Notes: Written for the fabulous Olivia (owluvr) for the Gift-Giving Extravaganza.

Olivia: I'm shamelessly uploading this last-minute piece with a grin because I'd been toying with the idea for so long that writing it was basically effortless. I hope you enjoy this, dear!

Thanks to Jess (autumn midnights) for beta-reading this!

If it was Teddy Lupin

"You're all free to go. Miss Weasley, please stay. We need to talk."

Victoire rolled her eyes. She knew he was going to address her behavior in one way or another, and she wouldn't have it.

It had been an irritating prefect meeting, and she couldn't help but let it show. She was usually attentive, but that day she intentionally kept a distracted expression, and had been pointedly staring out the nearest window the whole time.

Teddy was a fantastic, professional Head Boy – she quite liked that about him - but that day he'd decided he was going to become half a meter shorter just to poke fun at his fellow Head Girl, a petite Ravenclaw girl that was quite fond of Teddy, in spite of herself. She never gave into his teasing, so Victoire guessed that he thought he'd have to use extreme measures.

Outside of meetings, Teddy always used his abilities as a Metamorphmagus to charm or impress people. Such a thing had ceased to impress Victoire when she was around eight years old. Her disdain was one of the side effects of years of Teddy nagging her about being too girly, mocking her by turning his hair blonde whenever she said something he thought silly, ever-so-subtly calling her a dumb blonde without even having to use words.

Victoire couldn't help but remember why she'd disliked him when they were younger.

Not that she still disliked him – quite the contrary. Too much of the contrary, really. Her confusing feelings had placed her in a precarious situation; however, she was only glad the dislike they'd felt for each other as children hadn't translated into their Hogwarts life when they started working together as prefects. They shared a mutual respect that didn't quite translate into friendship, and there were slight hints of flirtation, which were inevitable when it came to Teddy Lupin.

That didn't mean that she had to like when he was trying to get people to like him. People other than her, she meant. She didn't like him being so eager to charm other people.

Okay, so maybe she was jealous.

"What do you want?" she asked when everyone was gone.

"I want you to tell me what's going on, pretty girl. You weren't listening to a single word I said."

She rolled her eyes again, used to him praising her beauty. She wasn't going to make a scene – it wasn't like he belonged to her, or anything - so she opted to be evasive. "Other than meetings being boring? Well, I'd rather not share."

Stupid, she told herself. You should've said 'nothing.' Now he won't let it go.

"Why? is it love problems? Who'd think Victoire Weasley could have those?"

How does he even know? "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know you could get any bloke you want. You should be the last person on Hogwarts with love problems."

Victoire was pretty – she knew that, she was often told that, and it made her feel uneasy and self-conscious. Not that she was ungrateful about her looks, and the confidence that came with them, but she disliked that she couldn't relate to them normally. That's how the world works – say you're not pretty, everyone thinks you're fishing for compliments. Say you're pretty, everyone thinks you're arrogant.

So Victoire usually opted to ignore the subject altogether.

"Well, it kind of doesn't work that way, you know," she said tactfully, and then added with a defensive tone, "And what if I had love problems?"

"Well, I would find out his identity. And then I'd have my fun." His smile was devilish. "Is it Gerard Higgs?" Teddy altered his looks to resemble the big, brawny Slytherin. "Is it Daniel Davies?" Without any difficulty, he adopted Davies' appearance with accuracy; Victoire even wondered how many times he'd done it and how many girls had fallen for it.

"Stop it. It's kind of creepy." But she couldn't help the smile that forced itself upon her face.

"So who is it?"

"What if it was Teddy Lupin?"

The question simply slipped out, so her nonchalant tone was natural. But in reality, the question had been bothering her for a long time. She'd thought that she would only need courage to ask, if that was even an option - but the right moment had come, and the question had basically forced itself onto it.

Now she only had to wait, and to her amusement, she realized that he'd been caught off guard. He took his own appearance again and ran a hand through his blue hair, breathing deep as she stared into his eyes.

"Pardon me?" His voice was broken, and that gave her the courage she thought she needed.

"What would you do if it was Teddy Lupin?"

He kept quiet for a while. He's nervous, Victoire realized, a sudden thrill running through her veins. And he never gets so flustered.

"If it was Teddy Lupin," he started slowly, as carefully as if walking through quicksand. "I could still be whoever you want me to be. I could turn my eyes green; I could become taller or stronger." He stared her deep in the eyes, and Victoire sensed that he was trying to gain the upper hand again. "What would you like me to become, mademoiselle?"

She wouldn't have any more of his silliness. "Teddy, I just want you to be you."

"But you want me." His answer was quick, but it wasn't accompanied by a mocking tone.

Victoire wasn't as quick to offer a response. She could either say he'd misinterpreted her words. Or she could admit to the truth and let things become awkward.

Then, as he smiled the biggest smile she'd ever seen, she realized that the silence had answered for her.

"Yes, I do," she whispered. "You say I could have any bloke I want, and I want you. Go figure."

Teddy looked away, and Victoire wondered if she had made him feel ashamed.

"Well, I'm me," he said. "I don't pretend when I try to become your friend – I think you'd be a great friend to have. You're beautiful – all of you, not just the outside… though I don't pretend when I tell you you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. When it comes to me, the outside is the only thing that changes." He stood up, and opened his arms so as to expose himself to her, and searched for her gaze. "This is as me as I'm ever going to be."

Victoire truly took him in this time. His vulnerability had made her feel victorious before, but now it was humbling and almost beautiful.

That was the Teddy she remembered– the one who got often told he resembled his father and the one who put on fake freckles to be more like the Weasleys. This Teddy Lupin was the one who didn't act like a fool and said things like they were.

Her eyes stopped at his hair. His messy blue hair, by no means natural, defined him in every way. It was a sign of his often-overlooked rebellious streak, his relaxed charm, and his pride about that special sort of magic he possessed.

And she loved it.

"We have a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, you know."

The unasked question was posed as an afterthought, and it hung in the air for a few seconds. Teddy didn't answer – he didn't have to.

Victoire already knew.