Welcome, everyone to the second chapter! Just a friendly reminder that the concepts for the Victoire and Andromeda featured in the fic come from the mind of my dear friend Niko, who provided special help for this chapter and its content. Enjoy!

They were best friends right from the start.

"Teddy. Pst. Teddy, wake up."

Six-year old Teddy Lupin rarely slept away from his grandmother's home, but whenever little Victoire Weasley insisted, he made exceptions as long as his Gran allowed it. On this particular evening, his Gran had agreed to him staying at Shell Cottage for a sleepover, when in truth Victoire had begged him to stay. That being said, Bill and Fleur had provided him with blankets and pillows to sleep on their couch, as they had no extra room to put him in. They had little Dominique in the house now as well in a room of her own.

He never slept well when not under his Gran's roof, and so he'd been tossing and turning for most of the night already. It also explained why he responded not a few seconds after Victoire had nudged him, "Mm? What is it?"

Teddy didn't get a verbal reply right away. Instead, tiny hands were pushing him aside, further into the folds of couch fabric. Realizing the younger girl's goal, he shifted tiredly and lifted his blankets. Sure enough, a warm body was snuggled against his own not a minute later, and the whispered confession came,

"I had a bad dream, Teddy."

"My Gran says it's good to talk about bad dreams," Teddy informed her just as quietly, albeit sleepily. He yawned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Movements against his chest told the young boy that Victoire had buried her head against his torso and that, no, she didn't wish to speak about what had happened in her dream. Instead, she asked,

"Can I stay with you? I'm not allowed to sleep with Papa when Maman has any say."

Yawning again, and eager to just try and go back to sleep, Teddy couldn't help but answer, "Don't see why not."

This answer must have delighted the little girl, because she squealed quietly and wrapped her arms around his neck and curled quite close to him. While Teddy was by no means used to company while he slept, he found the closeness quite nice, even comforting, and pulled the blankets up over the pair of them. As Victoire quieted, Teddy shut his eyes again, feeling relaxation seep into his muscles. It was just as he was drifting off to sleep again that the girl piped up.

"Teddy, can I ask you a question?"

He grunted his acquiescence.

"Am I your best friend?"

The question took him by surprise, and he opened his eyes to find that Toire was staring up at him with her wide baby blue ones. There was curiosity there, he saw, but also fear, like she was afraid of what he might say. Something about her expression, either way, told him that he needed to answer carefully and truthfully, so he thought for a moment.

Admittedly, he didn't know Victoire very well. Or, rather, he hadn't known her for very long. Teddy had only been two when Toire was born unto Bill and Fleur, and while he frequented the Weasleys' homes and gatherings, it was always with Harry, and only with him. At these gatherings, while there were often a multitude of male relatives and Weasley family members willing to play with a boisterous and cheerful young boy, there were no children. At least, until Toire had come along. At first uninterested in a tiny baby, and a girl at that matter, for a long while, Teddy was relatively indifferent.

But then Toire had grown. And she was just as boisterous and cheerful as he, most of the time, and they got along splendidly whenever they were together. The only two children at the time, Teddy and his newfound companion had been more than content to chase after each other and run around until they were both exhausted.

Were they friends? Of course. But were they best friends?

"Yeah," Teddy answered for both himself and Victoire. He'd never had a friend like her before. "I think we are."

This evidently was another answer that delighted her, because she giggled and squeezed his neck gently, like a hug. "You're my best friend too." Her words pierced the quiet one final time before the two children dozed off in each other's arms, to be discovered the next morning by an amused Bill and his frustrated wife.

~ findo narratum ~

She understood things nobody else did.

The moon was bright, and the air chillier than usually characteristic of May. The castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was all but silent, its walls safely housing the students tucked safely in their beds and sleeping away the night.

All the students, of course, except for a fourteen-year old Gryffindor named Teddy Lupin.

The young third year was padding quietly through the corridors in his pajamas and slippers. If any ghosts that passed him, or inhabitants of the paintings on the wall, noticed him, they either ignored him or understood the reason he was out and about. The hourly night-time bells tolled somewhere off in the distance, resonating through the night and vibrating Teddy's bones. Prefects were likely to be out on rounds soon, and he was perfectly aware he needed to be gone from the corridors by then, but he had this routine down. He knew where he was going, how to get there, and all the best ways to avoid trouble on the way. Not that anyone would really be able to turn him away when they found out the reason for his sneaking about the corridors on this particular evening.

It was, after all, May 1st, and fourteen years ago today was the eve of the Battle of Hogwarts. Fourteen years ago right now, people had been struggling for their very lives.

To many of the students, the very idea that fighting had gone on in the very corridors they walked every day was understandably overwhelming. People had died where they ate their meals or ran around in the sun. The castle they lived and learned in had been the site of a vicious finale to a terrible war. Truths like that were always hard to digest. But for a select few, Teddy Lupin being one of them, it was just a simple truth. After all, many of them had lost something here. And everyone knew that Teddy had lost his parents.

On most days he hardly thought about it. But on nights like tonight, he had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered that his mother and father had died heroes within these very walls. So many things had happened here, and perhaps his loss as an infant had given him an insight that not many young people had. Gran had met Grandpa Ted here – they'd fallen in love in these corridors, on these grounds. His father had gone to school here, had made best friends with Uncle Harry's dad. Maybe Teddy was even sleeping in the same bed his father had once used. His mother had gone to school here, tripping through the halls and over statues that still remained. But most importantly, his mother and father had lost their lives here. Fighting for a better world where he could live happily.

He wondered if they knew how happy he was. If they knew that their sacrifice hadn't been in vain.

These kinds of thoughts always haunted him around this time of year, and as his feet swept him off to his special place, Teddy found himself lost in thought. He might have physically gotten lost if he hadn't already traversed this route several times before.

The battlements up in the towers were always dead silent this time of night, and while a lot of them had been destroyed in the battle, during reconstruction on the castle, extra care had been taken to recreate the places where so many brave people stood on this night all those years ago. Teddy was making his way towards a certain area, a place that had been pointed out to him during his first year by his godfather, who'd come to give his annual guest lecture in Teddy's Defense class. A specific battlement that he'd been told was where his parents had stood, together, probably for the last time before the battle separated them and subsequently took them from this world.

When he reached it a few minutes later, without saying a word he sank into a sitting position against a column and stared out over the grounds. Uncle Harry had told him once that his parents were always watching out for him, that they'd always love him. And like he always did when he sat in that particular spot, Teddy wondered if that was true. Could they see him now? Were they there with him? Why had they left him to fight, if they loved him so much? Why had they left him and his Gran all alone?

He wasn't sure how long he was there, the moon's silvery light bathing his features – which he currently had completely natural, to honor his parents. Shaggy sandy-blond hair hung over a heart-shaped face, blue eyes, and a small nose. People told him he looked like his mother, and others told him he looked like his father. His eyes, they said, came from his Grandpa Ted, a sign that he'd been aptly named. Theodore Remus Lupin.

Maybe hours passed, maybe minutes, but eventually the sounds of gentle footfalls alerted the third year Gryffindor that someone else was approaching. But he didn't look their way. If it was a professor, they'd likely leave him be when they saw who it was and realized that he wasn't causing any trouble.

Instead, a soft and melodic voice reached his ears. "I thought you might be here."

Teddy looked up to see an eleven-year old Victoire (she'd be turning twelve tomorrow, or was it today?) standing beside him, an unreadable expression in her own blue eyes. In the moonlight, her silvery-blond hair almost appeared white. She was wrapped up in her blue-and-silver Ravenclaw pajamas, and Teddy felt a spark of amusement to see she'd come from her tower barefoot. Giving her a small smile, he looked back out over the grounds and said,

"You should be in bed, Toire." There wasn't much force behind his words.

"So should you," came the quiet response, though an indignant and stubborn tone was easy enough to pick out. Her message was clear enough to Teddy, who'd been attuned to her moods and voice for a long time now. Victoire had come up here for a reason, and until that reason was seen through, she wouldn't be leaving. And he had the feeling the reason had something to do with him.

"You know why I'm not."

"Yeah. I do. Can I sit with you for a while?"

Teddy didn't see why not. He shrugged. He was used to being alone up here, but that didn't mean it would be a bad thing to have some company. Especially if that company was Toire.

Without vocally giving a reply, the younger girl took a seat next to him. A moment later, she took his hand in hers, and when he didn't voice a protest, she scooted closer and leaned against his side, resting her head against his arm. The warmth comforted Teddy, he realized, it gave him something concrete to focus on in the chill as his thoughts wandered. The pair of them sat like that through the night until the skyline began to lighten with the first signs of dawn, when Teddy finally stirred from his reverie to find that Toire had fallen asleep against him.

"Toire, wake up."

"Mm?" She stirred, her eyes fluttering open as she started to stretch. Teddy smiled as suddenly her blue eyes widened as she realized what had happened. "Oh, Teddy, I'm sorry," she began gushing, "I didn't mean to fall asleep, I didn't think I'd-"

"Hey, it's alright," Teddy replied gently as he pushed himself easily to his feet. When he offered his hands to her to help her up, she took them and he pulled her to a standing position of her own. Without any other preamble, he pulled her in for a tight hug. Her falling asleep meant nothing to him whatsoever – her presence, however, had. "Thank you for being here anyway, Toire," he mumbled against her shoulder.

When they extricated themselves from the embrace, Victoire gave him a bright smile. "What are friends for?" she chirped back.

Unable to think up a reasonable counterstatement, Teddy just smiled at her and gave her another quick hug. Even if his parents weren't here to look after him, Teddy knew, he was looked after fairly well anyway. If nothing else, Victoire would make sure of that.

~ findo narratum ~

In time, friendship wasn't even quite the word to describe it.

"Did you have a good time this year?"

A seventeen-year old Teddy Lupin had been caught up in his thoughts again. His mind was revolving around a certain beautiful blonde and the way her face lit up when she'd opened the present he'd gotten for her with the help of his Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny – a brand new Firebolt Ultra with a mahogany finish and her name emblazoned on the handle. He hardly heard his Gran's question as he tugged his coat off and hung it up next to hers near the door.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I had a great time, like always. Mrs. Weasley sends her love and I think she'll be bringing you leftovers either tonight or tomorrow," he replied offhandedly as he gave his grandmother a typical greeting hug.

"She knows she doesn't have to do that," his Gran grumbled, brushing some snow out of his currently blue hair. Then she paused, like she'd noticed something – her gaze was focused on his face. "Are you alright? You almost look ill."

"Just have a lot on my mind, that's all," he replied, shifting restlessly, internally wondering if he honestly looked sick whenever he was thinking about something.

Teddy's grandmother eyed him contemplatively. "It's Christmas, Teddy," she said. "What could you possibly be thinking about?"

"I… nothing."

His Gran's suspicious eyes followed him all the way to his room where he quietly shut himself away. Whether or not she knew what was on his mind was irrelevant – because either way she deemed it unnecessary to follow him. Teddy sat on his bed, the bed that had been his since he was practically born here, and leaned up against the wall. It was his favorite thinking position, and he hugged his knees to his chest and rested his chin on one of them. He hadn't lied to his grandmother. He really did have a lot to think about, no matter what she said about it being Christmas.

The forefront of which was his feelings towards Victoire Weasley.

It hadn't escaped his notice that being around her these days seemed to bring with it not only the customary ease of being around one's best friend, but an occasional fluttering of butterflies in his stomach. Even though it was impossible, it felt like Teddy had woken up one day and was worried about what he'd look like in front of her, if she thought he was attractive, what he could do to get her to smile that day. Lately, it almost felt like he wanted more from Victoire, more than the close friendship they already shared. Or, rather, that simply saying that they were just friends didn't feel right anymore. Teddy felt a pull towards her that he hadn't felt before, that he didn't know what to do with. He'd even caught himself looking at her lips tonight and wondering what it might be like to cover them with his own.

What was he supposed to do with all that?

Sighing, he looked around his room like something there might provide him with an answer. The very thought of being more than friends with Victoire Weasley made him nervous – or was it excited? How could he ask her out when he wasn't even sure if she thought of him any differently? It was an impossible predicament to be sure, but what solution was there to be had? He didn't want to risk ruining or losing the friendship he cherished most.

Teddy wasn't sure how long he sat there, it must have been hours as he mulled things over, as the sky grew dark and eventually he had to turn on his light. For a Gryffindor, he thought too much, or at least that's what some of his classmates liked to tease him about. Maybe he got it from his grandmother, or his father, considering Gran told him that his mum hadn't been much of a quiet thinker at all. Wherever he got it from, sometimes he cursed it.

Either way, eventually his grandmother knocked on his door, and entered before he even really had the chance to respond.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, looking at him in concern. "I'm heading off to bed, do you need anything?"

Teddy looked up in surprise and slight alarm. He really must have been thinking for quite some time. He shook his head, but as his Gran started pulling out of his doorway, the boy sighed. "Wait, Gran, I want to ask you something," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"What is it, love?"

Taking a deep breath, Teddy knew he was about to hate himself for what he was going to ask. It was very rare that he ever brought up this kind of topic, both because he knew thinking about it caused his grandmother pain and also because he just rarely ever thought about it. "How did Grandpa Ted ask you out on a date? Were you friends first, and then something just… changed?"

The question had clearly taken his Gran by surprise, but then she almost immediately caught on afterwards. With a deep sigh, she came in and sat next to Teddy on the bed in her nightgown, but she didn't answer right away. She stared at him for a long, long time, before finally she appeared to have it in her to answer.

"We were friends for a long while before we started dating, in secret, of course," she replied, her voice quiet enough that Teddy had to lean forward slightly to hear. Only later would he recognize the biting tone in which she said it. "But I imagine our situation and its circumstances were rather different from what yours are. He never quite asked me on a date. I kissed him first. But that's… beside the point." Her voice sounded pained, and Teddy immediately regretted asking. "What exactly am I helping you with? Is it Victoire?"

"Well, I- how'd you know?"

Andromeda simply smiled, somewhat sadly, and gently ran a hand through his hair. A lot of teenage boys might have flinched away or shoved the afflicting hand away from their head, but Teddy just sat still as she did it. It wasn't that he was particularly accepting of shows of affection, but when they came from his grandmother, something in him had always just taken it with grace. "You forget that I know you so well, Teddy," she was saying. "You think that I haven't noticed the way you behave around her? It isn't just this past break, you know. Something has been going on with her for a while."

"But you're not at school with us," Teddy replied, still bewildered.

"No," his grandmother agreed, "But I get your letters, and I see you in the summers and the winters. Something in you has been changing, Teddy. And I'm quite certain it has something to do with the Weasley girl."

Teddy bit his lip. "I just… don't know what to do, Gran."

"Mm." His grandmother's lips pressed into a thin line as she pushed herself up from his bed. "Well, perhaps it's something you can think about tomorrow, because it's late, and you really ought to be getting to sleep. Now, good night, Teddy."

And then she left, shutting the door behind her.

With a sigh, Teddy stretched and decided his grandmother had a point, it was late and while he wasn't exactly tired, if he thought about this for much longer, his mind was sure to explode. The air in the house was chilly, and his blankets looked warm and comforting. So without much conscious effort, he pulled his shirt over his head and halfheartedly changed into pajama bottoms. He wished that there was someone else he could speak to, someone he could confide in without reminding them of a painful time past, but there was no use in turning to Uncle Harry or any of the other Weasleys. That way something was sure to get back to Victoire, and the thought made his heart feel like it was about to stop.

As he turned out the lights and settled down between the warmth of his comforters, a reckless part of him said that it was just worth it to ask her out and see what she thought. But the scared, rational part of him was screaming at the top of its lungs that his and Toire's friendship was too precious to risk.

But by the end of that winter break and the time when Teddy was on the train to head back to Hogwarts, the reckless side had won him over.

~ findo narratum ~

But maybe romance wasn't quite it either. Yet.

Walking through the village of Hogsmeade with his hands shoved in his pockets, an eighteen-year old Teddy braced his shoulders against the chill of the winter air and cursed that he hadn't thought to bring a scarf or a hat or even a heavier coat. His Gran was going to kill him if she found out he'd been stupid enough to brave the cold without the proper attire.

But this had been a last minute decision, as he'd thankfully gotten the day off from the job he despised, working for Raymond Spriggs, the owner and manager of Spriggs's Discount Quidditch Supplies. Upon hearing the delightful news that he wasn't needed in the shop today, he'd decided he was going to come surprise Victoire on her Hogsmeade visit. That is, if she even wanted him around, he reminded himself bitterly.

Things with their relationship had been rocky and relatively unsteady even from the first date they'd had, and had only gone downhill from there over the year this had been going on. Hell, it had been weird even since he'd asked her out, considering she'd seemed to have thought he was joking when he'd asked to go flying with her on her new broom as more than friends. She'd been smirking about it until he showed up outside Ravenclaw Tower one morning, and that smirk had disappeared when he told her it was time to go.

As he waited near the edge of the village and spotted the first sign of Hogwarts students making their way over, Teddy perked up and shivered in the cold. Eventually, he spotted Victoire, and while a grin sprouted over his face like it always did when he saw her, and his eyes lit up, his expression quickly darkened when he realized that she wasn't alone. She was walking with another boy. And the boy was clearly interested in her, from the expression on his face and the way he was walking too close to her, yet... Toire wasn't doing anything. His frown quickly turned into a scowl, and his blood started to boil, as he slowly made his way over towards them.

It wasn't that Teddy was normally a jealous person – he was pretty good-natured about her being around other blokes, having other friends, because of course she would. After all, he didn't have ownership of her, and while she was his best friend and he hers, of course he'd hoped and expected that she would be friendly with other people.

But not, he noted as he spotted the way this particular boy was staring at her, not friendly with boys like that. Plus, over the past year, Victoire had slowly started to cut off all physical contact with Teddy and often pushed him away when he got too close. Yet it looked like she had absolutely no problem with being friendly and cheerful when someone else was around. Teddy bristled.

As he approached them, the pair had stopped outside a store, looking at and admiring a gingerbread house decorated for the holidays. Teddy couldn't hear what was being said as he got close, but he made his presence known by clearing his throat and, in a forcefully cheery voice, said,

"Hey, Toire. And, er, whoever you might be." He wasn't nearly so cheerful-sounding as he addressed the boy with Victoire, his voice automatically icy and scarily resembling his grandmother when she was angry with someone or something. But then his gaze and focus turned back to his girlfriend, and he managed a genuine smile down at her. "I got the day off, if you can believe it, I thought we could take some time together, if you wanted. It's been forever since I've seen you last."

The expression Teddy got in return caught him off guard. Victoire was frowning, and didn't look at all pleased to see him. "Teddy," was all she said in greeting, her voice colder than normal.

The boy that had accompanied her looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Toire, did you want me to-"

"Go on inside, Felix, I'll be there in a minute." Her dismissive tone sent the lad, apparently named Felix, scurrying into the store, but it wasn't that which had caught Teddy's attention. Her words had. What had he stumbled in on? Before he could think on it further, Toire was speaking again, this time addressing him in the same cold manner she had just a moment ago, her eyebrows raising almost in a haughty manner, "So you just show up in Hogsmeade? You saw me two weeks ago, Teddy, and three weeks before that."

Teddy's smile disappeared. Confused and on the defensive, he countered, "Well, I- yeah. I thought I'd surprise you. I used to see you every day, you know." As her expression grew darker and darker, Teddy began to feel desperate. What had he done wrong? Instead of trying to figure out what exactly was wrong, he went on the offensive. After all, he wasn't the one trying to brush off his girlfriend. "Do you just hate my presence all of a sudden? Do you not want me here so you can continue your little dates with... with that Felix guy behind my back and not worry about it?"

Maybe he'd gone too far, maybe he was taking things to a level they didn't need to go to, and from the expression that took over Victoire's face, he guessed he wasn't far off the mark in thinking that.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "Felix is my Quidditch captain, Teddy, and a friend of mine. Jealousy is hardly attractive, you know, you're being a right git."

Where was all this coming from? To say that he didn't understand what was going on with his girlfriend, the girl who was his best friend, would be an understatement. But there was one thing he knew he was right about. "Yeah, a friend who'd give anything to stare at your breasts every time you turn around, or snog you senseless in a broom cupboard if he got the chance," he snapped.

He went on to say, "A git? Really? I'm just trying to be your bloody boyfriend, Victoire, what's going on with you? We used to be best friends and now I'm lucky if you'll even give me two seconds of your time - you hardly even write me anymore."

There it was. The main issue the pair of them had been having as a couple from the very start, or at least the way Teddy saw it. That was what he had never quite understood. They'd been best friends before, and yet somehow when they'd started dating she almost completely shut down. She hardly even spoke to him anymore. And now he was getting this?

"God damn it, Teddy, I don't have time for this!" While he'd been thinking ,Victoire had clearly had enough, as she stomped her foot and glared at him. "Why can't you just leave me the hell alone? You keep saying give you two seconds, but you won't let me have two seconds to myself to give!" With that, she turned around and started stalking away.

But confused and determined as ever to get to the bottom of this, Teddy followed her. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea, and maybe he should have let her be, but right then he needed to know. Something else was going on and she wasn't telling him. "Time for what?" he berated her. "For me? Why the hell are you telling me to leave you alone when I hardly talk to you as it is? What is even going on? Do you not want to date me anymore? Do you want me to stop talking to you, caring about you? What is it that I-"

Without even thinking, he found himself getting shoved by a very, very angry Victoire, who had turned and was glaring at him with might he'd never seen before. Before he could say anything else, she was screaming, "Why can't you just shut up?!"

"I-"

"I WANT YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE, LUPIN!"

Teddy froze in his tracks. Of all the little stings and nips he'd felt to his pride and his heart over the past year, the shove was what did it. The shove, and the use of his last name. She had never called him Lupin, except in teasing, but never when she was angry. In the years to come, he might have winced away from her and backed down, but not on that day, not when the injury was so fresh and raw. Not when he was eighteen, and still learning about himself and maturing into the world.

"Left alone?" he snapped right back at her, his voice raw with emotion of his own. "You want to be left alone? Fine. Be alone. Or better yet, how about you go in and snog Felix like he's been wanting? Because I'm done. I'm done with this, and I'm done with you. Now that I know what you really think of me, it's a wonder you even bothered with me all these years."

He didn't even wait for a reply. He couldn't - he wouldn't be able to handle it if she screamed at him again, and he was too raw right then to even think straight. So Teddy did the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life. He walked away from her.

It wasn't until years later that Teddy would quite come to understand the circumstances that had led to that very fight, the pressures that Victoire had been feeling that had put her in such a sour mood when he'd shown up in Hogsmeade. Their relationship ended that day, and their friendship became permanently fractured. But still, at the Weasley gatherings to come, relatives and anybody who knew the young couple held out hope that maybe, someday, they'd mend things and bring Teddy back into the family.