AN: So, this is my first fanfiction. It's a Teddy/Victorie, but please do not kill me, since Teddy isn't really a focus in this chapter. I promise he'll be way more important next chapter, though! This chapter's a little short, but it's just so you get the idea for the most part. I hope you enjoy it, and remember to review!

I suppose I could say my story starts when I was ten years old. It was my birthday. Mum had baked me a cake with pink frosting on it and loopy words in gold.

I remember that evening perfectly. I was out on the beach, humming happy birthday in my head, when I saw him. A dead man lying half in the water, half out. There was a ring of blood around his mouth. I remember staring and staring and then screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming.

Mum rushed out of the house first, then Dad, then Dom, leading Louis, who could barely walk, behind her. Mum called the muggle police, and they came in their flashing cars, followed by a flashing white car with a red cross on the side. The white car took the dead body away with us all watching.

I think I cried a little that night, alone in my room, with the blankets drawn up over my head. The police said the man had killed himself. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to end their own life purposely. It just didn't make sense to me.

That is, until Charlie appeared.

It was summer, and I was out riding my bike down the beach. I always avoided the spot where I had found the dead man. Although the ocean had washed away all traces, I was sure I could smell the death and decay. But that day, there was a boy, sitting with his dog, right in the spot where the dead man had been.

I stopped and slid down off the seat of the bike. "I wouldn't sit there if I were you," I said, walking down to him. My hair was tied in a big pink bow and I fiddled with it as I walked.

The boy turned to look up at me. There were tears in his eyes. "Why not?"

"Somebody killed themselves there a few months back," I said, hovering a few feet from the boy, not wanting to get too close to the dead man place.

"I know. He was my dad."

I looked at the boy, no older than me, sitting with him arms around his knees in the spot where his dad had killed himself. "I'm sorry," I said, not sure what I should do.

"You found him, didn't you?" the boy asked, looking at me. "My mum said it was a girl my age who lived nearby."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't know who it was."

The boy looked me over for a few seconds before nodding. "It's alright. I'm Charlie, by the way."

"I'm Victoire."

"That's a pretty name." Charlie gave me a sort of smile.

"Thanks. Well, I have to go, I guess. I'm really, really, really, sorry about your dad. I hope you're okay." I climbed onto my bike and was about to pedal away when Charlie spoke again.

"I've never ridden a bike before," he said quietly. I wasn't sure whether it was because I felt sorry for him, or I wanted a friend my age, or I just had nothing better to do, but I got down from my bike again.

"I'll teach you."

So I spent my summer learning math from Dad, English grammar from Mum ("Eet will 'elp me improve my own,") going to the Burrow, and teaching Charlie how to ride a bike. By the time September arrived, I was still too young to go to Hogwarts, much to my displeasure. But Charlie had muggle school, so we only saw each-other on the weekends.

My other best friend, Teddy Lupin, had gone off to Hogwarts for his first year. I usually relied on him to keep me company, but with him gone, I spent a lot of my time listening to the stories my aunts, uncles, and parents told about the war.

It was a boring year, really. I didn't do much and didn't talk to very many people. All of that changed when I was old enough to go to Hogwarts, though.

"I'm going to a boarding school this year," I told Charlie one day while we were lying on the beach.

"Where is it?"

"Scotland, I think."

"What's it called?"

"Hogwarts."

"That's a funny name."

"I know."

"Is it a good school?"

"It's the best school ever."

"What do you learn?"

"Ma- things. Useful stuff."

"Oh. Okay. I'll miss you."

We lay on the sand for a while, watching the sun and the waves and the birds. I drew patterns in the sand with my fingers. Once, my pinky finger brushed Charlie's hand. I looked over at him and he grinned.

"Charlie?" I asked after a while, watching a seagull take off into the air.

"Mhmm?"

"Was your dad feeling sad before he died?"

"Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"I just wanna make sure my dad doesn't kill himself."

"Your dad won't. He's too good at being a dad to do that."

"Was your dad good at being a dad?"

"I don't think so. He didn't talk to me very much and he hit my mum."

"Oh. My dad talks to me all the time. He tells me stories. And he's never hit my mum."

"What type of stories?"

"Stories that really happened." I paused for a moment. "Hey, Charlie? Did you know that somebody else died on this beach? You know, apart from your dad?"

"Really? Who?"

"His name was Dobby. My dad told me about him." I stood up and grabbed Charlie's hand. "Look, I'll show you," I said, pulling him along after me. We ran up the beach until the bushes surrounding my house came into view. I pushed my way through the hole I had made in them.

"Look." I pointed to the stone, lying like a pillow on top of Dobby's grave. We were both silent for a moment, then Charlie spoke up.

"What's "a free elf" mean?"

"Oh. Umm... Dobby was part of a, umm... football team called Free Elf. So he was a free elf. Get it?"

"Yeah." He checked the battered watch on his arm. "I think I should be getting home now, Vic. I'm gonna miss you while you're away at school."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Charlie."

"Have fun!"

"You too!" I watched him crawl through the hole in the bushes, then run down the beach until he was out of sight and then gone gone gone.