Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize belongs to the one and only J.K. Rowling

"I never dreamed her footsteps could ever sound so lonely
As they did when she left today
I raised my hand and brushed your tear as I helplessly stood there
Just watching my world walk away"

-Jack Greene

Flashback

Lately there had been something very different about Victoire. When they were younger they could play and have a good time without a care, and during her 3rd year and his 5th, he remembered her being really shy and jumpy around him. Last year she had avoided him like the plague, but they were now walking from practice together and she hadn't blushed, tripped or stuttered once. One part of him was glad that she could be herself with him again, but another part of him was upset because he kind of thought she had a crush on him and it was kind of sweet. In a platonic way.

Thinking about how they'd grown up together like that had gotten really hard for him lately This was his last year at Hogwarts, next year he'd be Merlin knoes where, and all he wanted to do was make sure she was happy and safe before he left. Honestly, she did look happy. Speaking of looks, Victoire had certainly grown over the summer. She was never merely a pretty girl, but now she was a woman; and they might be nearly family, but he was still a boy and he could appreciate her looks. He looked down at his long time friend who was currently talking to him about something or the other. He was immediately drawn to her eyes, which were so blue that he could cry. They were really lit up from whatever she was talking about and even though he hadn't heard a word of what she'd been saying he could feel her excitement.

"Ted! Earth to Teddy, did you hear me?" Victoire asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. She was waving her hand in front of his face and he could smell her Jasmine scented perfume.

"Sorry Vic, must have been daydreaming." He said lamely. She laughed at his sudden bashfulness and the sound of her laugh sounded like music. Had she always laughed like that? If so, how had he never noticed?

"It's great to know you can tune me out so easily; you probably haven't listened to a word I've said all our lives." she joked

"Not my fault you're so boring." This was obviously a lie. She couldn't be boring if she tried. She shoved him playfully and he could have sworn the spot her hand touched was burning. Was that her perfume?

"Well I was just saying that Damarco Zabini asked me to go to Hogsmead with him this week, and I was wondering if you could shorten practice just this one time so Molly and I could have time to get ready. Please, Ted?" she asked.

Poor Teddy wasn't sure what his reaction should have been. For one, he didn't like the sound of Molly dating. She was only 13; he'd have to discuss that with her later. But Victoire was going on a date with Damarco Zabini. Why did that make him want to vomit? It had to be because Vic was like a cousin to him. Right?

"Vic, I don't know-" he started, but her eyes immediately turned sad. He was already failing at keeping her happy.

"Oh please, please, please, please? I'll never be late for practice again and I'll even take over some of your patrolling duties! It's just that I've never been on a date before and he's asked and I said yes before you scheduled practice for that day. Please!" It was painfully obvious how much she wanted to go on this date. She was now jumping up and down resembling a child begging their parent for a toy in a store. It was really cute.

"Um sure, I guess so." he answered, trying to shove off the unfamiliar feelings in his stomach.

"Teddy you're the best!" she said, hugging him tightly "I'm gonna go tell Mo" Then Victoire walked away, and call him crazy, but Teddy thought she took a piece of him with her. He'd seen her walk away plenty of times before but this time it felt like it meant so much more; like she may not come back, or at least not to him. There was some really weird symbolic, Divination-like thing going on here and it seemed like his heart was pounding in his chest. He wanted to go after her but had no idea way. Maybe he was in fact losing his mind. Teddy didn't understand where all these feelings had come from, but he could definitelytell things were changing.

It had been three days since he blew up at Vic, and she hadn't so much as looked at his sorry ass. He felt terrible about everything he had said, but knew there wasn't much he could do. You never mess with a Weasley girl when she was upset; he'd learned that from Ginny. It wasn't that she would be mad, but even worse he knew that she'd be hurt and disappointed. Everytime he replayed the fight in his head he felt worse and worse. Had he actually attempted to forbid her from dating another guy? That was ridiculous. And he was pretty sure he had basically called her a slag-in-training and said she was stupid. There was no way in hell she was going to ever forgive him. He was lying in bed, brooding when he heard soft footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Go away", he called to the ceiling, not really caring who was at the door.

"Go away. And they call me the drama queen." Molly said sarcastically. She came in anyway, opened his curtains, and plopped down on his bed looking at him with those big, nosy, intrusive eyes.

"Seriously Molly, what if I was naked or something? You just can't barge into a guy's room like that." He ranted. She had to be the most annoying out of his younger...well cousins, for lack of a better word.

"Oh, shut up. There's a picture of you and Vic bathing together on Gran Molly's fireplace; not to mention the fact that our family is full of boys. And if you must know, I've seen it all before. On a dare." She replied.

TMI, as the muggles would say. "For the love of Merlin, Mouth what do you want?"

"I want you to get your thick head out of your pathetic little arse and fix things with Vic. And I don't just mean the fight, I mean everything!" she yelled before smacking him hard on the chest. Had she lost her mind?

"I'm too ashamed to face her. Do you realize I made her mad? Like full-on, red in the face mad. I didn't even know that was possible."

"Well you did it, and now you have to face it and fix it. And fix everything!"

"Stop saying that! I don't even know what 'everything' is, you're not making any sense."

Molly sighed, "Wow. So you are dumber than everyone thinks. Victoire's in love with you , you prat. She has been for years and only came to terms with it last summer. Everyone on this entire planet can see that except for you. The whole family's been waiting for you to pull it together and our grandmothers practically spell it out for you any time the two of you look at each other."

Teddy was not sure if he had heard the little brat correctly. Victoire was in love with him? With him? That's impossible. She would have said something by now, right? "She can't be. I'm just Teddy."

"Well you're not just Teddy to her. " Molly said picking at her school robes.

"If Victoire is in love with me, why is she dating that idiot Damarco Zabini?"

"Well you can't expect her to have waited around for you forever; even you aren't that irresistable." he was going to ignore that last part. "She had to get on with her life, considering the alternative is pining over you for the rest of her life." He really had nothing to say back to her considering the state of disbelief he was currently in. He sat with his mouth hanging open for a good 3 minutes before Molly left, clearly bored of the conversation.

Teddy was so shocked he could not properly process this information. She loved him? She loved him. The most beautiful girl in the world was in love with a dumb arse like him. And then it clicked, he loved her too. That's why he'd been having all those unexplainable feelings lately; he wasn't crazy, he was in love! He loved everything about her. The way she nagged him about his appearance, her eyes, her smile, her kindness towards everyone, her love for Quidditch, and so much more. He rushed to his trunk and pulled out parchment and a quill to write a letter to Harry.

Dear Harry,

I love Victoire.

Did the entire family really know? Isn't there some kind of 'godfatherly' talk you could have had with me about this? Did you all place a bet on when I'd figure it out? Well congrats to whoever guessed my 7th year; Molly couldn't keep her mouth shut (shocking, no?) But, I've got to go. See you at the game this weekend. Oh yeah, Molly let that one out of the bag too. Is there something we can do about her?

Love,

Teddy

He attached the letter to his owl and immediately started getting ready for the day. He was in the Great Hall having lunch when he saw his owl coming towards him. He recognized Harry's handwriting immediately.

Dear Teddy,

It's about time son. I would've told you sooner but where would the fun have been in that? As for the bet, Audrey and Ginny are the winners. Ginny for guessing 7th year and Audrey for guessing that Molly would spill the beans. Mothers know best I suppose. We're all so happy for you! And as for this Zabini kid, give Vic some time. Everything that is meant to be will be, in time. Keep up the good work, and we'll see you at the game. And as for Molly Mouth, let her know silence is golden. If that doesn't work, Hermoine knows a pretty powerful silencing charm.

Much Love,

Harry

Teddy wondered how Harry knew about Vic and Zabini, but he was sure 1/3 of the Golden Trio could retrieve almost any information he wanted. He didn't think anything could change his spirits. Was it just him, or was everything in life better? The common room was brighter, the corridors were cleaner, and…and…and Vic was snogging Damarco Zabini. Right there in front of the Head's dorms. If there was anything that could crush a bloke's mood, that was it. Before he could turn around and leave, Zabini caught his eye.

"Spying now, are we Lupin?" he jeered before kissing Victoire again. Teddy felt it best not to mention they were right in front of his room.

"Teddy?" Victoire squealed half- embarrassed and half-surprised. Her cheeks were flushed and she was wearing a guilty expression.

"Uh, Vic could I talk to you alone please?" he asked. He was 98 percent sure she'd say no, which is why he jumped a little when she started walking towards him.

"Tori?" Zabini asked. Teddy cringed at the sound of Damarco using the childhood nickname he had given her. Had she told him to call her that? He could feel his hair turning, but wasn't going to let Zabini know he got to him.

"It's okay Marc, just give us a minute please?" With that Zabini walked away, but not without glaring daggers at Teddy. Right back at you mate. Vic waited for him to get a good ways away before rounding on Ted. "Well? You wanted to talk?" she asked, she wasn't even mad. Just as he expected the only emotion her eyes held was sadness, which hurt Teddy even more.

"Vic, I'm ridiculously sorry for all of those things I said, I don't even know what came over me. You just got me so angry that night and I guess I lost control. Believee me when I tell you that I've been absolutely miserable these past few days, because you haven't been talking to me. So miserable that Molly is the only human I've interacted with in 72 hours. I don't think I can apologize enough, but could you please forgive me?" he asked with as much confidence as he could muster.

She sighed, and looked him in the eye for the first time in days, "I forgive you. You knew I would, I can't stay mad at you. "

"Oh god, Vic thanks. I screwed up and I would have understood if you never wanted to speak to me again." She kissed him on the cheek and laughed off his last comment.

"I can never stay mad, especially not at you" she looked down as if she had said something she shouldn't have. He let out an internal sigh; they were good. Everything was going to be good, except for the fact that she had a boyfriend. That might be a problem.

"So, you and Zabini huh?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

She rolled her eyes and punched him lightly. "His name is Damarco, and yes me and him. You gonna be okay with that?" This was the part in one of those muggle movies where the guy would say he loved the girl and they would have a "moment". He stared into her eyes and was about to tell her how he felt, but this wasn't a muggle movie, and although it pained him, Teddy knew what he had to do.

"Well are you happy?" he asked. She didn't even hesitate before nodding and smiling. Great.

"If he makes you happy, then I'm okay with it." And it was true. Keeping her happy would be his number one priority from now on. She was looking down again with an expression that he thought was disappointment. It was like she had been hoping he would say something else; but that couldn't have been right. "As long as he doesn't get too touchy feely, then I'll have to hex his balls off"

Victoire laughed and hugged him then, and he thought his heart would burst. "Thanks Ted. This means a lot to me. See you at practice, I promise I'll be on time." He gave her a wave and for what seemed like the hundreth time, he watched her walk away. Teddy didn't think he would ever get used to her walking away.

A/N: Poor Teddy, being all chivalrous and what not. When will boys learn it's better to just say what you feel? lol Anyways, don't forget to review. Why? Because it makes me happy of course! Next chapter: Roxanne!
-Jazz