Our relationship wasn't written in the stars. It was drawn in the sand.
TEDDY + VICTOIRE
My nine-year old self had traced the letters into the damp sand outside my home, never once thinking of what my now nineteen year old self would think about it. I had even taken a picture of it, the waves moving in and out of the picture that still sits above my desk.
Now, ten years later, I wasn't naive or innocent. I was painfully aware of the fact that since the start of my seventh year, I've seen Teddy a grand total of three times. Once, at the station on September 1st, the second at Christmas, and the final time the day he left to study in Australia.
That was in June of last year. Nearly a year ago.
But I'm determined not to think about him today. Today is my birthday, and after work, I'll be treated to a classic Weasley/Potter party.
Today is also ten years to the day that I drew those words in the sand.
But I won't think about that. Today is my birthday, after all.
"Code Green! Code Green!" The loud, irritating voice kept repeating it over and over, as my squad sprang into action.
"Alright, team! We have a case of underage accidental magic, this one's a kid who accidentally caused his Muggle neighbour's hair to flash different colours." Our team leader chuckled a little, all of us following her rapid face as we approached the fireplace.
"Address is 6 Naple Place!" She called, the flames going green as she through in her powder, disappearing into the fireplace.
We all followed, and in less than a minute, all 4 of us were standing in a nice, well-furnished living room.
Our team leader Kate, Chris, a tall, brown haired man two years older than me, and I were the only fully qualified members working this shift. The other two, both girls, were halfway through their training, and were only here to observe.
Course, it was Kate who did that actual reversal, since she got here first. That's how this job works, it's basically a race onto the scene. Chris was back at the ministry, as we had to have one member there, because if another case came up, someone had to deal with it.
Usually there are only 2 of us fully qualified squad members on call, so the competition for performing reversals isn't too fierce. Normally, only one squad member would go on a case, but with the trainees, we needed extra eyes. You never know what could happen.
In the squad, there are ten of us fully qualified members, and we rotate in shifts.
Speaking of shifts, mine finishes in ten minutes, thank Merlin.
Working in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catasrophes was a wild ride; sometimes, there were a million things going on at once (Quidditch season was always hectic), but other times, like today, we only had one or two cases to deal with. Talk about boring.
This morning, we had to help a bloke who'd Splinched himself. That was the only action we got all morning. So, Kate and I started flicking paper balls at Chris, which escalated into a full out war around lunch time.
As we floo back to work, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed. I've been out of training for just over two months now, and the most interesting solo case I've had is a Splinching. Usually I get the team reversals. In the last two months, I've only had a total of 4 solo missions, whereas Kate's had at least 40, and Chris about 25.
I guess I just feel that it's my time to shine. The team missions, the serious ones with multiple reversals, were alright, but I wanted solo action. Unfortunately, with the training season for this half of the year coming to a close, we're currently spending a fair amount of our shifts being either observed by the trainees, or tutoring them.
And we'll repeat the process for the next intake of trainees in September, too. It's a hard program, with only four to five being accepted to train in our squad for each half-year period, and usually only half of these pass. Mostly the new trainees go on to work in other regions and countries, or occasionally in other parts of our Department, but there are the few, like me, who stick on and manage to snag a spot in the squad.
With only ten places, jobs are pretty hard to come by. The other three trainees from my class all ended up working for different institutions, one for a magical pre-school that's just recently been opened, another for Platform 9 ¾, since a lot of accidental magic apparently occurs there, and the last for the Quidditch league, as Quidditch fans have a tendency to get rowdy and drunk, and hence perform stupid magical feats.
"Hey, Vic, you Flooing home?"
I jump at the sound of Chris' voice over my shoulder.
"What?" I ask, shaking my head clear.
"Shift's ended." Chris replies, smiling at me.
"Oh!" I exclaim, jumping up and quickly grabbing my things.
Chris and I make out way to the main fireplaces in the Atrium, waving to many of my extended family as we pass them.
The next two squad members, Mel and Pete, pass us as we step into a queue for one of the fireplaces.
"Oh, hey Mel." I say, smiling at one of my closer workmates.
"Hey. Anything interesting happen in your shift?" Mel replies, flicking her short dark hair over her shoulder.
"Not really." I shrug.
"Oh, sucks." Mel said, before hurrying off to start her shift.
Chris disappears before me, and I take no time in grabbing my Floo powder, stepping into the green flames and travelling home.
"Oh, Victoire!" My roomate calls to me from the next room, in a sing-song voice.
"Hey,Bee." I say as I enter the room.
She looks up at me, gasps, and drags me down the hall and into my bedroom.
"You have to get dressed! You can't go to your family birthday party wearing robes!"Bee exclaims, throwing most of the contents of my closet around my room in search for the perfect outfit.
Bee, short for Brylee, and I have been friends since Hogwarts. I'm the only one who puts up with her crazyiness, and she in turn is the only one willing to deal with my crazy work hours.
Eventually, she decides on a grey silk dress that flows down to my knees, and brings out both my eye colour and my blonde hair.
"Oh, you look perfect!" Bee exclaims, grabbing my arm.
Without warning, she turns on the spot, and we appear outside the Burrow.
"Bee! You have to warn me when you do that!" I say to my friend, but she only laughs.
"Oh, shut it. We're late anyway." She says, pulling my through the open door and into the kitchen.
"Victoire!"
"Birthday girl's here!"
"Vic!"
"Hey, Vic!"
"Happy Birthday!"
"Vicky!"
That last one was the Scamander twins, in unison. They're the only ones who called my Vicky, and I have absolutely no idea why, it's quite irritating really, but I can't yell at two 9 year olds without seeming like a monster.
I hug all the members of my extended family, moving on to family friends, and finally, my own friends. Of course, Mel and Pete weren't present because they were working, but all the other members of my squad were here, looking slightly overwhelmed at the number of red-haired and freckled people in the room. They also might have been intimidated by Uncle Harry.
My cousins James and Fred came up to me, bearing their gift. I don't think there are two fourteen year olds that are quite as dangerous as these two anywhere in the world. Sure enough, they'd given me what looked like a lifetime's supply in Wonder Witch products.
Well, it was better than their gift last year, which was two whole boxes of Uncle George's fireworks. I have no idea what they thought I would use them for, honestly.
My birthday wasn't a big deal that year, unlike my seventeenth, and I was quite happy with the small family affair. It wasn't till nearly 10 pm that things got interesting.
The firewhisky had been brought out around an hour earlier, and all of my cousins save James, Fred, Al, Molly and Rose, and my sister Dom, had been sent to bed as they were 'too young' to stay up any later. My parents, Aunts and Uncles were steadily getting drunk. That's one of the big advantages of having Floo, you don't have to drive home, and therefore everyone can get drunk.
Believe me, my family took full advantage of that fact.
"Victoire!"
I heard Bee calling me from the front door, so I went to investigate.
"Your present has arrived." Bee said, grinning in a very evil way at me.
Warily, I opened the door, and, dear god, it was a stripper.
Yes, I'm serious. My best friend got me a stripper for my birthday. She is CRAZY.
"Bee! What the hell?" I said, rounding on her.
She just cracked up laughing, and proceeded to push me out the door, and onto the unsuspecting stripper.
Well, he wasn't really a stripper, actually. He was just an attractive male 'entertainer'. He didn't have a fireman's hat or anything like that; I think Bee knew I would hex her if she did that.
Not that I wasn't thinking seriously about hexing her for this anyway.
"Erm..." I said, not really sure how to handle the situation.
"Let's go inside." I decided, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him through the door with me.
And that was how all of the Weasley/Potter males, as well as my male colleagues, ended up standing outside on the porch, drinking firewhisky, as Bee's entertainer earned his money. My cousins were all sent to bed, complaining as they went.
After a bit more firewhisky, I was cheering him on with the rest of them, though I still felt a little awkward.
So, three guesses how I felt when he sat on my lap.
Yep, you got it. Awkward to the max.
I sat there like a statue, glaring at Bee, as my friends and family laughed openly at me.
Grr.
Well, this situation couldn't really get any worse. He'd be off my in a minute anyway, surely his time was almost up. I think Bee had mention she had him for an hour or so.
So, surely the torture was nearly over.
"Victoire?"
I turn at the sound of a slightly familiar male voice, catching sight of a brown haired male with his mouth open, staring at me, his face displaying hurt and shock.
That was the moment when my nineteenth birthday was ruined.