Six months before:

I clapped politely as the seventh years were called to the front one by one to receive their graduation letter from headmistress McGonagall. I blew out a breath and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Today was not my day. I had woken up an hour early because I had had nightmares all night. When I couldn't sleep I decided to go for a run. Out on the quidditch field, I ran into the last person I wanted to see. Teddy Lupin. He was flying laps. At 5 in the morning. What the hell.

When he saw me, he swooped down towards me and I pretended not to notice him.

"Victoire! Vic, hey. Vic," he touched my shoulder and I stopped. I let out a heavy breath and turned around.

"Oh, I didn't see you there," I lied, smiling.

"Yeah you did. And you saw me last night in the great hall and at that party last weekend and in the library and everywhere else I tried to talk to you where you ignored me. What's going on, Vic?" he asked. Fuck. He had noticed. I thought it might be best to just ignore him until he graduated but apparently that hadn't worked out so well.

"I… wasn't… I mean… I really didn't see you." I felt my cheeks turn red despite the chilly morning air. Why was I still lying to him? Teddy was my best friend since forever, but for some reason I couldn't tell him that the reason I was avoiding him was that I was going to miss him too much once he graduated.

"Victoire. I'm not one of your chummies who believes everything you say because you're pretty when you speak. I know you and I can see that something's wrong, so if it's something I did then please tell me so I can fix it!" He was getting agitated.

"You can't fix it, Teddy. It's out of your control so just let it go and leave me alone, please." Fuck. I was doing this so wrong.

"I will not leave you alone until you tell me what's wrong. Please, Vic, I want to help you."

I did so not deserve him. Teddy was a fixer, a problem solver. I was the opposite. I got people in trouble and talked myself out of it. No consequences, no regrets.

"I tell you to fuck off and you want to help me. What's wrong with you, Lupin?" I asked him.

"You know I can't help it. Kindness is a curse, my dear. But do tell me what's wrong with you please." Teddy was smiling now. That boy forgave my moods quicker than uncle Ron ate Christmas pudding.

I decided to just get it over with and tell him.

"Honestly, I don't want you to leave. And that's so selfish and stupid and I know that I'm only here for another year and that we'll still see each other, but I'll miss you and I don't know how I'm supposed to pass my N.E.W.T.s if you're not here to study with me and I just…" I wasn't finished talking when he pulled me into a hug. It was one of those tight hugs that makes you know that what you say resonates with the other person. I felt tears shoot up into my eyes. Damn. I never cried in front of anyone but my mum.

Teddy placed his head on my shoulder. "We've got the summer, Vic" he reminded me. That we did. Until I went back to school in September and Teddy left for his gap year in Romania to work with uncle Charlie at the dragon resort.

"Promise?" I said into his shoulder.

"Pinky promise." He took my hand in his.

We hugged for another minute or so before I slowly pulled away, sighing. My hand was still in his and I tried not to focus on the sinking feeling in my stomach.

"I'll see you at graduation." I said, smiling sadly.

Teddy nodded. He was tying to smile but I could see that he was sad as well.

After that encounter I had taken a shower and gotten dressed for breakfast. When I walked out of the bathroom, my roommate and best friend, Jade, was sitting on her bed. She always overslept and today was no exception.

"What time is it?" She yawned.

"Half 7." I replied. She jumped up and ran into the bathroom yelling "shit".

10 minutes later we were on our way to the great hall for breakfast.

Jade immediately noticed that I was distracted, especially because I kept glancing at Teddy at the Hufflepuff table.

She tried to distract me by telling me about her vacation plans and how I should visit her and her family. I told her I might but all I could really think about was how Teddy had said "we've got the summer".

We had our usual morning classes and then the graduation ceremony would be held. It was hard enough to pay attention in class the last week before summer but today it was extra hard. I almost set my hair on fire in potions class and didn't hear a single word the professor said in defence against the dark arts.

When it was time for graduation, Jade and I sat down at our usual spot at the Ravenclaw table and waited for the ceremony to begin.

"He's not gone for ever, Vic." Jade tried to cheer me up. I nodded. "I know, I'm just sad. I'll be fine tomorrow." At least, that was what I had told myself.

When McGonagall started reading of the names, I felt my heart begin to beat faster. I knew a lot of people in Teddy's year from parties or Quidditch and I clapped for everyone. When Teddy's name was called I clapped extra hard and I heard a wolf whistle from the Gryffindor table. Probably James.

Teddy took his graduation letter, shook McGonagall's hand and walked off, searching the crowd until his eyes met mine and he grinned. I grinned back. I was proud of him.

AN: Hello friends.

This is going to be a twelve days of christmas kind of story where I post a new chapter every day until christmas (hopefully). I hope someone will read along or read all the chapters adter they've come out. I hope you enjoy this chapter and will be back for the next one tomorrow.

XxEmbraceTheMystery