The concept behind this story was partially inspired by the ending of Chapter 3 of Ozma333's wonderful story, Sometimes It Takes A While, although it is not in that universe. All characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
He was in his second year at Hogwarts and she was in her first year. It was barely the second day of school and Victoire had ran over to Teddy, crying and distressed, because she as a Weasley had managed to get herself sorted into Slytherin.
As a young boy one of the few things Teddy couldn't handle was a crying girl. Trying, and failing, to calm her down, with a gathering crowd on his mind, Teddy had quickly whispered in Victoire's ear that he was going to show her a secret.
Ears perking up and a smile tugging on her lips, Victoire followed Teddy eagerly as he led her up to the seventh floor corridor and past the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy. She stood there patiently as Teddy began pacing a small section of the corridor, mumbling aloud: "Turn into a room that will cheer my friend Victoire up." Teddy turned on his heels and repeated himself, and then again.
Once finished, he glanced up as Victoire gasped. A large ornate door had appeared where once there was only a blank wall. Eager to see what was inside, she tugged the door open and giggled as she saw a large room furnished as a make-believe house, two baby dolls lying in a crib beside them.
Teddy groaned. "Aren't you a bit too old for this, Victoire?"
She shook her head and grinned. "You owe me, Teddy, for all those times you refused to play house with me when I begged and begged..." All thoughts of being Slytherin had slipped from her mind.
Teddy crossed his arms and shook his head a second time. Victoire looked like she was ready to cry again.
With one glance at his best friend's trembling frame, Teddy muttered, "fine." The happy look on her face was well worth the effort of being Victoire's "husband" for the next two hours.
–
He was in his third year at Hogwarts and she was in her second. Over the summer Victoire had somehow gotten it into her head that she was going to try out for the Quidditch team. Teddy was quick to remind her that she had never bothered learning how to fly, which earned him a piercing glare.
It was the second day of school and Teddy and Victoire were again in the Room of Requirement. Opening up with the same request as always, the room revealed itself larger than ever, an expansive room with space to fly and practice Quidditch maneuvers. State-of-the-art brooms lined the walls as did various Quidditch balls and protective gear.
Victoire squealed in pleasure, begging Teddy to please help her get better at flying so that she could join the Quidditch team. Unable to refuse a request by his best friend (he liked to think that, after all these years, he would be immune to her veela charm), Teddy grudgingly complied.
Victoire was a fast learner and pretty soon, even Teddy was enjoying himself as the two weaved around the room, enjoying the wind against their faces and daring each other to perform increasingly dangerous but thrilling maneuvers.
After hours of horseplay, the sun began quickly setting, forcing the two friends to dismount their brooms and return to their respective common rooms. They lay awake late into the night, smiling and reminiscing.
–
He was in his fourth year at Hogwarts and she was in her third. Victoire had, over the summer, been dumped by her first boyfriend. Teddy had given Victoire a "told you so" look and essentially told her that she was 'stupid' for having a boyfriend at such a young age. Victoire glared at him.
She had been crying all summer and Teddy found that after the incident, he was at a loss for ways to cheer her up. The second day of school found the two friends in the Room of Requirement for a third time.
Teddy couldn't help but grin when a large smile appeared on Victoire's face for the first time since the breakup. The room had fashioned itself into a replica of her Aunt Gabrielle's kitchen. Almost every summer Victoire's family would take a vacation to France and Aunt Gabrielle would teach Victoire how to cook delicious food (the muggle way, since Victoire was underage).
This excited Victoire to no end as she looked forward to these visits every summer, but had missed the trip this year due to an emergency at her parent's work at Gringotts. For the first time in a month, Teddy could feel Victore slowly forgetting about her ex as she indulged herself in the aroma of various spices and the irresistible smell of a perfectly roasted turkey that was her Aunt's kitchen.
Opening up cupboards, Victoire quickly became disappointed when she could find no food anywhere.
Because the Room of Requirement couldn't make food (something about Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration), Teddy had essentially become the delivery boy as he made runs to the kitchens to fetch the various articles of food she had requested.
By the time Victoire had completed preparing the salad, some freshly baked croissants, and the main course: basil salmon terrine, Teddy was absolutely exhausted. He quickly gulped down his portion and even half of Victoire's, much to her displeasure, though she had laughed it off.
–
He was in his fifth year at Hogwarts and she was in her fourth. The summer previously had led to the two friend's first long-term argument and resulted in little to no contact for over four months. And on the second day of their return to Hogwarts, both wandered separately to the seventh floor corridor, past the portrait of Barnabas the Barmey, each certain that the other wasn't going to show.
Smiling despite themselves when they noticed that their friend had in fact decided to show up, the two found themselves once again inside the Room of Requirement (opened as always with the same request), this time fashioned to help Teddy and Victoire remember the best times the two had shared.
Like an amusement park of sorts, or a literal walk down memory lane, Teddy and Victoire enjoyed each other's company as they silently explored the room. One area elicited a chuckle out of both of them. It was a complete re-creation of the pond in a muggle park by Harry's house where four-year old Teddy had scared Victoire into jumping in by shoving a toad in her face.
Some re-creations reminded them of times long past: playing hide-and-seek at the Burrow with her now-deceased Grandad Weasley. Others created hope for better times in the future, empty plots of land with signs saying "To be Continued".
The center of the room was Bill Weasley's beautiful chintz chair, one which Teddy and Victoire had crawled all over as little kids, bugging Bill for questions over anything from Hogwarts to Quidditch to muggle life.
One the chair lay a bound book that, when opened, revealed a photo album with pictures of all their fourteen years spent together: from Teddy's excited face when he first saw baby Victoire to the last picture of the two together: a family picture at the Burrow during Easter holidays, before the two began fighting.
That night, the two added a new picture to the photo album, one of the two friends smiling in front of a blank, boring looking stretch of wall on the seventh floor corridor.
–
He was in his sixth year at Hogwarts and she was in her fifth. It was the year all Hogwarts students dreaded, O.W.L. year, the year that could have unforetold consequences on the future of an aspiring witch or wizard. And as a result, Victoire was panicking.
She was so busy planning her year and making enough time for studying that she almost forgot to meet Teddy on the seventh floor corridor on the second day of school. Rushing in late, she noticed Teddy leaning on the wall, waiting patiently.
This time around, the room fashioned itself into a large library, with books flying over upon request and several caskets of spell-check quills, among other luxuries most students could only dream of.
Teddy chuckled. "Why couldn't you have been a student like your Aunt Hermoine and began worrying about O.W.L.s last year? Having access to this room would have saved me a lot of worrying."
Victoire shrugged and punched his arm playfully. "Sorry about missing your O.W.L. year. But look on the bright side, now you can help me on my O.W.L. year!"
Victoire grinned happily as Teddy groaned out loud. But as always, he couldn't refuse Victoire anything. And again, it was not the veela influence. They spent most of the rest of their evenings that year in the Room of Requirement together, instead of the library.
–
He was in his seventh year at Hogwarts and she was in her sixth. Victoire had arrived at Hogwarts this year overjoyed and clutching her O.W.L. score sheets, indicating Os in every subject except Transfiguration, Muggle Studies, and History of Magic, where she got Es.
This was going to be Teddy's last year at Hogwarts, and as the two friends arrived at the empty stretch of wall on the seventh floor corridor, they realized that this would be their last annual Room of Requirement gathering.
As always, Victoire stood silently as Teddy paced the empty stretch of the corridor, muttering aloud: "Turn into a room that will cheer my friend Victoire up," even though this was the first time that Victoire hadn't needed cheering up from stress induced from various problems she had endured. Nonetheless after muttering the request three times, a door appeared on the wall, as always.
Victoire pushed open the door excitedly as the two stumbled into the Room of Requirement, curious to see what setup it had provided for them this year. Instead of the usual smile on Victoire's face and the grin that appeared on Teddy as the infectious smile spread, the two had stared, dumbfounded – though a gleam had appeared in Victoire's eye.
A blush had immediately rode up both of their faces, with Teddy muttering, "Not that kind of friend," although he sounded unsure of himself.
There was a large roaring fireplace on one of the walls, a picture hanging above it was a portrait of Teddy and Victoire dancing at the Yule Ball. In front of the fire was a two-seater couch with heart-shaped pillows on either side. The room was otherwise lit by a series of candles lining the wall.
In the center of the room was a large queen-sized, overstuffed four-poster bed with a heart-shaped headboard. The floor was carpeted in a deep red fluffy material, reminding Victoire of the little teddy bear she used to go to bed with.
A vial of amortentia sat on one of the end tables. For Victoire, the room smelled of the salty ocean by her home, Aunt Gabrielle's kitchen, and Teddy. Teddy was too preoccupied trying to regain his speech capabilities to sniff the room. "So...um, awkward then, yeah?"
Victoire tilted her head slightly and looked at him hopefully.
Teddy continued to speak. "I-if you want to leave, you know, we can try again."
Victoire was frowning. "Teddy," she emphasized, "you asked the room the cheer me up."
Teddy looked confused. "Yeah, I probably asked the wrong question. You know...this being the first year you weren't all angsty or confused over something," he teased.
Victoire's reaction wasn't what he had expected. He had thought that Victoire would come up with some witty retort, and that they would banter for a few moments before leaving the room, where he would come up with some other question to ask it.
Instead, Victoire frowned even deeper, glaring up at Teddy and giving him a look that plainly said, "You are such an idiot."
Teddy's confusion grew as Victoire continued staring at him with that look in her eyes, a look that he couldn't quite place. It was frustrating, not being able to read Victoire like he had been able to for the past sixteen years.
Teddy shook his head saying that he didn't understand what was happening. Tears began forming in the corners of Victoire's eyes and she roughly wiped them away with her sleeve, ready to storm out of the room.
At that moment, Teddy took a breath and smelled the amortentia: wolfsbane potion, Grammy's chicken soup, and a distinct mixture of vanilla and lavender shampoo. Victoire.
In an instant, Teddy turned around and grabbed Victoire's arms just as she was about to leave in embarrassment.
"Let go of me," she spat, tugging on her arms.
"No," Teddy said quietly, his eyes pleading. "I'm sorry."
Victoire's arms relaxed in his grip and he let go of them. She looked up at him, eyes slightly red. "Finally figured it out, huh?"
Teddy nodded. "So what now?"
Victoire sighed. "Sometimes I can't tell if you're being deliberately frustrating or if you're just incredibly dense." Victoire inhaled and seemed ready to continue talking, but Teddy placed a finger on her chin and tilted her face upward. He swooped down and captured Victoire's lips into his. This effectively shut her up as her mind went blank and her train of thought crashed into a wall of pent up frustration.
Teddy grinned as he pulled away. "And I thought this was one year where you actually came to school without being all angsty or stressed over something."
Victoire lightly smacked Teddy on the arm, then resting her hands in his hair and touching her nose to his. "I should blame you for all the stress I incurred this past year," she retorted. "How dense could you be to not notice this," she paused to gesture around the room. "And this," she then pointed to her chest, her heart. "And this," she continued, jabbing Teddy in his chest with her finger, "where–"
She was interrupted for a second time that day when Teddy...impatient Teddy, pulled her in for a second kiss.
–
Victoire was in her seventh year at Hogwarts. Even though Teddy wasn't around this year, it felt kind of wrong to not show up at the Room of Requirement on the second day of school. So dragging herself out of the Great Hall that evening, she walked up to the seventh room corridor that she knew all so well by now.
Standing in front of the familiar stretch of empty wall, Victoire realized that this would be her first time opening the door. So mimicking Teddy, she paced three times, muttering her request. Once she was done, Victoire glanced up at the wall, expecting to see a familiar door. Nothing happened.
Frustrated, Victoire tried doing it again. Nothing. She was just about to wonder what she was doing wrong when a door appeared on the wall and out stepped Teddy Lupin.
Victoire's eyes widened in surprise. "Teddy!" she yelled, running up and hugging him tightly.
"Missing me already?" Teddy replied, his voice husky. "I was sure that snog on the platform would last you at least a couple of days." He paused. "Despite James' interruption."
Victoire grinned at Teddy's antics. "You know that I'm blaming you for our entire extended family knowing of our relationship."
Teddy shrugged. "While you're safe at Hogwarts and I'm out there, in the wild world, being interrogated by your father?" He shuddered at the thought.
Switching topics, Victoire asked Teddy a question that she had been wondering about since she saw him. "How did you get in here?"
"I came up here through the secret passageway from Hog's Head Inn," he replied nonchalantly.
Victoire narrowed her eyes. "But...but I thought they closed that passageway after the Second Wizarding War because..."
"Aberforth gave me an exception," Teddy interrupted. He lowered his voice, "apparently rumors of our relationship has reached even his ears." Victoire groaned.
"Come on," Teddy said, his hands sliding perfectly into Victoire's. "Take a look at what the Room of Requirement made for us this time."
Victoire's eyes brightened. "But I'm not angsty this year," she teased. "I've got everything I ever wanted."
Teddy just rolled his eyes.
Thanks to JulianaGrace for her wonderful reviews for my Harry Potter fics! This one had several questions in it, one of which I've already been asked and others which I'm sure some of you readers may be wondering about. So here is my response:
Well firstly, I just like to say that I am terrible at creating character voices, so I wouldn't be too surprised if my Teddy and Victoire sound too similar and aren't exactly of their own personality. Sorry about killing off Mr. Weasley; old age, you know? :(
Now this first question is one I believe I have been asked before by others. No, its not something JKR confirmed, its just something I created for the sake of this story because I needed a conflict for Victoire in Year One and, well, it was difficult to find one for her since it was only her first day after all. So sorting angst really was the only thing I could come up with. I'm not exactly a big fan of Victoire being in Slytherin (don't think it matches her) but it works for the story, I suppose.
No, Teddy's not a full werewolf. Learning of his father being one likely caused a bit of childhood trauma, and I'm pretty sure werewolf genes are hereditary, seeing as what JKR said. So being in the presence of wolfsbane potion is comforting and soothing for him, even if he is not inflicted with lycanthropy himself.
I'm not sure, thats for each individual reader to decide. :)
Sorry for using this reply again, but that's also for the reader to decide. After all, Victoire doesn't have any stressful or pressing angst this time around, so the original opening phrase isn't exactly going to open for her, right? Hmmm...
My favorite quality of each of them? By 'them' what are you referring to?
Thanks for reading!I
