Victoire Weasley knew where she was before she even opened her eyes. Her arm hurt and her head was pounding, the smell of chemical potions was surrounding her and she could feel the uncomfortable fabric of the Hospital Wing's sheets underneath her.
"Eurgh..." she opened her eyes groggily and turned her neck stiffly to the blue haired teenager beside her bed. It wasn't the first time they'd been here, but there were certain changes. For starters, Teddy had grown. He was at least a foot taller than this time two years ago, in his fourth year and Victoire's second, when she'd fallen fifty feet from her broomstick after a particularly violent Quidditch foul. He had feint stubble emerging from his jaw, an indicator that he hadn't actually moved for several days.
Teddy smirked, the worried look on his face disappearing as they made eye contact "Nice of you to come back."
Victoire smiled "What...what happened?"
Teddy shrugged "Same as usual, really. Some bastard, this time it was Evan McGreggor, knocked you off your broom after you scored the winning goal – nice one, by the way - you fell about seventy five foot. I landed but they'd already brought you here so I knocked McGreggor unconscious and got a detention but Neville said I could come here...and I did." He grinned "McGreggor got a month of cleaning out Sprout's cupboards."
"You knocked him out?"
Teddy smirked "Yup."
She laughed, ignoring the stabbing pain underneath her ribs "Nice one."
He leant back on the plastic chair "Are you alright?"
Victoire rolled her eyes "I'm fine. How long have I been here?"
"Two days."
"And how long have you been here?"
He looked up at her through thick black eyelashes "On this chair? About two hours. Before that, I stood up and looked out of that window over there." He gestured behind him and Victoire raised an eyebrow "Two days."
She rolled her eyes again and shifted sideways, tapping the space beside her. Teddy smiled and lifted himself onto the bed, sliding an arm around her waist as she leant her head into the crook of his neck and sighed.
"Sup?" He asked, resting his cheek on the top of her hair.
"You should have gone to bed."
He chuckled slightly "We both know there's absolutely no chance of that ever happening while you're in here so you may as well drop it now."
"I mean it."
"So do I, Vic Vics, so do I."
She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow "Less of the Vic Vics, please Theodore."
"I'd punch you but you're injured."
"I doubt it would make much difference." She replied calmly and then looked at him. He studied her for a moment, and then they both burst out laughing.
Madame Pomfrey came bustling into the ward "What is all this noise about, Lupin? I said you could stay if you agreed to – oh, Miss Weasley?"
"Oh yeah." Teddy grimaced "She's conscious."
Victoire laughed silently as Teddy was thrown from the bed and Madame Pomfrey began checking her over.
"Right, Miss Weasley," she said with a last wave of her wand "You need to get out of those clothes. Do you need any help?"
Victore glanced down at her Quidditch uniform "I'll manage."
"Very well, I'll draw the curtains. I have some paper work to get on with so please refrain from exciting her too much, Mr Lupin."
Teddy raised an eyebrow and raised an eyebrow and stepped backwards as the curtain was drawn. Victoire sat on the bed and, with some difficulty, managed to strip down to her underwear which she changed with a wave of her wand. She tried unsuccessfully, for ten minutes, to get into the pyjamas laid out of her but eventually gave up.
"Teddy?" She hissed.
"Wh - what?" He replied nervously.
"I need some help. I can't get my clothes on."
"Right well I'll get-"
"No, no, no she'll never leave...just come and help me."
Teddy raised an eyebrow "Right, well...are you dressed?"
"Obviously not if I'm aksing for your help..but I have underwear on."
"Underwear?"
"Br and knickers...you aren't going to see anything, you aren't that lucky."
Teddy pulled a face and ducked behind the curtain, looking at Victoire. She was bruised and wearing turquoise underwear with white spots on. He'd never actually realised that she had, well...a figure. And a good one. She had a flat stomach and had developed a fairly large chest area since the last time he had seen her in her underwear, seven years ago.
"Stop staring at my boobs, please. You're making me nervous." She said patiently.
Teddy closed his mouth "I'm not, I'm just...well..."
She raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip "What?"
"I'm just surprised that you actually have them."
"I'm fourteen and an eighth Veela. Of course I have boobs."
Teddy shook his head, blinking "Right. Yeah, course. Eight Veela...fourteen. Yes. Okay. What do you need help with?"
Vic smiled and held up her arms "Please put the t-shirt over my head."
He obliged, pulling the large white t-shirt over her head.
"Is this mine?"
Vic shrugged, examining the top she had on "I'm not sure...probably. I wear it every night though, so the house elves will have just picked it up from my pillow. It probably was yours, a long time ago."
Teddy looked at her and shook his head in amusement before helping her into the bright yellow pyjama shorts.
"These aren't."
Vic laughed and climbed into bed as Teddy pulled the curtain back and sat beside her. The sun was beginning to set, filling the room with a warm glow.
"I like autumn." She said softly and Teddy smiled.
"I know you do. You like the leaves."
"And the skies."
"And the way the sun does that thing that makes everything orange." Teddy said, quoting a conversation they'd had many years ago.
Vic smiled "Teddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. I'm glad you stayed."
He smiled slightly as she closed her eyes "I'm glad you're alright Vic...because I don't know what I'd do if you got yourself seriously injured. I can't even remember my life without you in it."
Victoire found has hand and squeezed it, smiling peacefully, as if all she needed in the whole world was beside her and, in a way, it was.
Teddy squeezed her for a moment, thanking every God he'd ever heard of that she was okay "Night, night."
She said nothing but pulled herself closer to him. He kissed her hair and closed his eyes, trying to get some proper sleep himself before being thrown back onto his plastic chair.
X
"Do you think I should move him, Minerva? He is a teenage boy, after all."
McGonagall surveyed the teenagers through the faded glass of Madame Pomfrey's office windows and shook her head slowly "No. He's her best friend...he has no idea of what – of what is to come. No, leave them Poppy, leave them be. That boy has no intention of being anything other than her best friend for now."
"It's only a matter of time. Quite frankly, I'm surprised her hasn't realised already. It's obvious to anybody how much he loves her."
Minerva smiled "Yes, yes it is. But all in good time."
Madame Pomfrey nodded and both women looked at each other, a smile creeping onto their faces.
X
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