The Wolf in Me

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I am making no profit from this piece of fiction.

Warnings: This story does contain sensitive issues that could be triggers. Read at your own risk. If you find yourself in a position where you feel you need assistance, please seek help by contacting a domestic abuse organisation. It also contains character death.

A/N: Originally written for the Next Gen Darkfest over on LJ. Again, this does contain sensitive matter. Read at your own risk.

Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

-Meatloaf

Victoire was fifteen when it happened. Her mother had warned her that she would become a woman a little later than everyone else. So when Victoire, scared and alone in the darkened girls lavatory, found traces of her womanhood, she thought she was prepared for the world.

Conjuring what she needed, she left the lavatory with her head held high and a womanly blush across her cheekbones. She clutched her books, ignoring her History of Magic textbook as it pushed uncomfortably into her side. She stepped out into the busy corridor and breathed the air as a new person.

Across the corridor, sitting with the rest of his Gryffindor friends, Teddy noticed her. Victoire gave a gentle wave but the look he sent her way was anything but gentle. His eyes were darkened and the tips of his spiky turquoise hair turned black. Victoire had never seen him wear that shade before. She flushed even more and retracted her hand. She spun to walk to class. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Teddy sniff the air, his face contorting into hardened eyes and scowling lips.

Then it relaxed into the face she knew. She took a deep breath and walked to the dungeons.

o0o

Something happened when Victoire was sixteen and Teddy was seventeen. Victoire ignored the animated chatter of her sister and cousin outside and tried to concentrate on the scene in front of her. Papa had allowed Teddy to accompany them on their trip to visit Uncle Charlie.

Victoire had tied her hair into a messy ponytail, much to her mother's disappointment. She was tired and cranky and she was fed up with helping Charlie by fetching the broken shells of the dragon eggs. Teddy had volunteered to help and Victoire had been trying to ignore the sight of Teddy's muscular arms moving the debris. It had sent chills down her spine and made her feel conscious of every move each of them made.

Suddenly, she felt a cramp and the familiar reaction her body had straight after it. She should have known- the tiredness and crankiness should have warned her. Teddy stopped shovelling.

"Vic?"

Victoire had always loved the sound of her name leaking from Teddy's lips. And then, he was in front of her. His hair was dark brown today. Sweat glistened off his lovely arms and Victoire swore she she might melted into a puddle right in front of him.

And then, Teddy was looking at her strangely, as if she was a delicious meal and he was a starving man. His eyes trailed from the top of her still-messy hair to the tips of her toes. She felt exhilarated.

He leant in, closer, and Victoire could feel his breath on her neck. She felt the heat of Teddy's lips so close to her body and she wasn't complaining.

"Teddy?"

Victoire flushed as Teddy groaned. His nose pressed into her and she shivered as his arms pushed her shoulders back against the wall of the dragon hutch.

"You smell so good," Teddy whispered into her. Before she could reply, Teddy was sucking on her throat, harshly and furious. The first thing she felt was pleasure but as Teddy sank his teeth into her, the sensation quickly turned to pain.

Victoire yelped and with all her energy, pushed Teddy away. He was stubborn at first but he stepped back and stared at her, horrified. Her hand flew up to the red, insistent welt on her neck.

"What have you-"

The sound of footsteps appeared and Victoire hurriedly took out her ponytail and shook her dirty hair out to cover the evidence. Teddy turned his back and kept on shovelling.

The door opened and Victoire's father stuck his head in. "Everything alright?"

Both were silent as his eyes settled on Victoire, who was wide-eyed and trying not to crumple into a ball on the floor. It was Teddy who finally spoke.

"We're fine, Mr Weasley."

Victoire attempted to give her father a happy smile. "We're good, Daddy."

Bill Weasley only stared at her and then focused his attention on Teddy, whose back was turned. "Make sure this door stays open."

Victoire listened to her father's footsteps retreat.

o0o

Victoire was seventeen when she finally kissed Teddy, past misdemeanours ignored and forgotten. She loved the way Teddy passionately kissed her back. She was terrified of returning to Hogwarts without him. It was the year most of her cousins would be there. She would have to be on her best behaviour with all eyes watching her.

The summer before her Seventh Year was the best.

And now it was going to end.

"Don't be long," her father's voice interrupted as she leaned further in to Teddy's embrace.

"I'll make sure she gets on the train, Mr Weasley," Teddy said politely. Victoire watched sadly as he stared at them for a moment before joining her Uncle Percy on the other side of the throng of parents and students.

Victoire looked back at Teddy. "I'll miss you," she whispered as she hugged Teddy close.

He circled his arms around her. "I'll miss you too."

And then they were kissing and everything was wonderful. Teddy broke off the kiss and buried his head in her neck. "Teddy-"

His teeth gently nipped at her neck. She tried to pull away. "Not here!"

"I love the way you smell, Weasley," he murmured. "You're mine."

Before Victoire could react, his hot mouth was right against her ear. "If another man touches you, I'll kill him."

She believed him.

o0o

The first time he laid a finger on her she was eighteen and had just graduated Hogwarts. Teddy had met her in the Leaky for their first official post-school date. Victoire was happy to be catching up with friends with Teddy's year. Over Butterbeers, they had told stories of travel to Spain, working in the Healer ward with Mrs Malfoy and Chris, Teddy's long-time friend, had even played the drums with The Cauldrons on their last tour.

Victoire nodded happily to Teddy as he went up to the bar for another round of drinks. "Everything alright Vic?" Chris asked her quietly. "I mean, I know how Teddy is."

Her breath caught in her throat. What had Teddy told him? She readjusted her long, blonde hair so it covered the ugly love bites that marred her neck and throat. "Everything's fine," she reassured him.

Chris nodded and Victoire hesitantly took a sip of her water. Over the top of her glass, she spotted a familiar figure. She looked closer. It was Ben Grey, a Ravenclaw from Teddy's year. They had served as Prefects together.

"I'll be a mo," Victoire said to Chris and nodded to Ben's direction. "Gonna say hello."

Chris shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "Err, Ted'll be back in a second. Just wait, yeah?"

Victoire frowned. "I'm going to say hello," she repeated, flicking her eyes to Teddy's turned back. In a few strides, she was at Ben's table. In all honesty, she was happy to see a friendly and familiar face. After about two minutes, she felt something in the air.

A second later, she was shoved to the side as Teddy snarled at Ben. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Victoire was horrified. "Teddy, no-"

"Teddy, hey," Ben started, standing and extending his hand. "How've you been?"

"She's mine," Teddy shouted and before Victoire could gently pull Teddy's hand away, his hair turned jet black and his fist connected with Ben's face.

"Teddy!"

The room descended into chaos. Victoire tried to wrestle Teddy away from Ben, but her attempts were futile. Teddy took a split second to look her away and before she knew it, she was thrown across the room. She landed against the bar.

She heard a loud shout and the group of people surrounding the fighting boys stumbled back. "Get out!"

Victoire faintly recognised Mrs Longbottom's voice. She gently touched her head, which was throbbing. It came away red.

"Are you alright?" Mrs Longbottom asked, sitting next to her. "Blimey, Victoire, you're bleeding! I'm calling your Dad."

"No!" Victoire shouted. "No, please. I'm fine," she protested, standing on shaky feet. Mrs Longbottom's eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure? I thought I saw-"

Victoire shook her head as gently as she could. "It was an accident."

o0o

Victoire was nineteen when she lost her virginity to Teddy. He had set up a romantic room at a Muggle hotel for their anniversary. Victoire had been impressed with the charmed violin playing itself and the lavish dinner he had ordered.

The bed sheets were white at the beginning of the evening.

o0o

Victoire and Teddy went on a holiday to South America during the summer of 2022. Teddy told her that he wasn't sure that it would help. Victoire grumbled and swatted away another fly, looking around the waiting room. She bit her nails, completely dreading the meeting she was about to have.

They had travelled a long distance. She looked across at Teddy. His foot was tapping on the floor. She tried to ignore him. The door opened and an elderly man walked out, followed by the woman they had come to see.

She motioned for them to come in and Teddy pushed past the elderly man. Victoire steeled herself and followed them inside the room. The setup of the room reminded her of Trelawney's classroom. It was welcoming but something sinister was cloaking the room; seeping in through the carpets and latching onto them as they walked through.

It was now or never.

Victoire hadn't met a real seer before. She maintained that Trelawney didn't count. For everything that the magical world provided her with, a belief in the future wasn't one of them. However, she couldn't shake the feeling. Besides, if anything could help them, she would try it.

She loved him.

"This is bullshit," Teddy whispered to her as the woman starting moving her hands around the crystal ball. Victoire shushed him and squeezed his hand, wincing when he squeezed too hard back. Such was their life.

In an instant, the woman's head had rolled back. "Wolf."

"W-what?" Victoire asked her, unsure of what she had just heard.

"Wolf. Wolf. WOLF."

Suddenly, the old woman's head shot up and she grabbed Victoire by the collar and pulled her roughly across her table. "He's going to kill you," she said calmly and the session was over.

o0o

Victoire was twenty-three when she stopped going to Weasley dinners. The first letter arrived twelve minutes after she was scheduled to arrive. She applied the thick salve over her latest bruise and ignored the bird's insistent tapping.

She thought of Teddy, stuck at work. The last episode had been frightening. It had been easy to predict at first- like the changing of the tides or the way her tainted Veela blood renewed itself every half moon. It had been obvious to them both, then.

Last time was different. It had been unexpected, like the night at the hotel. It had been wild and unpredictable and violent. But she knew Teddy better than most and she saw him in the mornings, when his face shifted from the ugliness of his wolf side into his brown eyes and turquoise hair.

"I'm sorry," he would moan and Victoire would stroke his hair, a little blue and a lot sore.

She let the bird fly in and it landed on her perch. She grabbed the letter. It was from her father.

Baby Girl,

I hope you're okay. If there's anything you ever need, day or night, you get me. Anytime, any place. You can always talk to me, about anything.

I love you,

Dad

Victoire didn't reply.

o0o

Victoire had been in St Mungo's ward for eleven minutes before someone came to visit her. She had checked in under a pseudonym but hadn't expected her Aunt to be doing business with the Healers.

She heard a gentle tapping at the private door and it opened without her consent. She tried to hide her face.

"Oh Victoire," her Aunt Hermione said softly before Victoire erupted into tears.

o0o

Victoire was twenty three and eight months when she began her private lessons in secret. It wasn't well known, even within their family, that Aunt Hermione was an Animagus. She was a firm but patient teacher.

"You'll need to practice every spare moment you have," Aunt Hermione said on their first lesson. "Although, really, Victoire, I'd feel much better if you would let me tell your father-"

"No," Victoire said firmly. "You promised."

Aunt Hermione nodded. "Is it-," she braced herself, as if she really didn't want to know the answer. "It's Teddy, isn't it?" she said softly.

Victoire didn't answer.

o0o

Victoire was twenty-five when she changed into a wolf in front of Teddy for the first time.

o0o

Teddy is twenty-seven when he wakes up in the middle of nowhere. The light is blinding him and everything hurts. He manages to open his eyes.

Bright.

He swears he remembers darkness. The birds are silent and the wind barely touches him as he sits up, rubbing his head. His fingertips check his bone structure and he can confirm that he his himself.

He can't remember.

He is naked.

And when he looks beside him, everything is clear.

Her eyes are vacant and the blood, ohMerlintheblood, it's everywhere.

He vomits right next to her because it's Victoire's body and she's missing a throat and she's dead.

He howls at the sunlight.