Professor Longbottom said.

"Okay," Kara said. "Um, Victoire, are there any other classes you particularly enjoy?"

Victoire shrugged again and Kara sighed.

"I see here Victoire that you received an Outstanding in your potions O.W.L. Perhaps you'd like to pursue potions at N.E.W.T. level?" Professor Longbottom asked.

When Victoire didn't acknowledge the comment, Kara answered for her.

"Yes, sign her up," she said, nodding.

"Alright," Professor Longbottom nodded, waving his wand and making the appropriate timetable appear before Victoire. "And Victoire, if something's wrong… if you need to talk… my door is always open."

"Thank you, Professor," Kara smiled when Victoire continued to stare off into space. "We'll make sure she gets to class on time."

"Thank you girls," Professor Longbottom nodded. He looked like he wanted to stick around and find out what was going on with Victoire, but he still had many students left to see, so he continued on his way.

"Well look at this!" Kara exclaimed, gesturing to Victoire's timetable. "You have the whole morning off Victoire!"

"Great," Victoire deadpanned. "I'm going back to bed."

"Wait!" Kara cried as Victoire stood up and began to head out of the Great Hall. "Victoire, hold on. Maybe you can use this time to get a head start on your reading for herbology or something."

"No thanks," Victoire shook her head. "I'm fine."

Without another word, Victoire exited the room, making her way slowly up to Gryffindor Tower, which was surprisingly quiet. She headed up to her dorm and was about to crawl back under the covers when a tapping at the window distracted her. She followed the source of the noise to find an owl pecking at the window, asking to be let in. The owl was all too familiar, and the moment Victoire saw him, she felt her heart begin to race and she grabbed the letter he carried, ripped it open, and began to read.

My dearest Victoire,

I know you're probably still upset that I forced you to get on that train, but I think we both know it was the only thing to be done. You have to finish your education just as much as I need to start my career at the Ministry. Though it pains me that we have to be apart, I know we will make it through the next two years as long as we hold on to one simple truth: we love each other.

Somehow, despite all the Sunday afternoons I've spent alone in my apartment since moving in, yesterday afternoon was the loneliest. Knowing that you were on a train, getting further and further away from me was torture and at first I wasn't sure I could bear it. My only solace is knowing that you are among friends, and that you are enjoying yourself despite my absence. I can only hope that your first Hogsmeade weekend is soon so that I can hear all about your wonderful start to sixth year.

Percy has asked me to work some longer hours next week, and I can only hope that this will serve to take my mind off of how much I miss you. I must say, I really do enjoy working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, even if Percy is the Head of the Department. Of course, at work he expects me to call him Mr. Weasley. It's almost as weird as having to call Grandmother 'Professor Tonks' back at Hogwarts.

I hope to see you soon. Simply tell me when you have a Hogsmeade weekend and I'll be there. I wish I could hold you in my arms right now, but I know I can't, so I will simply send this letter and imagine that I am there with you and not miles away, writing at a desk.

With all my love,

Teddy

P.S. Please tell James and Lucy how proud I am that they got into Gryffindor. I'd send James a letter myself, but he ordered me not to, as he was afraid of receiving too much mail despite my reassurances that everyone receives mail from their families whilst at Hogwarts.

Even before Victoire had finished reading the letter, she began to sob. When she'd finished, she summoned a quill, ink and parchment to her and began to draft a letter of her own.

Dear Teddy,

I could not even make it to the end of your letter without crying. We thought this would be easier. I thought that being back at Hogwarts with my friends and classmates would make the separation easier, but it doesn't. Everything here reminds me of you, and everything bears the bitter reminder that you are no longer here. When I'm in the Great Hall, I look down the table to where you used to sit with your friends and hope to catch your eye, but you aren't there. When I'm in the common room, I look around at the reds and golds that used to be so bright and vibrant, and they all seem dreary because you aren't among them. I don't know how much longer I can go on without you, and it's only getting more and more painful by the minute

I love you. I wish you were with me and that things didn't have to change.

Victoire

When Victoire had finished the letter, which was now soaked in tears since she couldn't stop crying while she wrote it, she tied it to the owl's leg and sent it away, already wishing for a response, just so that for the few seconds when she was reading the letter, she could feel close to Teddy.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"C'mon Vic," Brianna whined. "Just come for a walk with us. Fifteen minutes, and then you can come back and sleep." It was evening. Despite her mood, Victoire had gone to potions class that afternoon and even managed to eat some food at dinner. But now all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

"I'm just really not in the mood," Victoire replied. "Can't we just walk tomorrow or something?"

"Look, we promise, if you don't have fun, we'll never ask you to come for a walk again," Kara claimed.

"Fine," Victoire said in frustration. If going for a fifteen minute walk around the castle would make her friends happy, then she would do it, and then she could enjoy the rest of her term wallowing in her despair in peace.

Victoire let Kara and Brianna take the lead, since they apparently had a destination in mind. They led her through the hallways of the seventh floor for a while until they came to the bottom of the staircase leading up to the West Tower.

"No, I'm sorry, but no. I'm not going up there," Victoire insisted. The West Tower was where she and Teddy had had their first date, and many more after that. If the rest of the castle reminded her of him, the tower would be too much.

"C'mon Vic, please?" Brianna begged.

"We think it would be really good for you," Kara added.

"It'll just make me sad. I used to go up there with Teddy. Without him, it'll just make me feel even lonelier than I've been feeling already," Victoire said.

"Or," Brianna jumped in. "It'll help with the healing process and make it easier to be apart."

"You guys aren't going to let me go back to the common room without going up here, are you?" Victoire asked.

"Nope," Brianna agreed.

Victoire sighed. "Fine," she said in defeat, preparing herself for an onslaught of emotions that she wasn't ready to deal with.

The climb up to the West Tower was a long one. But before she knew it, Victoire had climbed the last step and looked around at the empty tower.

"Alright you guys, I'm here, now can we go?" she begged, as the sense of loss began to creep up on her.

"I was started to worry you weren't coming," an all too familiar voice said from behind her.

Victoire spun around and couldn't believe her eyes. Was he really there? Was this real, or was she imagining he was here because of all the time they had spent up here together?

"Teddy?" Victoire ventured nervously, walking slowly towards him.

"Victoire," he said in response, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she was within arm's reach. They stood like that for some time, as Victoire's emotions got the best of her and she began to sob uncontrollably.

"You're really here," she said as she gasped for air.

"I'm here," Teddy reassured her as he stroked her hair. "I'm here," he repeated before their lips met.

It took a moment for Victoire to remember herself, and she turned in Teddy's arms to locate her friends, but they had already disappeared.

"I wanted this to be a surprise," Teddy said. "Kara and Brianna wrote to me this morning, telling me that I needed to come."

"They wrote to you?" Victoire asked, surprised.

Teddy nodded. "Apparently you haven't been handling the separation very well?"

Suddenly, Victoire was embarrassed. "It's just been really hard," she admitted. "It's not just the being away from you. We've been apart longer than this before. It's knowing just how long it'll be before we're together again."

"It hasn't been easy," Teddy agreed. "I don't think the reality of it fully sunk in for me until I was watching the Hogwarts Express take you away from me."

"Me neither," Victoire said. "How long can you be here?"

"Not long," Teddy said sadly. "I'm supposed to be visiting my grandmother. I told her I wanted a word with Professor Longbottom, but she'll be expecting me back eventually."

"Then let's not waste time talking," Victoire insisted, reaching up and capturing Teddy's lips in the most passionate kiss she could give.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"I wish we had more time," Victoire murmured as she sat, curled up in Teddy's lap on the floor of the tower.

"Me too," Teddy agreed. "But the first Hogsmeade weekend can't be too far away," he added. "We just need to take this one step at a time."

"I suppose," Victoire agreed. "I just hope I can make it until then," she added.

"Promise me," Teddy said, suddenly serious. "Promise me you won't sit around and mope all day. Promise me you'll go to your classes and participate in school and spend time with your friends. Promise me you'll do your patrols and go to Quidditch games and eat all your meals, even though I won't be here."

"I promise," Victoire said, leaning in for another kiss. "I promise. Just maybe not the Quidditch games."

"I love you," Teddy muttered as he gave Victoire another kiss.

"I love you too," Victoire said softly.