For the Famous Wizards and Witches Competition, with the prompts accursed, headquarters, fertility, and royalty; for the School of Prompts Challenge, with the prompts notion, cherish, and fountain; for the Kiss Marry Kill Challenge, with the prompts Victoire Weasley and a long-term relationship.
Every citizen of the kingdom adored the Lady Victoire. Her Veela ancestry had made her beautiful and charming; her parents' love for adventure had made her brave; she had come out of the womb more intelligent than any other infant born in the kingdom. She was fair and friendly and oh-so-lovely, a masterpiece of a woman if there ever was one. The eldest daughter of the Crown Prince of Weasley, Victoire would be the kind, understanding Princess that the kingdom deserved.
And then, one cold night, as snow fell harshly onto the frozen earth and shards of ice fell from the eaves of castle towers, too heavy for the buildings to support, the Lady Victoire and her younger sister, Dominique, were stolen away from their rooms. The thief left a note: The Ladies Dominique Roux Marceline and Victoire Cera Leontine of the House of Weasley shall not be seen again.
The royal family mourned the loss of the Ladies Victoire and Dominique, as did the populace, but no plebeian became more distraught than Sir Edward Lupin. Teddy was the orphaned son of two esteemed knights who had died during the New War, and upon the death of his parents the Prince Harry had taken the young boy under his wing. As the Lady Victoire aged into womanhood, Teddy was always beside her. Together, they chased unicorn foals and, when journeying, ran off to the hidden caves in the next kingdom. By the time she reached the age of eighteen, Teddy loved her.
Instead of allowing a union between the two of them, however, the Crown Prince had engaged the Lady Victoire to a French prince, some rude bastard with thirty-seven middle names, as Victoire had described him to Teddy upon the betrothed couple's first meeting.
Teddy felt certain that the Prince Gaspard Xavier Rene Marcel Jean Alexandre Didier Eloi Julien et cetera, et cetera, et cetera would soon depart with his men on a quest to find the Ladies and their accursed captor. But instead of receiving the expected announcement that the damn prince would find the Ladies before the end of winter, a proclamation informed him that Prince Gaspard had disappeared, and that any man who could find the Ladies would have a hundred thousand gold pieces and the hand of the elder Lady in marriage, if he so chose.
This was his chance.
No, not his – Victoire's. If anyone but he discovered the location of the Ladies, Victoire might end up wedding a man even worse than the Prince Gaspard. Teddy would not let that happen. Victoire deserved the best, and although he knew he was far from that, Victoire deserved to choose the man she wished to wed.
And so the frozen day found Teddy approaching the doors of the magnificent castle that was home to the House of Weasley as well as headquarters for the royal guard. The guards knew him well; he visited the castle often, and in his childhood he had likely spent more time in the castle than out of it. Teddy navigated the twisted corridors with ease, quickly finding the rooms of Victoire and Dominique.
"Lucie!" he called to Victoire's maid, Lucienne, who sat tearfully on the sisters' divan.
She turned to him, recognizing him immediately and attempting very conspicuously to clean herself up. Lucie had always had a soft spot for Teddy, and it clearly had not yet died. "Teddy!" she exclaimed, her face pink, a hitch in her voice. "Why have you come by to visit? Victoire… isn't – she isn't here. You haven't heard?"
"No, I've heard," Teddy said solemnly. "I've decided to go looking for her, as the declaration posted on our noticeboards suggested. I hope to return here with her and Dominique."
"That's a noble goal, Ted– Sir Edward. Er, you do know that they shan't be found here, in their own rooms?"
Teddy nearly laughed as he realied that perhaps Lucie had not been the best choice to talk to. "I am quite sure of that. Where, may I ask, has Zephirine gone off to?" he asked, referring to Dominique's maid.
Lucie looked rather put off. "She's in the younger Lady's bedroom. I don't think she'll be much help, Sir Edward, she's quite troubled by Dominique's kidnapping – "
But Teddy had already left to find the other maid. True to Lucie's word, Zephirine lay on Dominique's elaborately clothed queen bed, crying quietly into a jeweled pillow. "Er… Zeph?" he asked softly, careful not to surprise the girl, a small, chubby young woman who had only just reached fourteen.
Hearing his voice, Zephirine turned her head. Like Lucie's, her face was red and streaked with the remnants of tears, but Zephirine, the younger of the two, looked so much more pitiful. "Teddy. Why are you here?" she asked in a small voice, though in her sad monotone it sounded more like a statement than an inquiry.
"I've – I've come to ask about Victoire and Dominique, Zeph. I want to be the one to find them."
"Oh," she said, giving him a slight smile. "I'm glad for you. I hope you're the one who does. What did you want to ask, then?"
Teddy took in a breath. "Do you know what happened? Were you there?"
"I was in the maids' quarters with Lucie."
"Okay. Did you hear anything?"
"No. Well – I mean – yeah, but nothing incriminatory."
"What do you mean?" Teddy asked, suspicious.
"Well, I just – put it this way, Teddy. I don't think Niquey and Victoire were kidnapped."
"What gives you that notion, Zeph?!"
Zephirine looked at him for a moment before responding. "I think – I think they left of their own accord."
"What's given you that notion?!"
"Well – we heard them leaving late into the night, but we figured they were only going out for a walk, right? They've done that before. But they didn't come back."
Teddy sighed, exasperated. "Okay, so they were kidnapped when they were out on their walk! What makes you think they wanted to leave?"
Zephirine once again began to cry. "I – I can't tell you. They had their reasons."
"How is that supposed to help me?!"
"I'm sorry! I just – okay. I can tell you this – I wrote the note."
Teddy gaped at her, his stare a mix of shock and realization.
"The note about how nobody would see them again," Zephirine continued. "Niquey insisted I write it. I just – I just can't believe she would leave me…"
"I can't believe Victoire would leave me, either, Zeph," Teddy said quietly. "I can't believe it, either. But I will get them back, Zeph. I swear on my life."
The young girl looked up at him, a smile painted on her tearstained cheeks. "Thank you, Teddy. Thank you."
Teddy nodded and hugged the young woman.
Then he set out to accomplish what he knew he could.
He navigated the city, traveled through the forest, climbed over mountains. Nomads directed him to proper paths, innkeepers led him to their last rooms; he journeyed on. He cut through vines with a simple knife and scaled rock faces to find the quickest path through the hills, because he knew where Victoire and Dominique could be found.
Finally, after days upon days of travelling, he reached the spot – the conglomeration of concealed caves that he and Victoire always ran off to when on the way to the nearest kingdom.
They had not even bothered to find a spot in the caves that was too hidden; once he found the right cave - their favorite one, the one with the fountain-like waterfall inside - Victoire and Dominique sat right at the entrance. Victoire…
He stepped into the cave.
"Teddy?!" came two voices in unison, but Sir Edward Lupin had only eyes for one of them.
"Victoire," he said softly, believing his discovery of the two Ladies a mere dream. "Victoire, I thought you had died – "
"Go away," Dominique growled.
"You always did overreact," Victoire said with a small smile.
"Victoire, why did you leave?" Teddy asked.
"Teddy, I – "
"She didn't want to see you again, okay?" snapped Dominique. "Please just leave."
"Niquey, stop," Victoire said, and her sister looked at her incredulously. "Teddy… Prince Gaspard fled the kingdom, and I'm sure they didn't tell you why…"
Teddy shook his head. "The notice just said that he disappeared."
"He disappeared because he no longer wanted to wed me."
"What, and you left because of that?! Was the prospect of marrying someone else too horrifying for you?" Teddy asked, hurt, her betrayal finally hitting him in the chest. She had chosen this, chosen to be without him.
"No, Teddy – "
"Then what? What is it, Victoire?!"
"Teddy, I – I will never be able to bear a child."
Teddy fell silent.
"Now you can go, now that you know," Dominique said, and her voice no longer sounded snappish, but rather defeated.
"Victoire…" Teddy began. "Okay, I'm going to tell you something, and you can't get angry with me, okay?"
"Go ahead," Victoire said glumly.
"Victoire, I'm sure no good man would ever be angry that you can't have children. I – I wouldn't."
"But you'd never marry me" was the response, sad and final.
"I would," Teddy said, and Victoire stared at him.
"You… you would?" she said at long last.
Teddy closed his eyes and opened them again, simultaneously despising and loving the idea that this might be a dream. "Victoire, I adore you, and I will always cherish you, and I know that you would never marry me, but I would always marry you."
"Well, let's, then!" Victoire exclaimed, and she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his, and it felt oh-so-wonderful, finally being able to kiss Victoire –
"Torie…" came Dominique's unsteady voice, and the pair of best friends-turned-lovers broke away from each other, glancing guiltily at Dominique. "Shall we return to the castle, then?"
Teddy and Victoire smiled, and after much discussion, the three of them marched together to the home of the two young women.
"So… about that marriage thing," Victoire said softly upon their return, as the commoners bombarded Dominique and Victoire with well-wishes and Teddy with praise.
"Sounds good to me," Teddy whispered into her hair.
They wed not two weeks later.