A/N Well here we are again, another one-shot product of my boredom during free period. I'm loving Teddy at the moment, he's such a wonderful character with so much potential. I'm wanting to explore a little more into Teddy/Victoire, but this is just a starting point. Hope you like!
- Hippolina xx
Teddy Lupin could never make up his mind whether he enjoyed his summer holidays at The Burrow. True, it was nice to see the rest of his family, especially Uncle Harry, who he respected greatly. Most of the time. On the other hand, after spending the past 10 months surrounded by his many adopted cousins, spending even more time with them started to get on his nerves. Individually, they were great kids, particularly little eight-year-old Rose, for whom he nursed a soft spot. James and Fred were always a laugh, according to Uncle Harry, they greatly resembled Fred's name-sake, and Uncle George. But at fifteen years old, which is, of course, utterly grown up, he felt a little annoyed and too mature for summers crammed with sibling bickering, games of Quidditch in the orchard, and high-pitched squeals as someone was splashed by their brother in the lake.
Therefore, he had spent most of his summer shut up in the bedroom he shared with James, reading his dog-eared copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Occasionally peering out the bedroom window, he would see the younger children chasing each other round the yard, or else de-gnoming the garden at the request of their grandmother. Teddy snorted with mirth as he remembered a time about three years ago when a very young Lily had adopted one of the garden gnomes, squeezed the squirming creature into one of her doll dresses, placed it in her plastic toy pram, and proceeded to parade it round the garden, showing off her baby.
These were fun memories, to be sure, but they were childish memories, and Teddy Lupin was no longer a child. He had tried explaining this to his Gran, and Uncle Harry. His Gran had barely suppressed her amusement. Uncle Harry hadn't bothered, and had howled with laughter. Disgruntled, and annoyed at his godfather, Teddy had retreated to his room (which was actually the attic room once occupied by his Uncle Ron) and ignored Uncle Harry when he had tried to call him down for Sunday lunch. Even Victoire had given it her best shot at persuading him. She had knocked on his door several times over the past few days, practically begging him to play two-a-side Quidditch with her, but Teddy was determined. He was far too old for those childish games.
He looked out the window once again, looking over the small lake where he had often played, in another time. It was a hot day, and yet at the mention of lunch, what seemed like the hundreds of cousins had retreated back inside. Only a lone figure remained, sitting perched on the edge of the lake, her toes dipped in the water. As Teddy watched, the figure reached to the back of her head and tied the strands of long hair back into a loose braid. They then got to their feet, and slipped off the loosely fitting dress she wore. Teddy gaped. It was Victoire. However, it was nothing like the feisty Victoire he had known since birth. It was Victoire… in a bikini.
Teddy looked away immediately. You don't look at someone who's practically your cousin that way, even if she's not technically your cousin… Teddy shook his head of these unwanted thoughts. He tried to focus his thoughts elsewhere, but it was no use. His head protesting furiously, he peeked back out the window. Indeed, Victoire Weasley was sitting by the waters edge, dressed in what was unmistakably a pale blue bikini. Teddy's eyes widened. She was definitely not his cousin….
Unaware that a fascinated fifteen year old boy was watching her, Victoire got to her feet, took a deep breath, and with grace not inherited from her Uncle Ron, dived into its depths. Teddy watched, mesmerised, as she re-emerged, her now wet hair released from its braid, and was now shining down her shoulders. Shining down her shoulders…. Teddy tore his eyes away; what was he doing? At that moment, there was a tentative knock on the door.
"Teddy?" It was Uncle Harry, surely back for another attempt to drag Teddy from his room. Teddy, glad of something else to look at, gave a grunt of consent, and Harry Potter entered the room.
"Hey Ted, you alright?" Teddy nodded, his eyes focused intently on his godfather, so that there could be no inclination for them to wander. Uncle Harry frowned slightly, his eyes searching Teddy's young face.
"Are you quite sure you're alright, Teddy? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Teddy shook his head. Not a ghost, no…. his demise, perhaps. Uncle Harry sat himself down on Teddy's bed, still eyeing his godson with suspicion.
"Well if you're sure," he said softly. Uncle Harry sighed, looking around the room. The room really hadn't changed all that much since Ron had moved out some eight years previously. The bed, wardrobe and small writing desk were the same as they always were, the bed made up with a bright orange Chudley Cannons bedspread. The old posters were gone (Hermione had decided Ron was far too old to have posters on his wall), and Pigwideon's cage was not perched on the top of the wardrobe, but other than that, it was still the same room Harry had spent so many summers inside.
"Hell of a lot of memories in this place…" Uncle Harry murmured, "I remember once, when the whole family was down for the holidays, this is before the war of course… Your Uncle Ron walked in on Aunt Hermione changing. Ginny was changing in hers, and apparently the bathroom was occupied. The look on Ron's face when he came downstairs, absolutely priceless. I think that was the first time he realised Hermione was female. The Yule Ball was later that year…" he drifted off, a small smile on his face.
"You know what, the look on Ron's face was quite similar to yours right now," Uncle Harry added. Teddy's eyes snapped back too attention; they had been drifting.
"What do you mean by that?" Teddy retorted defensively, "I haven't walked in on anybody changing!" Uncle Harry chuckled.
"Well no, you haven't. But I'm guessing the reason you can't tear your eyes from the window has to do with Victoire? I really ought to mention it to Fleur; she hated that swimming suit the moment Victoire brought it home." Teddy groaned, and collapsed back onto the bed, beside his smirking godfather.
"I don't get it, Uncle Harry. I mean, I've known Victoire for ages, like, my whole life. We've played Quidditch together. I'm not supposed to react like this the first time she shows a little skin!"
Uncle Harry burst into laughter at this point.
"Good Lord you remind me of myself! I felt exactly the same way when I was sixteen. I mean, I had known Ginny for years, she was Ron's sister, my sister, I had always thought. And then I saw her kissing this guy in my year, and it was like this jealousy monster burst inside of me. My oh-so-charming roommates referred to it later as 'The Pants Monster', but that's not the point. The point is if I had ignored how I felt and stuck to how I had always seen Ginny, I would be pretty damn lonely right now." Teddy sat up again, his eyebrows raised.
"Okay, well thanks for the deep and meaningful, Uncle Harry, and for giving me way too much information, but I don't think Vicky and I is anything like you and Aunt Ginny. I'm a teenaged guy, feelings like this are normal. If I do anything about them, it'll screw everything up, and I'm not risking that. So thanks, but no thanks." Teddy got to his feet, and Harry saw that as his cue to leave.
"Think what you want, Ted, I'll see you later," he turned to leave and added, "your father would have loved to be here right now, you know."
As the door closed behind his godfather, Teddy raced to the window. Victoire was still swimming, now doing laps of the small lake. She noticed Teddy by the window and grinned. She motioned to him to join her, and sunk back into the water.
Teddy strolled casually to his bedroom door, and began his way outside. It was an awfully nice day for a swim, after all.
A/N Halfway through HBP, reading about the "monster in Harry's chest," I snorted with laughter, and muttered, "Monster in his pants, more like." I've wanted to use it ever since :)