Dresses in Shades of Lilac
She had positively hated Teddy Remus Lupin when they were growing up. Combined with his cocky personality, and the fact that because he was two years older than her he thought he was ultimately better; her hatred stemmed from the time he had ambushed her with mud. Victoire, swinging peacefully, an open book in her lap, had glanced up, glanced down, and in that spilt second, a wad of mud had hit the side of her face, sticky mud dripping down to splotch the clean white pages of her treasured, although tattered, book.
Furious, she had glanced up, spotting Teddy running hastily away from the scene of the crime, the own side of his face caked in dried mud. Clenching her fists into tight, little balls, she had stormed after him, the end of her lilac dress flapping in the wind, her white collar dyed brown with sticky droplets of mud.
She had found him bent over the small trickle of a river that ran past their house, scrubbing furiously at the mud scattered over his left cheek. Suddenly decisive, she had sneaked forward silently, and with a small push, Teddy had toppled over, landing head-first into the river. He spluttered as he came up, pushing wet hair off his forehead, glaring daggers at Victoire, who smiled sweetly back at him, running a hand over her dress.
"Just a little bit of payback," she had said, and then run off, trying her best to clean the mud off the pages of her book with pieces of grass.
That night, Teddy Lupin had a scowl frozen onto his face as James and Albus teased him over his wet clothes, which the adults had refused to dry, sneaking smiles around the table.
And Victoire's smile had never beamed brighter.
Another incident had been her eight birthday, smiles shared all around as her family began to sing to her, Victoire grinning happily up at her mother.
The door had banged open loudly as the song had reached its final note, its end, Teddy Lupin smiling sheepishly under his too-long, never-cut bangs. "Hullo," he had said, taking a seat next to Victoire, and nabbing a freshly cut piece of cake. It fell into his mouth, and he chewed away merrily, pumping his legs. "Have I missed the party then?"
She had glared at him, eyes welling up with tears. Irritably, she had stomped up to her room, where she remained until Teddy bloody stupid Lupin had left, only coming out to sniffle on her mother's shoulder, fat tears welling up in her blue eyes.
He made up for it, of course, forced to by his smiling grandmother. Teddy mumbled an apology, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, face flushed red, his grandmother prodding him with her wand from behind.
She took his apology, and his present, with a big beam on her face, before flying up the stairs, lilac dress flapping in the wind. From that day on, she might have liked Teddy Lupin a little more. Just a little.
How had he known that lilac was her favourite colour?
But those events had happened years ago, and she was too mature to bring them up now, when Teddy Lupin was standing in front of her, hair flashing wildly, changing colours every second, a grin on his face as he glanced around the platform. Victoire smiled softly, blonde hair loose around her shoulders, gleaming Head Girl badge pinned neatly to her shoulder. It had been polished the night before, her father teasing her over her behaviour. He had muttered, "Percy," before placing a kiss on top of her head and crushing her to him.
"So, you're Head Girl?" Teddy asked, glancing down at her, his hair stopping its multi-coloured flashing for a moment. Just a moment though, and when she looked up, it had changed into a horrible shade of orange.
"Yep!" she exclaimed, bouncing on her toes, almost ecstatic at the thought. Louis ran up to her, pudgy arms winding around her legs. She laughed, before picking him up, the four-year-old nestling his downy head into his sister's neck almost immediately.
Victoire looked up at Teddy, noting the almost-silly grin he had playing on his lips. She smiled back, lips parting to reveal two rows of straight, glittering white teeth. Louis blinked up at her, his thumb winding into his open mouth as he watched the pair.
"Congratulations," he said, moments later, rocking back on his feet. The height difference between them was considerable, with Victoire barely reaching his shoulder, Teddy having grown from a lanky teenager to a well-defined, not-a-boy-but-almost-a-man.
She almost wished that she had been born a year earlier, that she had been the one that had had the pleasure of being able to be in the same year as Teddy, to see him at all times, not just small glances when they met in the corridor. Victoire was proud of the fact that she had gotten sorted into Ravenclaw, but still sobbed with despair when she thought of all the times she could have had the chance to speak with Teddy, if she had been sorted into Gryfindor. The happiness she felt when he won a Quidditch match could have been shown, instead of bottled up, grumbling with her classmates over Ravenclaw's loss.
She could have been his.
"Thanks," she replied, Louius prodding her out of her thoughts, poking a small finger into her neck.
He smiled, half flashing red for a brief moment. "I'll be able to control this," he said, as a way of starting conversation. "Y'know, after a while." Teddy pointed up to his head, where his hair was flashing rapidly, changing colour ever two seconds or so. "Nan said it took Mum a while."
"But will you want to control it?" she asked, shifting Louis higher up on her hip.
"Probably not," he whispered into her ear, eyes darting around the platform rapidly, as if checking for any listeners.
Victoire couldn't contain her giggles.
Then he, without warning, or any sort of foreshadowing, leant forward, so their foreheads were touching, and pressed his lips ever so softly to hers. She nearly dropped Louis out of shook, by rectified this by placing her brother softly on the ground where he happily toddled off to their mother, and wrapping her arms around Teddy's neck.
He smiled against her lips, making her giggle softly. Victoire yelped as he pulled her closer to him, their lips still attached to each broke away with a soft grumble, eyes darting around the platform. Victoire placed her hand on his cheek, and turned his face to his.
"I love you, Teddy Lupin," she whispered. Even if they hadn't been best friends growing up.
Teddy opened his eyes, as did Victoire, and were both shocked into silence by the sounds of laughter. They both turned around, so very slowly, and both met the eyes of James Potter, doubled over with laughter.
"Took you long enough," he wheezed out, before cracking up once more, dropping to the floor in a fit of laughter.
And Victoire just smiled.
Written for the Rl Fanon Challenge. Enjoy!