Teddy Lupin looked over his shoulder rather boredly.
He stared at Victoire Weasley, enjoying the view. He didn't care that he was in one of the front rows in class. He never really did care much about History of Magic, although he gave much respect to the poor ghost of Professor Binns. Such a dedicated old chap, bless him.
He smirked. He's been staring at her for quite a while now. Not that he expected her to notice. No, Victoire was always so engulfed in her note-taking business— even if Teddy knew full well that she didn't like History of Magic either. But knowing Victoire, she'd give her all in everything. He admired that about her, among several other things. He admired her freckle-splattered nose and cheeks. He admired her skin, so pale and yet so warm and inviting. He admired her Ravenclaw uniform and the way it fit. He admired her passion and tenacity. He admired her, even in the way she was scribbling furiously and clinging on to Professor Binns' every word, her silvery-golden hair falling softly by the side of her face.
Teddy smiled and was purely entranced. Yes, maybe staring at this particular half-veela was his favorite pastime.
His neck was beginning to ache from turning his head for too long. He adjusted; rolling his head around his neck and sighed. He really should concentrate more on his studies. But Teddy looked down at the empty piece of parchment on his desk, contemplating whether he should write something down or simply leave the classroom with not a single word remembered.
He scowled and decided on the former. As Professor Binns started reading a certain text out loud, Teddy tried to actually listen this time, waving away his own distracting thoughts.
"Goblins, no matter how distinctly nasty they may seem, are actually very peculiar creatures. They can be very intimidating at times, and are also very dangerous creatures. They are not to be trifled with. It all dates back to the First Goblin-Wizard war 200 years ago…"
Teddy put his quill down. There was no bloody way he was going to survive this class.
He glanced at his wrist, where the watch Uncle Harry had given him for his birthday was secured. According to the ticking hands, he had about 15 minutes of History of Magic left.
To any normal person, he/she would have waited it out patiently. But Teddy had been listening to Binns drone on for nearly an hour now, and he felt as if he was slowly going mad. If nothing even slightly entertaining happened…. I might just lose it, Teddy thought.
He turned his head around again, deciding the back of the class would be a more useful source of entertainment rather than Binns floating and chanting along. Teddy's brown eyes scanned the room. It seemed as if more than half felt the same way as he did. So many had their heads lolling about their necks, while others were agitated, begging to be released from their seats. Teddy reckoned they all needed a good laugh.
He sneaked a glance behind him and caught himself staring directly at one half-asleep Victoire. Her eyes were partly closed, yet her hand was still clutching her quill, no doubt spreading ink all over her precious notes, now that she was beginning to lose consciousness. Her head bounced back and forth lazily, giving the false impression that she was nodding. Teddy had to bite back a loud laugh watching her.
She was fighting her way through her doziness, Teddy could see. She would regain consciousness for about five seconds before losing it again completely. Teddy smirked and waited for an opening.
—
Victoire Weasley was beginning to lose it completely. She didn't even understand why she tortured herself like this. Forcing herself to study as excellently as she could for each bloody subject.
She'd always done well in school, there was no question about it. But it wasn't without hard work. Her Transfiguration tests were a piece of cake, there was absolutely no struggle with her and her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and Potions wasn't too bad either. She loved Charms and Professor Flitwick, who had seemed to take a special liking towards the Weasley clan. In all the other subjects, she hardly cared about, but excelled in any way.
Except History of Magic. Merlin knows nobody can pass this subject except maybe Aunt Hermione, Victoire thought bitterly.
She sighed as she scribbled down some more useless notes and words from Professor Binns. It's hard being half-veela, Victoire sighed and thought again. It's a topic she's been contemplating the entire time. Contrary to popular belief, being beautiful all the time did not have its perks. In Victoire's little world, there were certain expectations thrust upon her. She had to be more than just a pretty face. She had to be charming, talented, passionate, and excellent. Growing up half-veela, she noticed that it was easy to be recognized and noticed as pretty or beautiful, but once she was, the world seemed to find it hard to regard her as anything else. Like an innovative Ravenclaw student. Or Prefect. Or Quidditch player (granted she didn't play for the house, but still, she knew how). Of course, this was just her opinion. Either way, she refused to be regarded as just "that pretty witch."
Still. The thirst to prove herself just didn't seem like enough motivation to get her through History of Magic. She felt herself lose her grip on her quill, almost dropping to completely as she began to slowly doze off. She shook her head fiercely. She was not going to fall asleep in class.
However, a few minutes later all that was registering in Victoire's mind was Professor Binns uttering the words "Goblins" and "nasty creatures" or something similar to. There were only glimpses of the classroom now, in between instances of her open and closed eyes. She could feel her body and mind failing her, as she sank comfortable down her seat. She could even feel her head lolling around her neck rather embarrassingly. No matter how hard her mind was yelling WAKE UP! her body seemed to be replying with a feeble just a few minutes. All the energy seemed to have been sapped out of her by Professor Binns and his dragging old voice.
All that was left were only a few fleeting flashes of light now. And right before Victoire was positive she'd just fallen asleep completely in Binns' class, a flash of the brightest blue had distracted her.
Her blue eyes, curious now albeit blurry and unfocused, forced themselves open to find the source of color. She scanned the Professor in front, wondering if it had been him trying to catch her attention, but no, Binns was droning on relentlessly. She looked around the room once more and upon finding the source, she found herself staring at Teddy Lupin's playful brown eyes and signature smirk. Her eyes were focused now and her mind whirred. Victoire sat up and closed the space between her parted lips, blushing furiously. She must have looked incredibly stupid.
She could almost feel Teddy Lupin quivering in laughter at his seat as he watched her bend down and grab her quill from the floor. The blush on her cheek was more of an infuriated flush now, rather than an embarrassed one. She cast her most threatening glare at his face. Teddy's eyebrows were moving up and down cockily, as if he'd just caught Vic doing something rather obscene. Victoire huffed silently and crossed her arms in front of her chest, still blushing and glaring.
The boy replied with a flash of his warmest and most charming grin. His hair changed color rapidly. From blue, to red, to pink, to orange, to blonde, to black, and finally settling on a handsome shade of green.
Victoire watched with slight amusement and fought the urge to smile. He was still the most annoying, handsome, and cheeky 6th year crush she's ever had.