Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his universe. I only own Siobhan Finnegan and Elliot Shacklebolt.
A/N: In case you don't know, Siobhan is a very Irish name. There are conflicting views on how to pronounce it, because it depends on the region, but I am going with Shi-vaun, with the emphasis on the second syllable. If this is the incorrect way of saying it, please feel free to tell me (either in a review or in a message, it doesn't matter) and I would be really grateful.
In my story, Siobhan is Seamus's stepdaughter, but since he adopted her, she took his last name as her own.
Victoire flopped across the bed in her dormitory, sighing melodramatically. Her two best friends, Siobhan Finnegan and Elliot Shacklebolt, looked up.
"You knew what you were getting into," Siobhan told her sternly.
"I didn't realize it would be this hard!"
Elliot sighed. "Get off your soap box, honey."
Victoire glared at her friends. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry. Am I really that bad?"
Siobhan, being slightly more compassionate than Elliot, decided to tell a little lie. "You're not horrible."
Elliot, being the blunt one, disagreed. "After every Hogsmeade trip, you come in, flop on the bed, give a big long loud sigh, and start blubbering about how much you miss Teddy."
"Elliot! That's a little rude!" Siobhan said indignantly, all the while knowing that Elliot was telling the absolute truth.
Elliot shrugged. "I'm not a tactful person. You guys should know this by now. Sorry."
Victoire sighed. "I love him so much. And I'm so scared that he doesn't feel the same."
At this, even Siobhan had to snicker. Elliot was chortling in her funny breathy laugh.
"What?" When Victoire was upset, she became angry at the drop of a hat.
"Vic, that guy adores you. Not totally sure why, but—" Siobhan grinned at this and Victoire threw her pillow at Elliot. "Anyway, I am not kidding, you two are like, perfect for each other," Elliot said to Victoire, fighting for sobriety.
"Yes, but does he love me? He never said that he did, in so many words. What if he doesn't? What if he likes me, but doesn't love me? What if he doesn't really care about a future together?"
Siobhan sighed. "Have you ever asked him if he loved you?"
Victoire looked horrified. "I can't do that! That will scare him off! Who in their right mind asks their boyfriend if he loves her?"
Siobhan and Elliot exchanged looks.
"Uh…me?"
"I did. I asked Will." Siobhan made a face at the name of her ex-boyfriend, whom she had dated from halfway through her fourth year to the end of her sixth.
Victoire looked at her. "What happened?"
"I went up to him, and I said, 'Will, my feelings for you are getting stronger. I think I love you. Do you love me?' and then he laughed and said we had dated for this long because I was good at snogging. So I hexed him and yelled that we were over. Erin saw the whole thing and wrote to Dad about it. Dad was furious. He was ready to kill Will. Frankly, I didn't care," she said.
Elliot glared at her. "Not helpful, Finnegan."
Siobhan backtracked quickly. "Well, Will was a jerk, and Teddy's not. If this is bugging you, you need to talk to him about it."
Victoire sighed. "I want to ask him in person, though. And the next Hogsmeade weekend is more than a month away."
"You could always get a daisy. 'He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not. He loves—'"
Elliot glared at her again. "Still not helpful, Finnegan."
"It was just a suggestion!" Siobhan exclaimed.
"Please, take this seriously, Siobhan," Victoire pleaded.
Siobhan sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how else to help."
Elliot smiled. "Victoire, you should be grateful to your ingenious and slightly insane friend. As in moi. I love you to death, Siobhan, but you're no good at plotting. Sorry."
Siobhan sighed. "I'm probably the only Irish girl in the world who isn't a troublemaker."
Elliot shrugged. "Hey, at least you're tactful. But that's beside the point. Victoire, I have an idea."
* * * * *
After they had seen Victoire off, Elliot turned to Siobhan. "When Will said that to you, is that the time that you came up to the dorm and cried for seventy-four hours straight without sleeping or eating?"
Siobhan nodded matter-of-factly. "That it was."
Elliot groaned. "He better tell her that he loves her. I love Vic to death, but staying up over seventy hours with a friend trying to get her to eat one cracker so she doesn't starve? I did it once, I'm not in a hurry to do it again."
Siobhan grinned. "You'd do it, though. You say you wouldn't, but you would."
Elliot sighed and nodded. "Should we wait up for her?"
"Absolutely. I'll go crazy not knowing."
"Me too."
The two girls sat on their bed, staring at the window, praying that all went well with their friend and her beloved.
* * * * *
Walking all of the way to Hogsmeade was tiring, but Victoire knew it would be worth it. The second she was off of Hogwarts grounds, she spun and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the bartender looked up, but didn't say anything. A large party was going on, and he was busy.
Victoire was wearing Siobhan's dark red dress robes and had wrapped Elliot's huge black scarf around her head a few times, hiding her silvery red hair. As long as she didn't look anyone in the face, no one would recognize her.
She pulled out her wand and tapped on the special brick. Walking into the dark, deserted alley, she felt goose bumps rise up on her neck. How many times had her parents lectured her to never, never walk alone after dark, under any circumstances?
She made her way to Teddy's apartment without mishap and knocked on his door cautiously. As she listened to his mumbled curses, she realized how insane it was to visit him at one o'clock at night to ask him if he loved her.
He opened the door, wearing sweatpants and tousled hair. "Vic?" he said sleepily. "Vic? Are you all right? What's wrong?" He ushered her in. He looked around for his wand. Victoire pulled hers out and pointed it at a lamp. "Lumos."
"Teddy," she said seriously. "I love you, and I need to know if you love me."
His jaw dropped. He blinked.
Victoire waited.
Teddy grinned hugely and pulled her into a bear hug like only he could. "Victoire!" he said. "Of course I love you! Where the hell did you ever get the idea that I didn't?"
Victoire reveled in his squeeze. "You never said it."
"You didn't either."
"I'm sorry. I was afraid to."
"Don't ever be afraid to say anything to me, Vic. I'm here. I love you." He sighed. "Truthfully, I was too afraid to say it to you, too. I didn't want to lose you."
She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Teddy, you won't lose me. I'm yours forever."
For the next hour, they sat and held hands and talked. Talked about the possibility of getting married: both wanted to. Talked about the possibility of having kids: both wanted to. Talked about careers: Victoire wanted to be a Healer, and that would require more schooling.
Mostly, they talked about the future they knew they would share.
* * * * *
When Victoire returned to Hogwarts, exhausted from the long walks to and from Hogsmeade and the emotional talk with Teddy, she was grateful to see Elliot's owl, Redman, waiting on the ground by Gryffindor Tower. Redman bore a message: When you get home, send this owl up to us and we'll lower a rope. Love, Siobhan and Elliot
Victoire turned the note over and Conjured a quill. She scrawled, Send the rope down. Thanks. and sent Redman up. Seconds later, a rope dropped by her feet, and she crawled up into her dormitory.
Siobhan and Elliot were waiting up for her, and the three other girls in their year were asleep. Elliot had told them that Victoire was in the library, despite it being past curfew. As Victoire changed into a nightgown, Siobhan asked cautiously, "Soo…?"
Victoire smiled serenely as she pulled the covers up to her chin and smiled at her curious friends. "You guys knew the answer all along."
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