Author's Note:: None of this is mine. I'm not getting any profit or such nonsense out of writing this fanfic... in fact, all I get out of this is entertainment and a further excuse to hate my writing. :P Let's see... the one obvious pairing is Teddy/Victoire, but aside from that one... I think I'll let you find out on your own. Oh, and don't expect me to, like, update. I might get halfway through the third chapter and then stop, so.. yeah. Have fun!
Prologue:
In which Teddy cannot sleep, Victoire threatens to hex him to Romania and back, and a cat is disturbed from its sleep.
The inky black sky echoed with loneliness that night, the moon nearly invisible while swaths of glittering stars were blocked out by clouds. It was well past curfew and the castle had drifted off into sleep, and yet a single student remained in the Gryffindor common room. At first glance, one would be able to tell that this particular teenager had not slept at all, and if one looked close enough to see the purple shadows under the boy's eyes, one would be able to assume with some certainty that he had not been sleeping well for some time. The fireplace still glowed faintly with the embers of that evening's fire, but aside from a few dying candles scattered around the room, the space was dark and silent.
The brown-haired teen was seated on the floor, his back up against a sofa as he stared into the fireplace, his gaze fixated on the fading embers. A book sat off to the side, giving the impression that he had been reading some time ago. He was dressed simply, in a short-sleeved shirt that was several sizes too large and checkered pajama bottoms. A thin quilt was wrapped around his shoulders, and a ginger tabby cat dozed on one of the more comfortable chairs.
Distantly, the boy heard a clock chime three am, but he didn't seem to care. Moving for the first time in a long while, he pulled his legs up against his chest and rested his arms on them. He remained this way for some time, until he heard footsteps echoing down a staircase. His eyes, previously green, darkened to an unfriendly grey as he shifted to look towards the source of the sound. Descending the staircase that led to the girls' dorms was a familiar red-haired fifth year, who had clearly only just woken up, judging by her tangled red hair and dishevelled clothing. Wordlessly, she pulled out her wand and replaced the old candles with fresh ones, returning light to the common room. Then, without even so much as a greeting, she joined the older boy in front of the fireplace, quietly snuggling up alongside him.
He automatically extended an arm to wrap around her shoulders, bringing his quilt with it, and murmured, "Dream?"
"Mmhmm," she answered softly, pausing briefly before adding, "Can't sleep?"
"Yeah." They sat together in silence before the boy suggested, "Chess?"
She shook her head, shifting closer to him. "Too early," she muttered.
"We could... pester James or Fred. It's quite entertaining to wake them up real early."
"And then they give you the cold shoulder for two weeks," she replied. "Do you really want to screw up your game on Friday?"
He chuckled softly, his eyes slowly returning to an emerald hue. "You could do my potions essay," he remarked jokingly.
The red-haired girl laughed, "Nice try, head boy. Even if I liked potions, I wouldn't write an essay for the super-smart, Quidditch-playing, shockingly-popular head boy."
"Even if he rewarded you with chocolates?"
She glowered at him. "Definitely not. You know I'm trying to cut back on sweets, Teddy Lupin. Bring chocolate anywhere near me and I swear I will curse you to Romania and back."
"Only Romania?"
"Would you rather I transfigure you into a cardboard box? I could do it right now, and no one will ever be the wiser."
He grinned wickedly and challenged, "Go on, turn me into a box, Vee. I'll just morph myself back to some semblance of a human and complain to Professor North, maybe even the Headmistress."
"Yes, because everyone takes talking cardboard seriously," she replied, faintly annoyed despite her amusement. "Who's to say that someone couldn't have charmed a piece of cardboard to do the exact same thing?"
He rolled his eyes and responded, "Even if that does sound like something James would do, you and I both know that you wouldn't dare." His eyes glittered with laughter, though he did an excellent job of pretending to be irritated.
"You're right, I wouldn't turn you into a box because you aren't worth my time."
Teddy chuckled. "Is that so? Because I was of the persuasion that you were dating me – perhaps I was mistaken?"
She lightly shoved him, though it was rather half-hearted, reminding the brown-haired teenager that they both needed sleep. "Oh, shut up," she laughed. "You know we all love you – even if Fred and James pretend otherwise."
He grinned, using the sofa to pull himself up to a standing position. Teddy offered a hand to the red-haired girl, and once she grasped his forearm, he leaned backwards to compensate for her tug on his arm. As she straightened, she wrapped her arms around the older boy in a brief hug, and he took advantage of the moment to murmur, "We've planned a celebration in Hogsmeade this weekend, since we're definitely going to crush Ravenclaw. Coming?"
"Of course I'll come," she answered, before pulling away and leaning to her left to peer at the cat in the armchair. "Has Ginger been sleeping there all night?"
Teddy shrugged. "Probably. I never noticed her in the first place. You know how the Fat Lady is, letting the cats come and go as they please."
She laughed softly, starting back towards the staircase that led to the girls' dorms. "See you at breakfast," she said, before disappearing to the same place she had appeared from. Teddy watched her go, then scooped up his tabby cat and extinguished the candles with an unspoken command. When he reached his silent dorm, he released the cat on the floorboards and crossed the floor to his four-poster bed. As the ginger cat curled up at the end of the bed, the seventh year laid down atop the bed-covers, gratefully allowing sleep to claim him.