Gaping holes still hung in the hearts of the many who had lost. It was a bitter-sweet ending. The dark lord had fallen, but he'd fallen with so many loved ones- mothers, fathers…brothers, sisters…sons and daughters. It was the end of a time of darkness, but it wasn't the end of sadness.

Victoire Weasley was the first child to be born into the Weasley family after the battle. In fact, she was born exactly two years after. In a way she was a distraction. She didn't replace the fallen… but rather filled a void…a void that had been so heart wrenchingly empty for what seemed like forever. She shone the light that guided the family out of the darkness, and into the future. A new age of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A better time.

She reminded them that although so many had died, they'd gained so much. Although their loved ones could never be replaced, the world had so much to offer. Her birth reminded them of their victory.

And so, she was called Victoire.

The French for Victory. It was unquestionably fitting.

Victoire filled the empty seats at the dinner table, she made noise in the saddened silences, for she knew not of the dark times. At last, there was happiness. Love.

Victoire formed a bond with Teddy Lupin, the only other child in the family. He'd had his parents torn from him at such a young age, left with nobody, nobody but his grandmother Andromeda. As always, the Weasleys so gratiously invited them into their home time and time again, treating him like family, honoring the memories of Tonks and Lupin, their lost friends.

'I love Teddy,' Victoire used to say to her father. She'd so often cry upon saying goodbye to her friend, who never failed to amuse her with his incredibly rare morphing abilities. The pair of them had agreed at a young age that they'd get married- on one bright summer's day, they'd danced around in the garden wearing white bed sheets, pretending that it was the day of their dreams.

Even when other children were born into the families that surrounded theirs, Victoire's bond with Teddy never faded. Of course, they loved their families, but to Victoire, there was nobody who could compare with Teddy. The years seemed to pass so quickly- sickeningly so. Before Victoire knew it, it was the 1st September, 2009. Teddy's first day of Hogwarts. She'd begged her parents to let her go to Kings Cross Station to see Teddy off. As the scarlet train rolled away from the platform that day, Victoire had tried to run along side it- and she did, as far as the platform would let her. After that, she watched her best friend roll away from her- along with the life she was so used to. She knew she wouldn't see him until Christmas. It would be the longest time they'd ever spent apart.

At first, the pair of them wrote to each other nonstop, letting each other know every detail of every day that past. But it didn't last for long- Teddy's letter's to Victoire became less and less frequent- he'd tell tales of his new friends, new experiences and new jokes that Victoire certainly wasn't part of. She could feel her friend slipping away from her. From then on, Victoire knew that the only way she could rekindle the strength of her friendship would be to go to Hogwarts with him. Victoire began to count down the days to her first day on the 3rd February 2010. She had 575 days to wait. It seemed like an age. Sometimes she wouldn't even see Teddy in the holidays- he'd spend almost whole summers with friends, not even thinking about sending Victoire so much as a note.

The 1st September 2011 was a rainy day. The sky a bleak grey, littered with coal coloured clouds. Victoire was ecstatic. Her time had finally come. Not even the weather could hinder her mood. She'd had her Hogwarts robes on before they'd left home, so eager to rush to the train station. Her trunk had been packed weeks in advance, all leading up to this moment. As the steam train rolled away from her parents, she waved goodbye. She felt a twinge of sadness deep in her gut, but it was overruled by the happiness that felt like it was pouring out of her body.

Once her parents were out of sight, Victoire searched for a seat on the train, or rather, searched for Teddy. He was sat in a compartment alone.

'Teddy!' Victoire exclaimed, throwing open the compartment door,

'Hey Vic,' he said, not seeming nearly as excited as she did. Victoire began to pull her trunk through the door way,

'Could I have some help with this?' she asked, still beaming,

'Oh, er, what are you doing?' said Teddy,

'I'm trying to bring my trunk in, silly,' she said, 'so I can sit with you!'

'Oh..' Teddy began,

'Isn't this great!' smiled Victoire, 'finally I'm here! It'll be like old times!' Teddy really didn't seem happy now,

'Look, Vic,' he said, Victoire noticed how he seemed to be avoiding looking at her, 'my friends will be joining me any second… I- er- I don't think there'll be any room,'

'Oh- I can squeeze?' she suggested,

'Maybe you should find your own compartment…' Teddy looked out the window, 'Terry Clearwater has a sister your age- maybe you can go and sit with her?'

'Don't you want to sit with me?' Victoire asked, her smile fading,

'No.. no… it's not that Vic, it's just I think you should make some new friends… you know… friends your own age,'

'Oh… yeah… you're right. I'll keep looking,' Victoire muttered, 'see you later?' she said, trying to act as though she wasn't hurt,

'Oh, er, sure… yeah,' murmured Teddy.

It took a while for Victoire to find somewhere with available seats. Eventually she came across a compartment with a few girls in it, who were giggling profusely.

'Hey,' she said through the glass door of the compartment, 'I can't find anywhere to sit… can I join you?' she asked, the girls kept laughing. It made Victoire feel a bit sick.

'Sure,' a girl with caramel coloured hair laughed, Victoire pulled her trunk into the compartment. 'My name's Millie, Millie Boot. You are?'

'Victoire Weasley,' she said,

'A Weasley,' said another girl, with darker skin, 'are you sure?'

'Yes…' Victoire said, 'w-why?'

'Well, it's just that you're blonde,' Millie said, giggling.

'Oh- right!' Victoire said, 'my mother's blonde… I guess I get it from her,' she added, sitting next to Millie. This was not the journey she'd been expecting.

To Victoire's delight, she'd followed her family's history and been sorted into Gryffindor… just like Teddy. On her first visit to the common room, she spotted Teddy, lounging in a red leather arm chair with a group of boys around him. He seemed to be the center of attention- with every word he said, the other boys erupted into laughter. Victoire smiled at him as she passed, waving at him enthusiastically. Teddy looked at her… like he was looking straight through her… and then let his eyes trail across the room. It was like she was a stranger.

From that moment, it was clearer than ever. Hogwarts would not bring them back together. It would break them apart.

1st September 2015

Cascades of terrific blonde hair tumbled down Victoire Weasley's back in soft waves. Victoire had certainly inherited her father's eyes- brilliant green ovals, set deeply in their sockets. There was no doubt that she was beautiful- perhaps one of the most beautiful girls that many people on the platform that day had ever seen.

'Victoire, stand vith your back straight- none of ze boys will love you if you have a posture like ze hunchback ov Notradame!' Fleur snapped.

'Sorry,' Victoire mumbled, standing from her slumped position,

'Grunting and slouching, you no want to marry?' Fleur raised an eyebrow. Victoire could see her father trying to suppress his laughter.

'I'm fifteen years old, mum, I think I have some time.' Fleur barked something in French that Bill couldn't understand. He was relatively good at French now, but nowhere near good enough to even get the gist of Fleur when she was in one of her moods. Victoire rolled her eyes.

'Hullo, Andromeda!' smiled Bill, delighted to break the tension between his wife and daughter, 'Lovely to see you again, looking good Ted!' Teddy Lupin and his grandmother glided through the platform barrier, Teddy's hair was the darkest shade of black you could possibly imagine.

'Hey, Bill!' he called back, Andromeda smiled warmly at the family,

'Looking forward to your last year?' Bill asked, slapping him on the back in greeting,

'Yeah- should be alright- NEWTS will be horrendous though,' Teddy shrugged,

'Ah, you'll be excellent, if you're OWLS are anything to go by,' Bill winked at him, 'how are you, Andromeda?'

'I'm well, thank you Bill, thank you ever so much for having Teddy for supper the other day,'

'Ah, anytime!' Bill exclaimed, 'we had a great time- Ted and Victoire, attached at the hip as always!'

'Pfft,' Victoire mumbled under her breath, 'not for long,' Victoire loved Ted, in the holidays, they got on like best friends, but in Hogwarts, it was a different story. Ted was the 'cool guy'. Always surrounded with friends, far to important to even look at her in the corridors- who'd want to be seen talking to the sad Weasley girl two years bellow? Evidently not Teddy.

'What was that, Vick?' Bill asked,

'Er,' she stammered, 'I said we need to get on the train- look! It's nearly eleven!'

'Ah, of course,' he smiled, taking his daughter in for a hug, 'have a lovely term, sweetheart- don't forget to write!'

'And remember- ze 'Ogwarts food- it iz too 'eavy for you Victoire- 'ave a run round ze grounds after you eat!' Fleur reminded her,

'Yes, mum,' she sighed, before kissing her mother on the cheek and heaving her trunk towards the scarlet door of the Hogwarts express.

Victoire had pretty much come to terms with the fact that Teddy didn't want anything to do with her within the stone walls of Hogwarts School. The painfully strong crush on him that Victoire had always denied had faded into nothingness. Victoire predicted that fifth year would come and go in exactly the same way as every other year. Teddy had his friends, and she had hers. They didn't look at each other in school, they didn't acknowledge each other, and they certainly did not speak. That's the way it was, and that's the way it would be.

But Victoire was wrong. As the scarlet steam train rolled away from platform 9 ¾ that day, Victoire was oblivious to what fifth year had in store for her and Teddy Lupin.

Everything would change.

Hey there!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my fan fiction. I'm trying to stay as close to cannon as possible- although with the new generation stories I guess there are less guidelines to follow- so it's much easier!

I'd LOVE it if you could leave me a review- I've written quite a bit of this story- and I'm getting pretty into it. I'd just like to know some opinions- should I bother to keep posting on this 'site, or is nobody really interested?

Thanks so much darlings,

Em x