Disclaimer: Not JK…
A/n: Written for the Next gen competition. Featuring Victoire Weasley; the song that inspired this fic was Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy – Queen. I have no idea if I messed up with the meaning. If I did, do tell me!
Victoire Weasley walked along the streets of Diagon Alley, trying, and failing, to not get knocked down by the crowd. It was August, the month every Hogwarts student and parent did school shopping. As a student, Victoire had loved it, simply because it was shopping and she got to meet all her friends. She had been with her cousins here just the other day, trying not to lose them. With the crowd she had had, it would have been almost easy.
But now she just brushed past the mob of excited teenagers and anxious parents. Reaching her destination, Victoire looked up at the tall building of the wizarding bank, where her father was working. She entered the building to the sound of rattling trolleys and chattering goblins; her father, who normally would be bustling about in the entrance hall, was absent. Catching sight of her, a goblin whose name she knew was Brikhoop approached her with wary eyes. Victoire barely resisted rolling her eyes. The goblin was still skeptical of her, after twenty damn years?
"You're here for your father, Miss Weasley?" What else was she here for, looting the bank?
"Yes. Where is he?" Victoire looked around one more time, hoping her father would appear around the corner.
"He has taken a priority client to the basements. It will be a few hours. Would you like to wait?" If it had been another time, Victoire would have stayed, just to irritate the goblin. But Teddy had told her he'd be back in an hour and if she waited, she might not be able to get back in time.
"No thanks, Brikhoop, I think I'll come by some other time." She walked out of the Bank before the goblin could utter an invitation it did not mean anyway.
Stumped as to what to do to spend the hour, Victoire visited every single shop in the place, and even considered going into Knockturn Alley but gave up in the last second. She wasn't that desperate for entertainment.
Though her eyes were drinking in the sight of the place around her, her thoughts were revolving adamantly around a half werewolf half metamorphmagus, who was currently her boyfriend. They had been dating since her seventh year, and she couldn't have been happier. But there was one thing that kept pricking her. Teddy was getting steadily nervous in her presence now a days. He was even more fidgety, and his grin seemed pained. He was hiding something from her and though he denied anything of the sort, Victoire knew what it was all about.
She had known Teddy since she was a little girl and they had remained friends for so long now. They still were, but their relationship had just expanded into something more. Ever since her childhood, Victoire had known that Teddy was the all or nothing kind of guy. Either you were his best friend, or his worst enemy; there was no middle ground. It had been fine with her because she knew she was Teddy's closest friend. But now…
Vcitoire knew Teddy wanted a permanent relationship; marriage. But she, she wanted to live life to the fullest, enjoy it. She still liked Teddy, to be sure, but she couldn't decide which she wanted more; Teddy or freedom. While this dilemma had been running through her mind, Teddy had been called on duty to Italy. Victoire had resolved to herself that she'd have a sure answer for Teddy when he came back; and had failed abysmally trying to decide.
Her last stop was Flourish and Blotts, since she knew this would be the place she'd spend the longest in. She had a fascination with books; not the almost devout kind of adoration her cousin Rose seemed to possess, but a subdued liking towards them.
Victoire was lost among the rows and rows of books and moved to the back to find unused ones when she thought she heard a little whimpering sound, followed by a sniff and what sounded curiously like ruffling fabric.
Victoire walked carefully down the aisle, all the while looking for some hurt animal that was obviously hiding. But what she found was no creature. A little girl, of about ten or eleven was standing in the gap between the bookracks and the opposite wall, crying. She stopped suddenly on noticing Victoire, and she swiped the tears away hurriedly.
Victoire walked towards the girl, who she noticed was wearing a pale blue gown that went past her knees and had little brown circles on it. Kneeling down, Victoire was face to face with the little girl and looked into her scared blue eyes. Victoire smiled slightly, but the girl remained tight lipped. Apparently, the girl was shrewd.
"Why are you here little one?" she tried to place a hand on the girl's shoulder but she took a step back. The girl looked at her for a few minutes, before an unsure smile came on her face. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse, but Victoire blamed it on the crying.
"My name is Brianna. I got lost." The girl's voice broke at the end, and Victoire was afraid she was going to cry again.
"You came with your parents?" The girl nodded.
"You're going to Hogwarts for the first time?" Another nod.
"What's your surname, Brianna?" The girl opened her mouth to reply but closed it just as soon, the wariness that had been absent for the past few minutes lacing her eyes once again.
"You won't yell at me if I tell you?"
"Of course not. Why would I do that?" There was a bit of a daze in the child's eyes, as if she was reliving some horrible memory. Victoire couldn't help but feel bad for the girl; somehow, it pained her to see the girl in misery.
"Nott" The girl replied in a whisper, as if she was confessing to a murder. She immediately looked around, restless.
"What's your mother's name?" Victoire asked. The more information she had, the easier she could help her.
"Daphne" The reminder of her mother almost brought tears to the girl's eyes, and Victoire couldn't help but hug her close. If she had thought the girl would push her away, she was so suspicious of her afterall, Victoire was disappointed. The girl hugged her neck with hands that were too small for her age, clinging to her.
Lifting the girl up with her, Victoire led her out of the shop, promising the child that they'd find her parents. Which was easier said than done, as she found out half an hour later. The crowd was impenetrable and none of the shops had any sign of a worried parent. Victoire was thinking of giving up and simply taking her home, when the girl suddenly cried out.
"Mama!" She wriggled out of Victoire's grasp, running to a blond haired woman who seemed perplexed and relieved at the same time. Behind her was a man who resembled the child, probably the father. He seemed more concerned about the state of his wife than his daughter but the relief was apparent on his face too.
A family the thought struck her, as she watched the woman who must be Daphne Nott kneel down to gather her child in her arms in a grip that was so tight even Victoire could see it was suffocating the child. They remained like that for a few minutes, Daphne's eyes shedding tears of relief. The man behind her simply placed a hand on the woman's shoulder in reassurance, his eyes grave; but he was smiling at his daughter.
Victoire knew it was an illusion, an imagination of her mind but for a moment, for just one glorious moment, the scene changed. She could see herself as the mother, chiding her son, a son? Where had that come from?, while teddy stood watching amusedly. For one amazing moment, all Victoire could feel was the overwhelming feeling of belonging, of how utterly right the picture seemed to her, before it was shattered by reality which came in the form of a tug on her hand. The loss of the hallucination brought such a sense of longing that Victoire had to shake her head to dispel it. Daphne Nott was now approaching her, having finished reprimanding her daughter.
"Thanks for the help, Miss Weasley. You must be Fleur's daughter, right?" At her surprised look, Daphne let out a little laugh.
"I know your mother from when she came to Hogwarts during my fourth year. I think she'll remember me. Do give her my regards," Her words were so formal, but Victoire could see that there was true emotion behind them. Formality never equaled emotionless ness.
"Of course I will." Daphne left with her husband and daughter. But Brianna turned back one last time and waved to her. For the first time since she had met her, the girl was smiling widely. Her face embedded itself in Vcitoire's mind, a touching memory.
"Who's that?" Victoire jumped at the hand on her shoulder and the voice by her ear. Turning, she grinned at the sight of her boyfriend, visibly ruffled from his travel and clearly exhausted.
"Look what the cat dragged in," She greeted him with a hug, taking care to not choke him; she had a tendency of doing that.
"It was just a little girl that got lost. I helped her find her parents is all." She explained, as they walked to the restaurant. She had been right; something serious was going on in Teddy's mind. As they sat themselves in the restaurant, Victoire could visibly see Teddy fidget. He'd always hold her hand over the table, more an absent gesture than anything else but today, he needed both his hands for messing with the tablecloth. His eyes were shifty, looking at her one minute, and when she looked up at him, hurriedly looking in the other direction. Yup, something was definitely up.
"What's the matter, Teddy? You're upsetting the table with your agitation."
"It's nothing. I was just wondering if I could ask you something, but of course…I know what you're going to say so it makes the question rather stupid, but…" Victoire smiled lightly; he could be so adorable sometimes.
"Teddy, I think you should just ask before you assume," He looked at her like she had gone mad. Which, in hindsight, she must have. I mean, who agrees to marry a guy that looked like a different person everyday?
A/n: Do review!