Restrain
A/N: I wrote a drabble on tumblr from a prompt posted by just-another-otp-prompt-blog and I felt like it needed some expanding and explaining, so it's going up as an actual story. :)
Prompt: Person A and Person B are holding hands and walking around town. Some stranger has the nerve to comment on it while walking by. Person A is clinging to Person B's hand tightly as ever with a glare set firmly on their face while Person B persuades them to let it be.
post/177365712406/otp-prompt-308
Teddy knew that Rita Skeeter was a nightmare, the stories that Harry had were ridiculous, but he never expected to be on the receiving end of her poison.
Her article about Dumbledore's Army in the Daily Prophet had been unflattering and ridiculous. It wasn't even a dark corner they'd been snogging in! He was walking her back to her tent and was wishing her a good night at her door. It's not his fault they tripped between the tents and didn't bother to pull themselves back out until it was really time for her to go back inside.
Teddy was grateful that their entire family already knew they were dating. Bill even had a sense of humor about it, teased him that if it was dark corners he was looking for, he and Fleur were experts. Teddy had been sure the man was going to kill him, but he'd waved it off as Skeeter being a string of words that Fleur smacked his arm for, though only because Louis was in the room.
Apparently, though, one article wasn't enough. The awful woman then proceeded to write a three-part article in Witch Weekly outlining how to protect your daughter from "unbecoming and spoiled young wizards." You would have had to be an idiot not to see the blatant references to Teddy, of course without his name.
Harry had been furious, but there was little he could do. George pulled his adverts from Witch Weekly, and that did get them crawling back, promising Rita would never write for them again. But the damage had been done.
And Teddy can feel that damage keenly because as he's walking down Diagon Alley hand in hand with Vic they're getting stares, and not the endearing nostalgic stares at young love. No these stares might as well be stones they're throwing and Teddy is so close to showing them that a swift punch to the gut is almost as good as a spell thrown from his wand.
Vic squeezes his hand and he remembers to breathe.
"We're almost there, we'll be at the Leaky and then home in no time," she smiles up at him, the light catching the earrings running up her ear. They'd just wanted a date. He'd just wanted to take her for ice cream. Now he's realizing they should have just had someone drive or Apparate then to a Muggle parlor because he never wants to step foot in Diagon Alley again.
He nods, but he can't answer as he clenches his teeth and increases his pace.
Then some bloke has the nerve to step in front of him and Teddy is grateful for the third time in his life that he got Grandad's height, because he can look this idiot in the eye. Instinctively he pulls Vic behind him. These morons can do what they like with him, but they won't hurt Vic on Teddy's watch.
"What?" Teddy's anger is piling up and he's just about ready to take it all out on this moron.
"I think Bill Weasley should break your legs for messing around his daughter. You're lucky it's not my girl you're after."
Teddy's arm flies but it's caught with such a force that he almost loses his balance and looks back to see Vic clinging desperately to his arm.
"And if I were your daughter," she says pushing past him and pulling Teddy with her, "I would have run away from home and never looked back ages ago."
She picks up her pace and it takes Teddy a moment she's speaking as she stared them down the street.
"Don't look back, hold your head high, and keep moving." She whispers fiercely and Teddy really has to force himself to do just that.
"You should have let me hit him," he fumes as Vic increases her pace again.
"And give the papers more to write about, no thank you." She finally slows before pulling him down a dark alley and snaking her arms around his neck.
"Besides, if I'd let you hit him we wouldn't be doing this right now." And Vic pushes up on her tiptoes, pulling Teddy down to her lips for a blazing kiss.
"And this won't give the papers something to write about?" Teddy scoffs before Vic pulls him back again.
"But this," she whispers against his lips, "is far more enjoyable than bashing people's heads in."
He's still a little pissed off if he's being honest, and a part of him is tensed for the camera flash. But it's hard to be angry or worried about getting caught when Vic is doing that with her tongue.