Author's Note: This is a Modern Non-Magical AU. I don't own anything besides the plot. Please mind the triggers at the bottom.
"Victoire! Teddy is here!"
Dominique smiled as she heard footsteps from upstairs and then a few thumps indicating that her sister was running down the stairs.
She turned to Teddy who was grinning as well from where he stood on the porch.
He was about to say something to her when suddenly her father appeared at the door as well. Dominique rolled her eyes and quickly vanished with a "Bye Teddy".
Teddy's grin slowly faded and he forced himself to stand up straighter.
"H-hi Uncle Bill."
Bill only nodded. He noticed his eldest daughter approaching them from behind, so he shot the boy in front of him a stern look and growled quietly.
"Bring her back at eleven. No drinking, and no visits at the club."
"As if we've ever been at the club, Dad" Victoire said, appearing next to her father. "Hi, Teddy", she added happily.
Bill still didn't look satisfied.
"Eleven."
"But it's already nine-"
"Eleven."
Teddy swallowed.
"Yes, sir"
Victoire groaned.
"Dad, seriously, I'm eighteen and you've known Teddy since forever. You can stop playing the strict father."
Bill squinted his eyes at the boy in front of him one last time, before he gave in.
"Midnight. That's my last word."
Teddy nodded quickly.
"Yes, of course. You can trust me."
Bill huffed and turned to leave, after he gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek.
"Be careful."
Victoire grinned and left the house quickly.
"Thank you, Uncle Bill!" Teddy exclaimed after Bill had long disappeared.
Victoire rolled her eyes and pulled Teddy away from the house and towards his car.
"Stop sucking up to him."
Teddy looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't want your dad to hate me"
Victoire laughed loudly.
"He doesn't hate you, he's just-"
"He does hate me, didn't you see his face?"
"He's just protective of his sweet little princess."
Teddy poked her in the side and pushed her in his car, before getting in the driver's seat, his girlfriend still laughing.
The restaurant they had eaten in was one of their favourite places to go to. It was also the place where they had their first date. Victoire smiled at the memory, how nervous Teddy had been that day; he had managed to spill two drinks in a row. The boy next to her in the car now was the same boy as he was three years ago, but somehow he was an entirely different person at the same time.
"So, how does it feel to be close to graduation?"
Victoire's smile grew wider and she leaned forward in the passenger seat.
"Awesome, I don't know why you were so sad to leave. I can't wait to get out of this place."
Teddy looked amused, and he held her hand when she leant close, his long fingers entangled in hers.
"I was sad to go because I was leaving you behind, silly."
"Aw, didn't know you were such a romantic", she teased, but she could feel her cheeks getting warmer, as they always did when he complimented her.
"I can't wait until we go to uni, and I'm sure you can't wait to quit your stupid job."
Teddy let out a cheery laugh.
"Harry and I both I think. He's still upset that I postponed university for a year."
Victoire still felt guilty about that; she knew Harry and Teddy had gotten into a huge fight about him waiting for her to finish her A levels as well. He had made Teddy apply to universities right after graduating last year, and when Teddy hadn't accepted the spots they had offered him, he had been extremely disappointed. And Victoire knew how much Teddy valued the opinion of his godfather. Growing up with no parents, his grandmother and godfather instead, he used to put everything they said on the scale; always giving his best to make them proud. And when Harry had wanted him to start university immediately, she had expected Teddy to do so. But he hadn't. She had explained that she would be alright with him leaving a year earlier than her, but the sweet guy he was, he had told her that he'd rather wait for her, so they could start the school they had both chosen, together. Dominique had once laughed and said that Teddy would wait for her until the last day of the world anyway. And maybe that was true, but so would she. They just fit. If he was the fire, she was the girl waiting to be burned alive. If she was the ocean, he was the boy waiting to drown.
"I don't care about that, you know that right? I know I made the right choice to wait for you."
His face looked more serious now, and Victoire felt more relaxed. She nodded slowly, a small smile on the edge of her lips, glad he knew exactly what to say. She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips on his. They sat their for a moment; the moon illuminating them through the windshield; and Kate Nash singing silently in the background.
"That's my favourite song.", she whispered when they parted.
"I know", he answered tenderly.
"All I know is that you're the nicest thing I've seen.", she sang quietly, his hand still in hers, playing with his fingers under the moonlight. "I wish we could see if we could be something."
When Teddy knocked on the door at Grimmauld Place Number 12 the next day, he didn't need to wait more than 10 seconds before the door was opened by a little red haired girl.
"Teddy!", she exclaimed happily and jumped in his arms.
He laughed cheerfully and needed to make a few steps back to hold the girl in place. She put her arms around his neck and he pressed a small kiss on her red hair. "Hi, Lily."
He put her down carefully, before entering his godfather's house with her.
"Am I late?", he asked after hearing the loud noises from the dining room at the back of the house, but Lily just shook her head.
"No, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron just arrived a few minutes earlier than you. Rosie and Hugo are upstairs with James and Al though, so we'll have to get them down soon. Dad said lunch is almost ready."
She was babbling and Teddy couldn't help but laugh at how excited she seemed to be.
"How about you get them to come down now, and I go and say hi?", he offered and Lily seemed to contemplating that for a moment, before she nodded and disappeared up the stairs.
He was still smiling when he entered the dining room, where his godfather was standing next to Ron and Hermione. Ginny appeared next in the room, just emerging from the kitchen, the apron still on. She smiled when she spotted him first.
"Teddy, hi!"
The other three adults in the room turned around and broke out into welcoming smiles as well.
He greeted them all and sat down on the chair Harry had offered him.
"Didn't your grandmother make it?", Harry asked him.
Teddy shook his head, grinning.
"No, she's with her sister right now. She invited us to brunch or something."
"And you'd rather be here?", Ron asked, sarcasm grinning from his words.
"Imagine that.", Teddy answered laughing.
In that moment Lily came into the room, Al; James; Rose and Hugo in tow, demanding they had to eat now, since everybody was here.
"Thanks for the invitation.", Teddy told his godfather two hours later. They were standing in the hall alone, the rest of the family still in the dining hall. Teddy had told them that he wanted to pick his grandmother up from the Malfoy's house, so that she didn't have to walk all the way home; therefore he had to leave already.
Harry stopped him with a wave of his hand.
"You know you're always welcome here."
Teddy smiled thankfully, knowing he really meant it, too.
"So, Victoire is finishing school soon, right?"
Teddy sighed inside, knowing where this conversation was headed. Not wanting to ruin the mood right away, he just nodded and answered the question.
"Yeah, she's getting her results in August."
Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"And then you're both applying for university, right? Assuming she passes."
Teddy rolled his eyes.
"Yes, and she will pass."
"You don't know that yet."
Teddy groaned, slightly annoyed.
"I do. She's smart. Smarter than me, even. She'll pass, and then we'll both apply in Bath, like I told you."
"I still think you should have started last year, Teddy. I don't have anything against Victoire, you know that. But would it have hurt if you had started earlier?"
Teddy shook his head, starting to walk towards the door already.
"I don't think I want to have this conversation again, Uncle Harry."
Harry followed him to the door, holding his arm.
"Teddy, you know I don't want to fight with you. But you know what I think about education."
Teddy laughed, but it sounded bitter. He shrugged Harry's hand off and opened the door, entering the porch, Harry close behind him.
"I know. 'Education is the most important thing in your life right now, Teddy.' You told me that a hundred times already, I get it. It's not like I'm telling you I don't want to study. I do, I just waited a year longer."
"Yes, but you worked in a restaurant as a waiter in the meantime. How is that gonna look in your CV. The best universities prefer people fresh out of college, you know that. And you know how much your father struggled-"
Teddy was speeding off the stairs now making his way to the street. He stopped and turned around, his face now obviously angry.
"Oh my god, we're not doing this again! I know that, yes! My father had almost nothing, yet he still gave up everything to go to university. And he was one of the bravest people you knew, blah blah. I don't care."
He was shouting now; something he rarely did. Harry, surprised from this outburst, still stood on the porch, slowly making his way down and standing a few meters away from his godson.
"You know what, Uncle Harry, I'm gonna go now. I don't want to talk about it anymore, so why don't you just-"
The next thing Teddy was about to say, Harry didn't hear. He stared at the spot where his godson had been standing a second ago; frozen in movement.
The loud thump of a body landing and the squealing tires were the only sounds that could be heard. A person getting out of a car; a door slamming; a man gasping, running around, speaking in his phone.
Harry was still staring; what had happened? Teddy had been shouting, he was making his way to the other way of the street where his car was standing, he had been facing him; walking backwards, and then he had turned around and -
Harry should have seen the car coming. He had been facing the street, after all.
"Hey! Hey!"
The man's loud shouts got Harry out of his trance, and he started to run towards the car.
"T-teddy, oh god!"
There he way, laying on the ground, his arms and legs twisted in an unnatural way, his eyes open wide. There was blood all over his arms and face; he must have hit his head on the windshield, Harry thought.
He knelt down next to his godson; or did he fall down? He didn't know, his knees were shaking so bad.
"He came out of nowhere, I swear. Oh my god. I called an ambulance, but…"
The man was still rambling next to him, but Harry didn't listen.
"Teddy, hey. Teddy."
He looked down at the boy lying beneath him; eyes wide with shock, not moving.
"Oh god." Harry didn't feel good, this wasn't supposed to happen, why did this happen, this had to be a dream, and oh my god.
"Teddy."
Teddy's brown eyes were still wide, and he was blinking fast, staring at Harry, obviously scared.
"Hey, hey, look, you're…you're going to be fine. Teddy-"
Harry thought he heard Ron shouting something at Hermione about the children, and Ginny screaming, but his focus was still on the boy lying in his own pool of blood.
He was still blinking rapidly, and looked as if he wanted to say something and then- nothing.
He heard footsteps approaching behind him, and then Ron cursing, but he just stared at the unmoving body under him. The eyes that were still moving a second ago now staring empty in the air.
"This isn't happening.", Harry muttered. "This isn't happening, oh my god. This isn't happening."
Author's Note: Triggers for this story: Character Death, Grief, Car Accidents.