i have a parentheses problem

prompts below

thanks to lumi for betaing!

1167 words, by google docs

Victoire paces back and forth while Teddy sits on the couch. He has to stop himself from laughing at her; it seems slightly pathetic to be that worried, but Teddy knows that Vic is freaking out.

Still, he thinks that she should calm down.

"Seriously, it's just a little bit of wind," Teddy says. He doesn't laugh, but he still smirks. She won't necessarily notice a smirk.

She does, giving him a dark glare.

"A little bit?" she says. He tries not to laugh, again, at the slight squeak in her voice. "What if they were blown off the road and they're dead? How are we supposed to know?"

Teddy rolls his eyes, not even caring that Vic might get mad at him. They're waiting for her parents and Teddy's godparents at her house; the four of them went out for dinner together and it was up to Teddy and Vic to get all the little kids to sleep.

It's a half hour after when they said they'd be back, but Teddy isn't worried; their dinner probably just ran late. Vic, on the other hand, is freaking out.

Teddy thinks that she's always too anxious.

"They're not dead," Teddy says, getting up and walking over to Vic. "They're just running a little bit late. This wind won't do anything."

He places a hand on her shoulder but she shrugs it off, looking affronted. "Don't touch me," she snaps.

Teddy groans and flops back onto the couch.

"Whatever," he says, his face in the cushions. As Teddy straightens up, Vic sighs and sits in the armchair, one leg crossed over the other.

They're quiet for a moment, listening to the wind continue to howl outside. Something makes a loud crack outside.

"What was—" Vic starts to ask before the lights flicker and go out completely.

"Well, look at that," Teddy says. He then chuckles, realising his bad joke. "Wait, you can't!"

"Shut up," Vic's voice says, coming through the dark. Teddy hears a soft thwomp of something hitting the floor.

"Did you just try to throw a pillow at me?" Teddy asks, laughing. The noise came from a few feet in front of the couch, but it had the same noise as a pillow would. "Because you have an awful aim."

"Shut up," Vic says. Teddy can nearly hear the pout in her voice. He's pretty sure she's blushing, which makes him want to grin. "Just—I'm going to try and come over to you, okay?" Teddy hears a couple of footsteps and then a scream. He can just make out Vic's form in front of him, fallen to the floor.

"Nice," he notes to her.

"I don't like the dark," Vic says. He can see her form get up and feels her sit down next to him.

"Aw, Little Vicky's scared of the dark?" he says, teasing. He loves pushing Vic's buttons. It's hilarious when she gets flustered and upset at him. "Don't worry; the dark creatures of the night won't sacrifice you to the bogeyman, Teddy will protect you. Do you want a hug?" he offers.

Vic's quiet for a moment, before whispering, "Yeah, actually." It's so quiet that Teddy almost misses it.

"Er, okay," he says. Now he just feels awkward. He has zero satisfaction. "Well, I'm on your left, if you want to—"

Teddy's voice dies in his throat as he feels Vic lay her head on his chest. He doesn't know why he feels so nervous, but he cringes internally; Vic can probably feel his heart beating about a thousand beats a second.

"So," he says after a moment. His voice doesn't sound as smooth as it usually does; it sounds nervous and he hates it. He shouldn't be nervous. It's Vic. He's just hugging her because it's dark. Nothing more.

"I just really don't like the dark," Vic says before he says anything else. Teddy is hyper-aware of her face moving as she talks.

He wants to sink into the couch cushions and stay there for the rest of his life.

"So," he repeats. He doesn't know what else to say. He shakes his head quickly, though; he doesn't have any reason to be nervous around Vic. "You know what they do in the movies when the lights go out…" he says, trying to sound smooth. Is he shamelessly flirting with her? She's his friend. Not even; they fight too much for that.

"You're gross, Teddy," Vic says with a swat on his arm. Her tone seems strained, awkward.

"I'm sure," he agrees. Why is everything so weird, all of a sudden? They're just hugging.

"So," Teddy says, for a third time, "I wonder when the lights will come back on?"

"I hope soon," Vic says. She takes a deep breath; Teddy can feel it.

"Or maybe not, you know? This is…" Teddy tries to grasp the right word, "nice," he finishes lamely.

"You're really smooth, Teddy," Vic tells him. She laughs, and there's a bubbly feeling in his chest. He's pretty sure it's not from the little movement her head makes when she laughs.

"Smooth enough for us to do what they do in the movies?" Teddy asks. A grin comes to his face despite the fact that she can't see it in the blackness.

"Never," Vic says, right away. "But we can talk," she adds as an afterthought. "Just talk."

"Just talk," Teddy repeats. "And then the movies?"

Vic slaps him and his grin widens. "Shut up."

…

Teddy awakens to a blinding light. Harry's leaning over him, shaking his shoulder, gently waking him up.

Vic's still on his chest, slowly waking up.

"Good morning," Harry says, straightening up once he sees Teddy's eyes open.

"Hey—the lights are back!" Teddy says, blinking hard and sitting up. Vic straightens with him also.

"Yeah," Harry says. "We were a little bit… blown off course last night, so we had to come home late, but we managed to fix the lights."

"I told you something was wrong!" Vic says, poking Teddy in the arm.

"And I told you that they were fine," Teddy retorts. He sticks his tongue out at her, and she rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. It's strange, to see her smiling at him. He turns back to Harry, who has a single eyebrow raised at them. "So, I guess no movie, since they're home?" Teddy asks Vic, turning back to her. She immediately rolls her eyes again.

"No." She looks like she's about to stand up but she pauses. "Maybe a different time, though," she says. There's a warmth in her eyes that Teddy's just noticing—has that always been there?

She pats his arm and gets up, walking out of the room with a wave. Teddy watches her go and then turns back to Harry, who has a big smirk on his face.

"Really smooth, Teddy," Harry says, shaking his head slightly, his smirk turning into a small smile.

"Yeah," Teddy says, turning to the doorway Vic exited through, "I've been told."

for:

assignment 5 [gardening, task 4 - someone's day being affected by weather]

the houses comp [gryffindor, year 7 stand in, short - [weather] windy]

saint patrick's day challenge [st paddy's cross - sacrifice]

writing club [character appreciation - teddy lupin; liza's loves - stormy weather]