Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, would I really be slaving over school right now?
Author's Note: Written for DobbyLovesSocks, courtesy of the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2013. I hope you enjoy it!
Also written for the Headcanon Boot Camp Challenge, using prompt 35 (Madam Malkin's).
Victoire's feelings about going back to Hogwarts went back and forth, depending on the day.
On one hand, she really enjoyed Hogwarts. She was close with her roommates, and Freddie and Dominique were still at Hogwarts, and the three of them had been close since they were children. Being the first Weasley-Potter at Hogwarts had given her popularity at a young age, and she was friendly with most of the people in her year, even if she wasn't close to them. She enjoyed a few of her classes, like Herbology, and was doing decently well in all of them. She had a lot to look forward to, going back.
On the other hand, however, this had been the greatest summer of her life. Almost as soon as she got home from Hogwarts, she had applied for a job at Madam Malkin's with her friend, and they both had gotten the positions. The job was fun; Victoire enjoyed fashion and style, even if she knew she could never do it as a full-time adult position. Although Madam Malkin herself was growing old, she was a pleasant person to be around, a good mentor to Victoire.
The greatest thing about her summer, though, hadn't been her summer job or working with her friend.
It had been Teddy.
Teddy Lupin had been Victoire's friend since they were very young; she couldn't remember a time when she wasn't best friends with him. Even when he had gone to Hogwarts ahead of her, they had stayed in constant contact. Even when Victoire came to Hogwarts, two years below Teddy and a Ravenclaw to his Gryffindor, he hadn't been ashamed or embarrassed to talk to her or hang out with her. She had told him things that she hadn't told anyone else, and he had done the same.
At the beginning of the summer, he had kissed her, and she had kissed him back.
They hadn't told anybody. Technically, there was no reason to keep it secret. Everyone in the Weasley-Potter family adored Teddy; he was like another family member to them, and Victoire's parents had even made jokes about Victoire ending up with Teddy. Teddy was two years older, yes, but Victoire was of age, and considering Teddy's bouts of awkwardness, the chances of him actually initiating anything sexual were slim to none - if anything happened, Victoire knew she would be the one to make the move. There was no real reason why they weren't telling anybody.
It had been Victoire's idea, thought up soon after their kiss. They only had a summer together - and then Teddy was going back to Auror training and Victoire was going back to Hogwarts. There was a chance that their attempt at a long-distance relationship might not work, and they both agreed that it would be stupid to announce their relationship to the whole family only to have it fail four months later. If they got through this year - hell, maybe even if they got to Christmas break without a hitch - then they would come clean.
Victoire sighed as she stared at the Hogwarts Express in all its scarlet glory, right in front of them. Victoire's parents were a little ways away; she couldn't even see them now in the hustle and bustle of people at the train station. She turned to Teddy, who stood right next to her, nearly a head taller, his turquoise hair standing out. "You know I'm going to miss you," Victoire said.
Teddy brushed a strand of hair out of Victoire's eyes. "Now it's your turn to write me all the time," he said, and the corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "I need someone that I can complain about Auror training to," he said. "My second year of hell is about to begin, you know."
Victoire raised her eyebrows. "I have NEWTs! You think you're going to be in hell this year?" Her tone was light and playful. "I'm going to be venting to you, too."
Teddy grinned. "Ah, NEWTs...I have many fond memories of seventh year. Running on three hours' sleep, having books as my best friends, getting kicked out of the library because it was curfew..."
"You're very reassuring," Victoire said. "Thanks for that."
"It's what I'm here for." Teddy blushed slightly, running a hand through his hair before leaning down and capturing Victoire's lips in a kiss. To Victoire, it was more than just an 'I'll miss you'; it spoke of his friendship and love, of this one final moment before they would part for -
"What are you doing?" The voice of James Potter came through loud and clear from two feet away, and Teddy and Victoire hastily broke apart.
Teddy was now full-on blushing, while Victoire tried to look anywhere but at James. "I, er, came to see Victoire off," Teddy said, also avoiding eye contact with James, whose demeanor seemed somewhere between 'I'm going to tell', 'Ew, they're snogging', and 'Ha, caught you'. "James, er, would you mind..." Teddy made a shooing motion with his hands, and James, looking far too delighted, ran off.
"You know he's going to tell, right?" Victoire said.
"Yeah, I do."
"And you're going to have to explain things, probably?"
Teddy chuckled. "I've been expecting this for the past few months," Teddy said. "I've got a few ideas. Not that I'm too worried."
"Good," Victoire said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him again, a soft brush of the lips. "If they give you any trouble, just let me know, all right?"
"You mean if your dad threatens to set a whole group of curse-breakers on me?" He laughed. "All right." Teddy enfolded her in his arms; he felt warm and safe and secure, and his embrace brought back all of her wonderful memories of that summer, where they had - even if it was unspoken - fallen in love. "Write me soon, okay?"
Victoire flicked her wand at her trunk so that it levitated beside her, vaguely thinking that there were some definite perks to being seventeen. "I will," she promised, and gave him one last kiss. A moment of boldness overcame her, and she said, "Love you, Teddy."
"Love you," he said, his cheeks still pink, and the last thing Victoire saw before she got on the train was Teddy's face, happier than she had ever seen it before.