Two-Victoire

Teddy Lupin...I'd always thought he was interesting, even when I wasn't talking to him much when we were just little kids. I'd be there at The Burrow, giggling with Dom and leafing through the pages of Witch Weekly without even taking any meaning from them, and every so often I'd glance at him throwing a Fanged Frisbee to little Louis and roaring with laughter at the sight of Louis running away from it instead of trying to catch it. But I never really properly thought about him. I just thought he was interesting. But after all, no-one could deny that.

With his mother being a Metamorphagus, he would look different every time I saw him growing older at one birthday party or another. At James's birthday party, he turned up with a soft mess of jet black hair and deep brown eyes, and then when I saw him next at The Burrow for Christmas, he had blue eyes and his hair was ash blonde. I had to do a double take every time I saw him, because I couldn't be sure if it was really him or not. His appearance seemed to change rapidly when he was younger, but as he grew up he stuck to more or less the same heart-shaped face, the same short turquoise hair. By the time I was eleven and starting at Hogwarts I had some of my own close friends, and he had his, so that the times spent happily chasing gnomes at The Burrow with all of us seemed to drift further and further away.

Not that we didn't still speak. He hexed some Slytherins for me once, because they said I was a no-good filthy blood traitor, and though I appreciated the gesture I was a little annoyed because he seemed to think I couldn't manage them on my own. Well, of course I could. The growing patches of green fungi sprouting all over their faces proved that.

At the end of my third year, Mum and Dad asked me if I wanted to go back to The Burrow for some time in the summer, as we so often did, and I said yes, of course. Dom was about to start her first year at Hogwarts so she was eager to see all of the many cousins to tell her about it, and Louis knows Grandma absolutely loves him, so he wanted to go too. And with that, we left.

I knew Aunt Ginny's kids would be there, of course, and Lily was only six so I looked forward to seeing her (she was the most adorable little child – still is, actually). But alongside Lily, Albus and James, Teddy came too. And I don't know why, but I found myself thankful that he was there, because something about him seemed to remind me of all the happy times we had spent at The Burrow or at Uncle Harry's as kids, and I liked that. In that summer, I talked to him more than I ever did at Hogwarts, surrounded by his older friends and his somewhat intimidating girlfriend. We were free of all that at The Burrow, and therefore it became much easier to relax around him. He really seemed to like me, too, and it was as if his cool-guy-with-the-blue-hair image suddenly dropped away.

His hair wasn't actually blue by that time, though. He was sixteen, tall, really good-looking, with a cute crooked grin and these fantastic olive-green eyes. His hair was a deep purplish-red, raspberry-coloured, and it somehow seemed to compliment all of his features at once, enhancing the twinkle in his eyes and his cheekbones and his skin. Seeing him just literally made me alight with happiness – it's a little embarrassing when I can feel myself glowing like a sodding Portkey, but hey, at least it gets people's attention.

By the time we returned for Hogwarts in September (Teddy having achieved O. in all of his subjects, little smartarse), it was almost as if things were back to normal, doing the same routine things and homework and classes. But – it wasn't normal. Both Teddy and I knew that something was subtly different, only none of us could put our finger on what it was. And then we realised it was us. We were different. We'd realised how much we liked each other.

I remember it vividly.

'Hey, Vic,' Teddy said casually, waving at me as he entered the Three Broomsticks with a group of his sixth-year friends.

'Ugh,' I said in disgust as he slipped into the seat beside me. 'Haven't I told you I hate that name?'

'Many times,' Teddy grinned. 'So, what will it be, then? Tor? Torie? Vicky?'

'Nothing,' I said firmly, looking up from my collection of parchment. 'Victoire's fine, thanks.'

Teddy just shrugged, flashing me an adorable crooked smile. 'Homework?' he guessed, watching me sort through the many pieces of parchment.

'Yes,' I replied resentfully. 'Listen to this: I have to practice the Summoning Charm for Flitwick, explain in detail why food is one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law, and write an essay on the importance of Jobberknoll feathers for a Memory Potion. Ridiculous!'

'Ah, well, you haven't even got half as much as I have,' Teddy told me, his eyes twinkling.

'Shouldn't you be doing it then?' I asked him in mock reprimand.

'Oh, I'll just make something up nearer the time,' Teddy said instantly, smiling coolly. 'The teachers always lap it up.' Why did he have to be so infuriatingly smart?

'It's alright for some. Where's your friends?' I asked, loading up my quill.

'They've gone to get drinks. Where's yours?' he asked me in return, pretending to look pitying.

'Shut up. Lucida's at Scrivenshaft's, actually.'

'Ooh, I see.'

I rolled my eyes at him playfully and continued with my work, trying hard to ignore his penetrating eyes which I knew were upon mine. Then, he spoke.

'Victoire?'

'Yeah?'

'Go out with me?'

I sat with my quill poised above my parchment, dripping ink blots everywhere. I was stunned, though I kept my face perfectly composed; I didn't want him to know how much I was taken by surprise at his question and how much I'd wanted to hear him ask it.

'Well,' I began calmly, though I could feel that strong glow creeping up on me again, and cursed it for giving me away, 'What exactly do you mean by, "go out with me"?'

I was teasing him, pretending to be confused, making him explain himself fully to my great enjoyment. He knew this and his eyes gleamed momentarily before grinning.

'I think you should be my girlfriend,' he said casually, but his tone didn't deceive me; I could see his eyes widening and he sounded a little breathless. It was a rather unfortunate side effect that when I was glowing like I was at the moment, people seemed to forget what they were saying and their eyes glazed over a little. But I couldn't help it – with Veela in my blood, it was inevitable that I would possess some sort of Veela-ish enchanting glow that stopped people dead in their tracks. I'd seen the look on Dad's face when Mum was particularly happy. It was an expression that my sister and brother and I used to giggle about because we teased him for looking like he'd been Confunded.

'Oh, your girlfriend?' I asked politely, humouring him.

'Yes,' Teddy said, and his eyes dropped to the ground for a second. 'I just – it seems mad that you're not with someone else already, so I'm nabbing you before somebody else does.' Then he paused, laughing. 'No, that sounds like I only want you out of spite, doesn't it? What I mean is, I really, really, like you, and personally I think I'd make an excellent boyfriend, so why not?' He winked jokily.

I was slightly taken aback by that, and somehow I fought the urge to laugh. It sounded like one of those petty chat-up lines.

'Teddy,' I began, but he interrupted me hurriedly.

'Don't force me to tell you everything, OK? You're making me more embarrassed by the second, and I know you're loving it – '

'Too right,' I muttered.

' – but we both know what happened over the summer, and I know now that if I could have my pick of any girl, it wouldn't be anyone else but you.' He cringed a little at that, though, I was pleased to see.

'Well, who knew Teddy Lupin could be so romantic?' I laughed.

Teddy laughed too. 'Come on, Victoire, you know you love me,' he said with a wink.

'We'll see after our date,' I said with a raise of my eyebrows. 'Because, you know, you can't just come in here and ask me to go out with you and then supply a cheesy line like that without taking me somewhere decent afterwards, to make up for the cheesiness.'

'And if it's decent enough, you'll go out with me?' Teddy said, catching on.

'We'll see,' I said mystically, though we both know he had me already.

And that was that. I wasn't sure if I was going to like being someone's girlfriend. It made the whole thing sound like he owned me. But, to my immense relief, it wasn't like that at all. It was just like being back at The Burrow the previous summer, actually. He wasn't only my boyfriend; he was my best friend.

It was difficult trying to find the time to spend with each other, given that I was preparing for O. and he was going crazy with all the N.E.W.T work he had to do, but we managed it. My best friend Lucida couldn't stop teasing me about it, and of course everyone thought I was seriously lucky to be going out with Teddy Lupin – he was popular, smart and well-liked, and many a girl gave me dirty looks when they saw me with him, I can tell you – but in the end it wasn't about anyone else. It was about us.