The Tale of Teddy
Chapter Three: One of the Boys
"Wasn't!"
"Was!"
"Wasn't!"
"Was!"
Teddy sighed to himself and pumped his legs, swinging in the old tire that hung from a tree branch outside Shell Cottage. He was a patient person but waiting for his two friends to cease their argument was harder than it seemed. They had all been playing an innocent game of 'It' that including all of the Weasley children and Harry's children as well. Fred was 'it' and he had tagged Andy near the 'safe spot'. Andy claimed his hand was on the spot and Fred said it was not. Hence their present altercation.
"Guys, this is pointless." said Teddy, offering a slice of his wisdom.
"It is not," said Andy. "It's a matter of principle, I was on the safe spot!"
"You were not!" screeched Fred and they picked up where they left off.
Silently, Teddy willed Auntie Fleur to call them for lunchtime. There was, of course, one benefit of this fight between the Weasleys. He was no longer in Victoire Weasley's company. She had become, if possible, more annoying than ever. Last year, she had begun to act very strangely around Teddy and his friends. But this was a different kind of strange. He was used to the Victoire who was clinging to him and swooning over him and asking for help. This new Victoire joked with him and his friends, followed them in the hallways just to make conversation and she even...discussed Quidditch with them. She didn't seem to be the fancy-pants girl she had been a year before. Fred and Andy loved the change in Teddy's admirer and so did his friends Mark and Daniel, but Teddy was skeptical.
Finally, Teddy's prayers were answered in the form of Auntie Fleur's flowery voice. "Teddy, Freddy, Andy, eet ees time for lunch!"
"Come on, guys!" said Teddy and he quickly jumped off the tire swing and started towards the yard of Shell Cottage.
Fred groaned, "Why does she turn my name into 'Freddy'?"
Andy laughed at his cousin's expense.
As Teddy approached the table, rolling his eyes, he saw Victoire grinning.
"Friend troubles?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. She almost looked like her old self.
"What's it to you?" he asked, sitting down opposite her.
She shrugged and reached for a piece of chicken resting on a plate.
He stared at her, feeling perplexed as all around him relatives came to the table. Aunt Ginny was seating little Lily near him and helping her get some food settled on her plate and Aunt Hermione was doing the same for her little Hugo. Auntie Fleur was getting Kenneth settled in and keeping an eye on Amelie as she spooned mashed potatoes on her plate. Albus and Rose were jabbering on about something to do with Victoire's puppy as they helped themselves to chicken. James was in deep discussion with Willie, Andy and Fred about Quidditch. The three older boys didn't seem to be taking him entirely seriously, young James was a bit notorious for exaggerating.
Once they were all settled down, Willie, Andy and Fred reluctantly seated next to Victoire, Harry turned to Teddy.
"How's your summer going, Teddy?" he asked, chewing on a piece of chicken.
"Pretty well." he answered.
"And how did your term go?"
Teddy thought. He thought about all the time he'd spent shaking off Victoire. Aside from all that it had been a good term. "Pretty well."
Harry laughed. "You sound just like me when I was in school."
Teddy beamed, it made him feel proud for some reason whenever Harry told him that he reminded him of himself. But that was nothing to the way he felt when Harry said he reminded him of his father.
After the picnic, the children resumed their game of 'It' until yet another argument broke out and Victoire went inside, presumably to escape the noise. A little while later, Teddy was sitting once again in the tire swing listening to James and Fred argue when Victoire came dashing out of the house towards them.
"She's gone! She's gone!" cried Victoire.
Teddy jumped out of the tire swing, "Who's gone?"
"My dog, Fifi!" she cried, on the brink of tears.
Teddy sighed, feeling genuinely exasperated with Victoire for the first time in ages.
"Well?" she demanded. Her cousins stared at her for a moment and then continued on with their argument.
"Aren't you going to help me look for him?"
"No," said Fred, stopping his tirade against his cousin for just a moment.
"No one?" said Victoire, looking pretty forlorn.
"Can't you see we're busy?" cried James. "Was not!"
"Vicky, get lost. You've been annoying us all year with your Quidditch talk and no one cares about your poofy dog." said Andy from where he was lying on the grass, staring up at the clouds.
"Fine, if you're going to be rude about it!" said Victoire and she crossed her arms and stomped off to a rock that sat on the cliff near Shell Cottage. She plunked herself down and the silence that had followed her outburst was ruined once again as the boys resumed their altercation.
Teddy sighed. "You know, you could have been nicer," he said and marched over to the rock deciding that he had better comfort her. He didn't want to, it was her own bloody fault, she shouldn't keep opening her big mouth and being annoying! But he reckoned that his father would have comforted a girl if she was crying. He knew both his parents had had strong morals and he always tried to emulate them at every turn.
"Victoire?" he said quietly when he was right next to her. "Are you all right?"
Victoire sniffed. "No," she said thickly.
"I'm sorry about them. They shouldn't have said those things, you know." he said, but still Victoire said nothing. She merely buried her head in her arms. Teddy knew what he had to do. He steeled himself and took a deep breath.
"Would you like me to help you?" he asked.
Victoire slowly raised her head to look at him. "You? You'd help me?"
Teddy shrugged, "Why not?"
"I thought you hated me."
Teddy sighed. "I don't hate you."
Victoire's expression brightened and she wiped her eyes. "Thank you."
Teddy wasn't sure if she was thanking him for asking to help or thanking him for the compliment he'd given her.
"Well, come on!" shouted Victoire, suddenly herself again. Before Teddy could do anything or say anything, Victoire had grabbed his hand and whisked him off in the direction of the small thicket of trees.
Victoire's small hand was smooth and small in Teddy's. He didn't think he had ever held a girl's hand unless of course you counted Gran; and he didn't. It felt...odd. And as Teddy was dragged along by Victoire, he could smell an odd sort of smell that seemed to trail behind her. It smelled rather pleasant and Teddy wanted to rip his hand out of Victoire's because it unnerved him. He did not really mind smelling her or holding her hand.
Finally he did rip his hand out of hers. "Do you have any idea where we're going?"
"We're looking for Fifi." said Victoire, a bit quietly.
"Ah." he replied.
Teddy had this odd feeling that that was not all Victoire wanted to do.
"So, are you planning on going to the Quidditch World Cup this year? Mum and dad say that Kenneth and Amelie are far too young to go but they said I can go with you if you're going. I think it would be a lot of fun."
Teddy blinked at her. "Victoire, do you even like Quidditch?"
Victoire turned away quickly but Teddy thought he saw the shadow of a blush on her pale cheeks. "Of course I do, it's loads of fun."
Teddy sighed. Victoire stayed turned away, toying with the end of her very long strawberry blonde hair that was, at present, drawn up on top of her head.
"You know, your hair looks much nicer when it's not in a ponytail."
Teddy said it very quickly and he wanted to suck the words back into his brain as soon as they had come out of his mouth.
"What did you say?" she asked, slowly turning back towards Teddy. Now it was Teddy's turn to blush across the bridge of his nose. He quickly morphed to hide it.
"Erm, nothing."
Victoire eyed him suspiciously. "I heard what you said."
"I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you did."
"I did not."
"You did too."
"Look," said Teddy, feeling more aggravated each minute. "We sound like your cousins now."
Victoire stared at him for a moment with her head cocked. She almost looked like she was about to kiss him. So, Teddy was very greatful when a dog barked in the distance.
"Fifi!" cried Victoire and she ran off in the direction of the barking. Teddy let out a breath of relief and followed her.
When he caught up with her, Victoire was petting a small, white dog who was barking enthusiastically.
"You found her."
"Er, yeah." Victoire kept petting her dog and kept her face hidden from Teddy. When she got up from the forest floor, she looked up at him. "Thanks for your help."
Teddy shrugged. "I didn't do anything."
"You came with me."
"So?"
"Well, you know, none of my cousins would come and help me." She moved closer to him. "So, thank you."
Before Teddy even knew what was happening, Victoire had kissed him on the cheek. A small, quick peck on his cheek. It was nothing. So why did it make him feel so warm and nervous?
He cleared his throat. "We'd better get back."
They slowly walked back to the picnic with Fifi jumping along happily in front of them. The rest of the day went on without incident. But Teddy noticed the next morning, and for the rest of his visit, Victoire no longer put her hair in a ponytail.
Livejournal A/N: Sooo, what do you think? Does anyone spot any continuity problems or anything that needs to be changed before I post it on Lemme know if there's anything I should consider. And, as always, suggestions about where it should go are more than welcome. Thanks!
A/N: Eh? Eh? Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge. LOL. Hope you liked it. Please review!
