A Kiss Under Mistletoe

By Molly The Monster

Setting: the Gryffindor Common
Room, late November, 2016

Prompt: a first kiss, an awkward kiss

"Gryffindor wins!"

That was how it all started. Things always were wild when Gryffindor won a Quidditch match, but things were especially wild and exciting when Gryffindor won its first match because that match was against Slytherin. Everyone was giddy with joy and excitement.

Victoire Weasley was no exception. She was just glad Dominique didn't care much about Quidditch or Victoire might have felt guilty that she and Louis were celebrating while their Slytherin sister moped. But alas, Dominique couldn't care less about Quidditch, so Victoire and Louis felt free to celebrate with no setbacks.

It was probably silent in the Slytherin Common Room. They were all probably devastated over their loss to Gryffindor. The Gryffindor Common Room, however, was the complete opposite. Everything was in full swing–it was a mad house. Music was blaring; everyone was dancing, singing or otherwise talking loudly. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colors of course, and there were already decorations up for Christmas, despite the fact that it was over a month away.

As was tradition, someone had managed to sneak in firewhiskey. There were plenty of people who had too much to drink, demonstrated by the fact that they could barely walk straight.

"Is it like this after every win?" eleven year old Louis Weasley asked his older sister Victoire. Louis was sitting in one of the cushy arm chairs that had been pushed against the wall to make room for a dance floor. Victoire was sitting at the arm of the seat; the fifth year was making sure her brother didn't get lost in all of the festivities.

"Pretty much, yeah," said Victoire with a smile, ruffling up her younger brother's blond hair. It was one of the things she loved most about Gryffindor House. They had more passion than anybody. But then her mind wandered. "You know, should probably check up on Frank, wherever he is."

Louis laughed. When Frank Longbottom saw what was going on in the common room, he nearly fainted. Fred and Louis had to drag him to an arm chair on the side of the room. Frank was definitely not ready for this kind of partying.

As if on cue, James suddenly appeared through the crowd. "Oi!" the first year said when he spotted Louis and Victoire. "We managed to get Frank upstairs," he told the two of them. "I think he'll be all right."

"Good," said Louis, nodding to his cousin. "He's going to have to get used to it. Looks like Gryffindor's got a good team this year."

James smiled mischievously. "And they'll have an even better team next year when I'm Seeker!" he said haughtily, causing Victoire and Louis to laugh. "Hey! I would have made it this year if the captain wasn't the Seeker!"

"You didn't make reserve either, mate," Louis added somewhat sympathetically but somewhat sarcastically.

"That's because the captain made his girlfriend the reserve Seeker," said James stubbornly.

Before Louis had a chance to respond, James interrupted him again. "Oh, come on," said James, dismissively waving a hand at Louis. "Let's go find Fred."

"Bye, Vic," said Louis, jumping off the couch chair and joining James.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said James, turning back to face Victoire. "Teddy was looking for you," he said before he and Louis melted into the crowd.

Victoire rolled her eyes. Nothing good could come from Teddy Lupin looking for her. Teddy was, for all intents and purposes, a member of the Weasley-Potter family. Victoire's younger cousins and siblings all loved him, drooling over him like he was the greatest thing since Uncle Harry himself. Whenever the Weasley-Potters had a gathering, at some point the cousins would all be gathered around Teddy, listening to him like he was the next Albus Dumbledore or something.

It wasn't that Victoire disliked Teddy. In fact, she had gotten along quite well with Teddy for a long time. He was only a couple of years older than she, and as the first born of all the Weasley-Potters, of course she had known Teddy the longest. They played together all the time when they were little and Teddy had been a big help to Victoire her first couple of years at Hogwarts.

But then it all changed her third year. It was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, the first trip Victoire would be allowed to attend, and Teddy had asked her to go with him. His exact words had been, "Victoire, would you do the honor of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" He was, as he put it, going for the whole "chivalry" thing. Apparently he was trying to be like a character called Ivanhoe from Muggle novels. Teddy had gone through a phase the summer before his fifth year where he read all of these Muggle novels. Victoire had thought it was weird, but of course all of her cousins were just dying for Teddy to retell some of the stories that he read.

Victoire had respectfully declined his invitation. It wasn't that she disliked Teddy it was just that he was…Teddy. He was her friend, an almost cousin. She didn't see him as anything other than that.

But apparently that was unacceptable to Teddy. Because he asked her out for the next Hogsmeade weekend. And the one after that. And then he started finding her at Quidditch games and sitting with her and her best friends Aiden and Kathryn. It was like a never ending parade of Teddy following her around. She had gone from liking Teddy—though not the way her cousins seemed to drool over him, she merely saw him as a friend—to sometimes being annoyed by his very presence.

Victoire rolled her eyes just thinking about it. But she didn't feel like dwelling on it, and she was suddenly feeling parched. Victoire got up from her spot on the couch and headed over to the refreshment table. She wasn't one for firewhiskey, but she was happy to see that there was apple cider on the table. She poured herself a glass and took a sip.

"Hey, Vic," came the cool voice of someone sidling up beside her.

Victoire sighed. "Hello, Teddy," she said wearily, taking another sip of her apple cider before turning to face him.

Teddy was wearing a huge grin on his face. She had to admit, it was a handsome face. Today his hair was a brilliant shade of red. It wasn't a natural color like Dominique's or Lily's, but a scarlet color, like the Gryffindor Quidditch robes. It was a change from the normal color. Usually it was sky blue and sometimes when he was feeling silly, bubblegum pink.

"Why d'you always have to say it like that?" Teddy asked with a puppy dog pout. It was clear that he was more than just tipsy, but definitely not really drunk. He was just moderately intoxicated.

"Like what?" she asked dryly, doing her best not to roll her eyes.

"Like you're not happy to see me," said Teddy, his grin widening. Victoire hadn't thought it possible.

Victoire cleared her throat. "Perhaps because I'm not," Victoire suggested with an eyebrow raise.

Teddy poured himself another glass of firewhiskey mixed with some sort of juice. Victoire didn't think he really needed it, but far be it from her to try and stop him. "Don't be like that, Vic," said Teddy, draining his cup of firewhiskey and juice in one gulp. He put the cup down on the table. "I know you like me," he added with a smirk.

This time, Victoire couldn't stop the eye roll "Oh my," she said flatly. "Am I really that transparent?"

"If you didn't like me, why would you be standing with me under the mistletoe?" asked Teddy roguishly.

Victoire narrowed her eyes at Teddy, taking a step back. Sure enough, she looked up, and suspended in midair was a dark green plant, unmistakably mistletoe.

"You know what that means?" said Teddy suggestively, taking a step toward her.

Victoire took a step back. "Ted Lupin, don't you even think about it!" Victoire warned, taking a step back.

Though she should have known it was futile. Before she had a chance to get out of there, Teddy had closed the space between the two of them, and pressed his lips full against hers.

At least, that was probably his intent.

Instead of kissing her square on the mouth, he more or less missed, just barely catching the corner of her lips with the corner of his. His lips were wet and sticky, probably from all the firewhiskey mixed with whatever juice drink it was. Victoire was frozen in place, her eyes wide, too shocked to even move.

Before Victoire had a chance to push him away, Teddy had backed away, a self-satisfied grin on his face. "Bye, Vic," he said with a nod before disappearing into the crowd. Victoire was almost positive she could hear his voice screaming, "Jerry! Jerry! You'll never believe what happened!" Though she couldn't be entirely sure.

All she could do was stand there, staring at the place where he had darted off too. Had that really just happened? Victoire lifted a delicate hand to her pale face, touching her cheek right near her lips. The fact that it felt wet and sticky told her that, yes, that had in fact, just happened. Her cheek felt surprisingly warm and, to her great embarrassment, she thought that she was blushing. Which was, of course, absolutely impossible.

Nobody blushed after being drunkenly kissed by someone they didn't even like all that much. Especially not when said person had missed.

Victoire quickly glanced around, wondering if anyone had seen the whole debacle. Fortunately, everyone seemed way too distracted by the party, dancing or something else to be paying any attention to what had just happened between Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley.

Suddenly Victoire felt very lightheaded. She really needed a lay down.

Fortunately, the next girl to come to bed after Victoire just so happened to be her best friend Kathryn. Kathryn wasn't much for drinking either, so thankfully she wasn't intoxicated when she came to bed. Kathryn had barely had time to change and brush her teeth before Victoire had started spilling her guts to her. Kathryn, like every other girl on the entire bloody planet, admired Teddy Lupin. Therefore, Kathryn was elated by the news. Being the romantic that she was, she of course thought the sloppy kiss was incredibly romantic. Victoire wholeheartedly disagreed.

Kathryn had, however, managed to change her mind about one thing.

"Pass the rolls," said Dominique to Louis the next morning. Louis grabbed the rolls passed them to his sister. The three Weasleys were sitting together at the Slytherin table that morning, Dominique and Louis on one side, Victoire on the other. It was a Saturday morning, so the Great Hall wasn't as crowded as it usually was during the week when students all had class.

"Did you guys have a nice time last night?" asked Dominique with a quick glance at Victoire.

For a moment, Victoire felt her heart speed up. How did Dominique know what happened with Teddy? Had someone seen? Had someone told her? Her mouth went dry for a second and she could hardly speak. She would be fine if Dominique knew, it wasn't that big of a deal. But if Dominique knew, then lots of people had to know. And if there was one thing Victoire Weasley couldn't stand, it was people knowing her personal business.

"It was ridiculous," said Louis with a smile. Victoire turned to him. Did he know about it, too? How many people knew? Were they spreading lies about her? "You should have seen it. They were going wild! This party was like nothing you've ever seen before, Dom. Trust me."

Dominique laughed, pushing some of her red hair over her shoulder. "I still don't understand why everyone takes these things so seriously," she said before taking a bite of her recently buttered roll. "Seriously, it's only a game."

"Only a game!" said Louis, shaking his head. "I can't believe you're actually a Weasley!"

They were talking about the party. Of course they were talking about the party. Victoire felt like an idiot. She let out a huge sigh of relief. Not that her siblings knowing would be a huge deal. She just hated the idea of people talking about her behind her back.

"Are you okay?" asked Dominique.

Victoire snapped to attention. "What?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You just look like you've seen a ghost," said Dominique, looking slightly concerned. But her face immediately lit up when she saw something—or someone—behind Victoire. "Hi, Teddy!"

Victoire straightened up at the mention of his name. In a second, Teddy was sitting next to Victoire and, despite the fact that there was plenty of bacon in the middle of the table, he snatched a piece off her plate.

"Dom. Louis," said Teddy with smile and a nod to each of them. Dominique's eyes lit up like a love-struck schoolgirl and Louis beamed at the older boy who was the older brother he always wanted but obviously could never have. "Victoire," he added before biting the bacon he had taken from Victoire.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was done anyway," said Victoire with a sarcastic smile.

Teddy's response was another grin. "So, Dom," he said, turning away from the blonde and toward the redhead. "Sorry about Slytherin's loss yesterday."

"I'm not," said Dominique quickly with a smile, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

Victoire rolled her eyes in a slightly amused manner as Teddy continued to charm her two younger siblings. That was the thing with Teddy. It wasn't even just her siblings or her cousins—he managed to charm everyone. There was just something about him. But with her siblings and her cousins, it was genuine. He cared about all of them like they were his family. And in every way except for blood, they were.

"So, Vic," Teddy said when he was done talking to her siblings. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend next weekend," he continued, running a hand through his hair which was back to its usual teal.

"That it is," said Victoire tersely.

"So, you wanna go with me?" asked Teddy casually, taking a bite of his bacon.

"Sure," said Victoire with a shrug.

Teddy paused mid-bite. "What?" he asked, slowly lowering the bacon from his lips. He stared at her, confusion etched on his face. He was completely and utterly stunned. Victoire had to admit it was an interesting sight.

"I said, 'Sure,'" repeated Victoire casually, reaching over Teddy to grab a biscuit.

Teddy turned to Louis. "Did she just say yes?" he asked Louis, obviously completely baffled by the scene unfolding before him.

"I believe she said, 'Sure,' but it's the same outcome either way," said Louis with a grin.

"And you're not kidding? No joke?" asked Teddy, turning back to Victoire.

"No joke," Victoire assured him.

"Really?"

"Really."

"And you're not going to change your mind?" asked Teddy.

"I might if you keep asking me," said Victoire snippily, turning toward Teddy slightly.

Teddy rose from the table. "In that case, I'm outta here," said Teddy, obviously afraid of getting on Victoire's nerves. "We'll talk details later. Bye, guys!" Teddy looked as if he was about to run off, but before he did, he turned back to Victoire, leaned down, grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her hard on the cheek. Then he scampered off out of the Great Hall as if he was a five year old girl.

Victoire rolled her eyes, wondering if she had made a mistake. Perhaps she shouldn't have listened to Kathryn. Perhaps going out with Teddy wasn't such a great idea after all.

But perhaps it was. He did seem genuinely thrilled, and not just in the way one did when they finally got something they wanted. No, he seemed more genuine than that. Despite the fact that he seemed to ask her out all the time, Kathryn had somehow managed to convince Victoire that perhaps Teddy really was being sincere. And she had nothing to lose from accepting one date with him. Victoire wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea, but after the look on Teddy's face when she accepted, she was glad that she had.

"So, Vic—" began Louis cheekily, a knowing grin on his face. Louis had said over and over again that eventually Victoire would go out with Teddy. He had somehow known it all along.

"Oh, shut up and eat your biscuits."

I wrote this a while ago for two challenges where the prompts where an awkward kiss and a first kiss. I don't know why I never posted it, but here it is! I love Teddy and Victoire. I love all things Next Gen! Haha. So yeah, I don't really have much else to say!

This story is dedicated to Brooke, DavinaMoon, iheartweasleytwins, musicprincess1990, and voldy's gone mouldy 98, and Yankeefan26. And of course, my girl Emullz for reviewing my last story, A Most Unwelcome Interruption.