You're My Best Friend

Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Hanging By A Moment - Lifehouse

Teddy sat in the shrieking shack alone. Tomorrow he would be returning home for the summer. Not the summer, he thought bitterly, forever. At eighteen, Teddy Lupin was one of the most respected and liked people in all of Hogwarts, of course it helped that his Godfather was Harry Potter and both of his parents had died in the war.

He threw a piece of rubble at the wall and stared at the place where it had struck. He always came to the shrieking shack when he was angry or upset; this was, after all, the only place he felt even remotely close to the father he had never known.

In his first couple of years at Hogwarts, he would come here and think up memories that may have been true if his parents had survived. It helped to beat the loneliness of an eleven year old boy alone in a big castle without anyone guide him. When Victoire had come to Hogwarts, Teddy just assumed that the two of them would be best friends as they always had been. But Victoire had her own friends, who were her age. They thought it was weird when her thirteen year old 'cousin' would hang out with them, so he stopped after a couple of weeks.

Eventually he had found his own friends too, but he always missed Victoire. It was then that he heard a noise. Instinctively he changed his hair from blue to green.

'Ted, are you down here?' he knew her voice anywhere. He sighed heavily before calling out to her. 'Thank goodness, Teddy, I've been looking for you everywhere!' she scolded him. 'What are you doing down here?'

He shrugged. 'I guess I felt like I should spend my last day here somewhere where I actually feel at home.'

She frowned and watched as his hair colour changed to purple. 'Everyone is looking for you, Ted. McGonagall wanted to see you and wish you luck for your future I guess.' she shrugged and took a seat next to her best friend and studied his face. His features changed slightly and Victoire gasped quietly as she looked into the face of Remus Lupin.

He smiled at her slightly and then changed back to how he normally looked, purple hair included. 'Sorry.'

She put her hand on his shoulder and continued to stare at him. 'I'm worried about you, Ted. I mean, you don't have anything planned for after you finished. What are you going to do next year?'

'I don't know,' he said honestly. 'I guess I can travel a bit, maybe work at a Wizard Wheezes if I can manage to get a job.'

'Oh, please,' Victoire scoffed. 'You're actually smart Teddy, too smart to waste your talents on a joke shop owned my uncle.'

'Well what do you suppose I do then Victoire?' he shouted at her and put his head in his hands.

She reached over and took his hand like she used to do when they were little. He stared at their intertwined fingers for a moment. 'Your parents would want what's best for you.'

He nodded slowly. 'I thought about trying to become a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but Hogwarts doesn't, and won't, need one for ages. I wouldn't wanna work anywhere else but here.'

She flashed her most radiant smile in his direction. She was only one eighth veela, but her smile could convince you otherwise. She stood and pulled him to his feet, still holding his hand.

'Hey, what are you doing?' he asked as she pulled him along the tunnel towards the outside world. She just smiled back at him and kept pulling on his arm. They arrived outside at sunset. The sun had just sunk below the horizon and the sky was lit up in brilliant oranges and purples. Teddy couldn't help being struck by the beauty of it but he didn't have time to take in much of the view before Victoire was pulling him towards the castle.

They arrived in the Gryffindor common room not long after. He looked around the room, nothing was different. 'Vic, wha-'

Silently, she pointed towards a coffee table in the centre of the room. It was set as if it was a dinner table and a small feast had just appeared on the plates as it would in the Great Hall. 'I thought maybe, since it's your last night at Hogwarts forever, we could have a picnic instead of being in the Great Hall.'

Teddy smiled widely and began laughing. Vicotoire's face went red. 'No, don't be embarrassed, Vic. This is brilliant!'

'Then why are you laughing at me?' she demanded, a red glow still apparent on her face. His hair changed to the same pale red-blonde colour as hers. 'It looks better on me.'

He laughed a little and took his seat at their little picnic. She did the same. 'Are you okay, Victoire? You don't look so good.' She blushed again and stayed silent as she piled food onto her plate.

Victoire took a deep breath and looked up at Teddy. He smiled at her. 'So, Ted, it's gonna be really weird without you here next year. I'm sure gonna miss you.'

'I'm sure you will,' he grinned at her, 'but you have a billion little friends to keep you company.

She smiled weakly. 'They aren't you though Teddy. I'm gonna miss my best friend.' He stared at her blankly for a moment. Her cheeks flushed scarlet.

'I didn't think I was your best friend.'

'What? Of course you are. Who else would be? I tell you everything,' she explained lamely.

'You don't sound so sure,' he said to her, studying her face.

'I just mean, we've always been best friends,' she tried to explain. 'You've practically always been there for me and next year you won't be. It's just,' she searched for the right word, 'unsettling.'

'I see,' he said, slowly making his way around the table to sit right in front of Victoire. 'And why is it unsettling?'

'Because I you'll leave and I won't get the chance to be there with you or tell you when you're gonna make a massive mistake, or tell your many girlfriends that they will never be good enough for someone like you, or-'

He cut her off mid-sentence. 'What girlfriends?'

She blushed red once more. 'I just meant, you know, girlfriends that you'll have one day when you've left Hogwarts.' He laughed again. 'I really wish you'd stop doing that!'

'But it's funny.' She stared at him, waiting for an explanation. 'All I mean is that you're saying that you're gonna have to tell my future girlfriends that they'll never be good enough for me, but I've only ever wanted the one girl.'

'Oh,' she mumbled. 'Well I guess I've just made this awkward then.'

He laughed. 'Vic, I think you're missing my point.' She looked into his turquoise eyes as they turned a brilliant shade of gold, as they do when he's happy. 'The only one I want is you.'

He looked at her trying to see her reaction. He looked shocked, and then confused, and a whole heap of other emotions he couldn't work out. 'But, when? Why? How?' she choked out.

'Ah, a while, because you're you and how should I know,' he tried. Her face split into a smile, the type of smile he lived to see gracing her features. She looked elated and then she scowled and punched him. 'Ow! What was that for?'

'Why didn't you tell me earlier? It would have saved me from going to all this trouble.' He stared at her in astonishment for a moment but both of their faces split into identical grins.

She leapt forward and kissed him. He was so shocked that not only his face turned scarlet, but his hair as well. She giggled when she looked at him and they both laughed for what seemed like hours.