Chapter 2
Teddy was half aware of someone shaking him, but he groaned and attempted to turn over, expecting to find his soft duvet and velvety quilt. Instead, his hand flopped painfully against a hard wooden floor and he grunted and sat up. His neck ached a little, but other than that he was just confused.
He wondered if someone had moved him into one of the other rooms, because despite the identical layout, the two pushed together beds had been pushed apart and all of Aunt 'Mione's belongings were missing. Frowning, he turned to Victoire.
"Do you remember us being moved?" He asked, trying to keep his voice light so as not to worry the younger girl. Victoire shook her head and pouted.
"I'm hungry, Teddy!" She whined, and Teddy was surprised to hear his own stomach rumble in agreement. They must have been asleep longer than he had first assumed. He held out his hand, and together the two of them made their way downstairs. Teddy warily eyed the empty gaps on the walls where pictures of him and Vicky and all the other Weasley-Potter clan usually hung, but kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't mention anything to Vicky until he knew what was going on and, more the the point, they had eaten something.
They headed towards the kitchen, as Teddy silently listened to Vicky ramble on about all the presents she had received, and burst through the door. Vicky immediately let go of Teddy's hand and ran up to Grandma Molly, clambering onto her lap and asking for some tea. The older woman blinked at the rambunctious six-year old in shock and, with a quick glance at Teddy-he had lingered near the door- she asked,
"Pardon? Do i know you?" Teddy's eyes widened as he studied the members of his large surrogate family and suddenly noticed the differences. Everyone was much younger, and his one year old cousins were both missing (although they might well have wandered off). Aunt Ginny and Aunt Hermione weren't pregnant, and there were several people who Teddy only recognized from photos Uncle Harry had shown him. He bit his lip. This was not good.
"Grandma? What d'ya mean? Was i being rude again? I didn't mean too!" Teddy took another step into the still familiar kitchen and blinked back tears at the looks of disbelief and confusion on the faces of his beloved family. He was fairly sure that this must be his worst nightmare- being forgotten by the people he adored the most.
Victoire shifted in Grandma Molly's lap and spotted her father.
"Daddy! Was i bein' rude?" She asked, tilting her head to one side in childish innocence. Uncle Bill just shook his head and stared helplessly at his unknown daughter. Vicky frowned at the lack of response and turned to Uncle Harry, but he merely blinked uselessly at her. Teddy opened his mouth to tell her that something was wrong but found himself cut off.
"What are you doing here? Who are you?" A gruff voice came from behind Teddy and he jumped, whirling around to find the source. Victoire looked up too, and, seeing the bewildered expressions for the first time, promptly burst into tears. Teddy gulped. He had seen Vicky cry before (she could be very dramatic when she wanted to) but Uncle Bill or Aunty Fleur had always been there to calm her down. In the absence of Vicky's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Weasley had always been the perfect substitutes, but now? No one here seemed to know them, and certainly nobody was making any attempt to calm her down.
"Vicky? Vic?" The little girl continued to cry hysterically. Teddy frowned. "VICTOIRE NYMPHADORA WEASLEY!" The room fell silent. Feeling rather pleased with himself, Teddy decided to carry on. "Look, all the grown-ups are being funny, so we have to be grown up and not cry, OK?" Vicky nodded hesitantly.
"Ok" She mumbled softly. Teddy nodded and turned to his right, his eyes falling on a woman with bubblegum pink hair.
"Excuse me, but what year is it?" The woman looked surprised by the question.
"1998" She responded quickly. Teddy sighed. He wasn't very good at maths, but he did know one thing. This was definitely not his year.
"Vicky?" The younger girl looked up, "I need you to listen to me. I don't know how, but i think we travelled back in time, so nobody here knows us yet." Victoire frowned.
"But that's daddy, and that's Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and Aunt 'Mione and…" Teddy held up a hand and she stopped, familiar with the years old signal that she needed to stop talking.
"Uncle Bill isn't your daddy yet. Actually, i think he isn't even married to Aunty Fleur yet because…" He trailed off at the realisation that he couldn't very well say it was because most of the people in this room were dead in his time.
"You travelled in time?" A voice came, and this time Teddy recognized it immediately.
"Aunt 'Mione!"