A/N: Er, nothing really to say here.

Disclaimer: not mine.


Teddy took a sip of his firewhisky, wincing slightly as it burned its way down his throat. He examined the glass he held in front of him, swishing the amber liquid around its container while he contemplated his rather unfortunate romantic situation. Eighteen years old, freshly graduated a year ago, godson of Harry Potter, son of two war heroes and where does he find himself? Alone at a bar on a Saturday night. He didn't even want to think of all the wonderful things that could be happening to him if it wasn't for the rather untimely revelation he had a few days ago.

"Thanks again for inviting me over," Ethan had said to Teddy while they were sorting through paperwork at Gringotts.

"No problem," Teddy shrugged. "Bill didn't seem to mind at all. Plus Fleur loves having more people over anyway."

"Yeah," Ethan said, reminiscing of the night before and the beautiful woman who had served him a rather rare steak. "I don't care if she's older; she's one fine looking woman."

Teddy threw him an exasperated look. "She's married," Teddy reminded him, "to an acclaimed curse breaker who, I might remind you, is your boss."

"Details, details," Ethan said, waving them away.

Teddy sighed. He knew Ethan was just joking. He always was joking.

"But," Ethan continued, "Her daughter, the older one who's still in school-"

"She's a minor!"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "She's what, sixteen? Almost of age," he pressed on, "She's bloody gorgeous."

Teddy didn't deny it. It was true, his Vic could certainly turn an astounding number of heads in the streets whenever she walked by. Her sparkling blue eyes, silky blond hair and tall stature all combined together to make her very pleasing to male eyes.

"It's not just that she's beautiful," Teddy said, feeling obliged to explain what a wonderful person Victoire was beyond her looks, "She's smart, has a wicked sense of humour, cannot hold a drink to save her life and always roots for the underdog. She's always sincere and incredibly stubborn. Her vocabulary is larger than mine, always has been. " Teddy paused for breath.

"Woah," Ethan said, looking taken aback. "Are you marrying the girl or something?"

"What? Vic? No," Teddy laughed, but the sound seemed oddly grating on his ears. "We're just really good friends, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Ethan pressed; "Because I was going to ask her out; she being on her spring break and everything, but if she's taken, then I won't..." he drifted off.

"No, by all means," Teddy said bracingly. "Just, just, treat her right, okay? Because I'll have to kick your arse if she gets hurt."

Ethan laughed out loud at gentle Ted's amusing attempts to be intimidating.

"I mean it," Teddy insisted, "If she comes to me crying, you'll have to watch out for anyone and everyone."

"Huh?"

"Everyone," Teddy repeated slowly, morphing his face into Bill's, then Harry's, then Ethan's, then Ethan's father who Teddy had met last week.

"Woah," Ethan repeated, eyes wide in what Teddy presumed was fear. "Okay, then Teddy," he said quickly, "No hurting Vicky, got it."

Teddy grinned at his friend's horror struck expression. "No worries, mate," he clapped a stunned Ethan across the back. "If you don't mess it up too badly with Vic, then I have no reason to hunt you down."

Ethan could only nod.

At the bar, Teddy sighed and took another gulp of his stiff drink. That afternoon Teddy had gone home to his flat did some thinking, Ethan's words circling round his head.

He couldn't fancy Vic.

He had known her forever, she was like family.

But.

There was there were small things. Miniscule things, really. Practically microscopic.

Later, Teddy swore that he must have been very dense to not notice the signs.

Like when he picked her up from the Hogwarts Express when she came home for the Christmas holidays. She hugged him and laughed in his ear when he ruffled her hair. The tingles that he felt where her breath met his neck cannot have possibly been platonic, normal friendly tingles. Who even gets bloody tingles around friends anyway?

Or that when he saw her sleeping on the couch when the whole family had gathered at the Potters' to celebrate Christmas, he had a fleeting desire to sweep her up into his arms and plant kisses all over her until she woke up. However, he had blamed the urge on his teenage hormones because that was the only logical solution...

Still, and then there was not quite small, not quite miniscule, not quite microscopic fact that he could not get Victoire out of his mind. Everything seemed to remind him of her; his every thought seemed to relate, somehow, to Victoire.

It would have been bad enough without the slightly illegal dreams Teddy has been having for the past few months featuring Victoire in not quite age appropriate situations. He hasn't been able to look Bill in the face for weeks.

Over the past few days, ever since Ethan had asked her out, Teddy had been mulling these examples in his head, plus a million others that have since occurred to him.

Bloody hell, Teddy thought hopelessly. He downed his drink this time, and stared intently at his empty glass as he held it up to the light.

It was as he was raising his hand to ask for a second drink that he heard a series of loud giggles outside the bar. Suspiciously familiar giggles.

Teddy whipped his head around just in time to catch Victorie stumble and hit her head on a nearby lamppost. Gazing through the front window of the bar, he saw her get shakily back to her feet, mutter something, and then throw her head back in outrageous laughter. Her friend Grace, who was tripping along right next to her, was doubled over in hysterics and pointing at Victoire's forehead.

"Shit," Teddy murmured to himself. Quickly he pulled out a few sickles and left them on the counter for his drink. He rapidly exited the bar and beheld one of the weirdest sights in his life – including the time James had somehow gotten a hold of his father's wand and transfigured Al's teddy bear into some kind of chicken-shrimp monstrosity with a magnificent set of antlers.

Victoire, his level headed bookish Vic, was completely three sheets to the wind, giggling, staggering, drunk in the middle of the sidewalk clutching a mostly full bottle of firewhisky.

"Teddy!" she yelled once she caught sight of him. "What're you doin' here?" she nudged Grace, ignoring her loud protests and hissed in a loud, perfectly audible whisper, "Look it, it's Teddy, Teddy Lupin!" She looked absurdly happy.

"I can see him you git!" Grace said, hitting Victoire on the top of her head for her stupidity.

"Ow!" she said loudly, "Teddy, look, she attacked me!" she ran up to Teddy and clutched his arm, "Go take points from Ravenclaw, g'on!" she encouraged.

Shaking his head slightly, he tenderly removed her fingers where they were gripping his arm. "I can't Vic," he started, chuckling slightly.

"Why the bloody hell not?" Victorie asked in an outraged voice.

"I'm not in Hogwarts anymore," Teddy explained slowly, staring into her glassy blue eyes.

"Oh," she said quietly, "Oh," she repeated a second later and bit her lip, looking very put out.

"Look Vic, why are you drinking in the first place?" Teddy asked her sternly.

Victoire turned away from him and forcefully linked Grace's arm in hers. "It's Gracie's birthday today. Seventeen!" She held up her bottle in toast and took a large swig.

"And so the best way you could think of celebrating it would to get totally drunk at," Teddy checked his watch that Harry had given him on his seventeenth birthday, "one in the morning?" he finished dubiously.

"Well no," Victoire said, shaking her head so her blond hair flew everywhere, "there was a party, and then we snuck out of the house!" she started giggling madly. "Gracie then showed me this pub down the street."

"It was fabulous." Grace, at least seemed slightly better than Victoire. "And we got a souvenir! Show him, Vicky!"

Still giggling, she triumphantly held the nearly full bottle once again. "We had a couple, and then got some t'go!" She took another sip, laughing as a few drops spilled down her front.

Teddy looked on disapprovingly. True, Victoire was awfully funny when totally plastered, but he felt it was his duty to watch over her. He was older after all, and the only relatively sober one in present company. "Look Victoire, I'm all for you having fun and all, but I think you've had enough," he slowly approached her and attempted to prise her fingers off the bottle.

"Let it go Teddy," she protested loudly. "Ugh, I, ugh!" She stormed away from him down the street.

"What's wrong Victoire?" asked Teddy gently as he walked back to stand right in front of her again.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Grace duck into the bar he had just exited. Well, Teddy thought, I'll deal with Vic and then get her friend.

Sighing, he looked back to Victoire who was looking at him with a murderous glint in her blue eyes. "I'm just having fun," she whined.

"I know," Teddy told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "But Vic, I think you don't need any more alcohol."

"How can you stand me?" Victoire asked him plaintively.

"What?" Teddy asked. When it was clear that Victoire wouldn't elaborate, he said, "What kind of foolish question is that?"

"I'm boring!" she said, scrunching up her face.

Teddy tried really hard to not think about how cute she looked when she did that.

"I'm no fun, and I just stay inside and read all the time!" she insisted.

"I don't think you're boring," Teddy said, surprised. "Vic, you think you're boring?" he asked her softly.

"Well, yeah." She shifted from foot to foot, suddenly very shy. Ducking her head down and staring at the floor, she muttered, "even with Ethan..."

"What?" Teddy asked sharply. "Has he done anything to you?" he demanded.

"Wha'? No!" Victoire denied. "Sometimes I think that he thinks that I am only pretty."

"You're not pretty."

Victoire looked highly offended.

Staring into her eyes, Teddy could make out tears building and he continued on hurriedly, "You're beautiful, Vic."

Damn drunk Victoire. Brought out the girly side of him. Bugger. He instantly regretted saying anything. Still, he reassured himself, she'd probably wake up with a wicked hangover the next morning and hopefully not remember anything that happened tonight.

"Really Teddy?" Victoire searched his face with shining eyes. "You mean it?"

"Of course I do Vic," Teddy said as she threw herself at him in an enormous hug. "Still Vic, you've drank enough for tonight."

"Uh uh," Victoire shook her head furiously as she stepped away from him.

"Oh yes," Teddy insisted. "You're drunk," he told her flatly.

"I know that," Victoire said, and started giggling again.

He reached for the bottle again, but she danced away from him claiming in a sing-song voice, "You've got no right Teddy Lupin!"

After a few more unsuccessful tries to wrest the firewhiskey from her, an idea occurred to him. He had to keep Victoire in his sight at all times; there was no way he would ever let her leave him in this state. That meant he would have to persuade her to stay at his flat for the rest of the night. He couldn't return her home after all, he reasoned with himself. Bill would kill his underage daughter for going out and getting pissed at one o'clock in the morning. Teddy certainly didn't want Victoire dead.

That's all it is, Teddy insisted mentally, a choice between his flat and death. Of course he would choose housing Vic for the night; he didn't want Bill to be sent for Azkaban for murdering his eldest. But there was no arguing with her in this state, she proved remarkably stubborn even when totally wasted.

At least, to Teddy.

"Fine," Teddy said shortly. "I'll go get someone who can boss you around!" he huffed before Disapparating.

"No-" Victoire started as he disappeared. "Teddy, wait! Fuck! fucking shit!"

Grinning, Teddy could still hear her curses from where he had reappeared around the corner, just out of her eyesight. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on becoming the man he had pictured in his mind's eye. Once done he quickly conjured a mirror to inspect his reflection. Relatively satisfied, Teddy walked out to intercept Victoire before she could run away or follow her friend into the bar.

Victoire's slightly flushed face instantly blanched as she saw the man who walked into the light from the dim streetlamp. "Bloody hell!" she yelled, nearly jumping in fright. "Er-" she paused, clearly unsure of what do to or how to explain herself. "Hi, Uncle Harry," she said brightly. "Fancy seeing you here!"

Peering through his newly transfigured glasses, Teddy could see that Victoire was busily hiding the bottle behind her back with one hand and attempting to smooth down her wrinkled skirt with another.

"Hello, Teddy came to see me and told me you were here," he said, feeling very odd in referring to himself in the third person. "Come on Victoire, you need to get home."

"No!" Victoire disputed vociferously. "I can't go home, not yet!"

"It's one thirty in the morning," Teddy pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Come on, Uncle Harry," Victoire pleaded.

"No excuses," Teddy said, feeling horrible as he stared into her big blue eyes. Damn, he really had absolutely no willpower when it came to Victoire. He sighed, and adjusted the glasses on his nose. "Well-" he started.

Victoire, for all her drunkenness, could see that she was getting somewhere in her argument. "Thank you! Thank you!" she said, and launched to hug him.

Very gingerly Teddy pulled the blonde off him and kept his hands on her shoulders as he continued, "I'm not finished."

"Kay." She smiled docilely up at him.

Teddy pondered for a moment, considering how Harry would actually phrase his proposition. "If you're so opposed to going to Bill's, I suppose I could take you to Teddy's," he said slowly. "It's nearby."

"Do I have to?" Victoire asked, stepping away from him. She stumbled but a moment later regained her balance.

"What are you hiding behind your back Victoire?" Teddy asked pointedly, staring at where the firewhiskey bottle had been a second ago.

"Nothing?" she said, her voice lilting the word into a question.

"Let me see it," Teddy demanded, holding a hand out.

Grudgingly Victoire handed over the bottle of firewhiskey she had been saving. Quickly Teddy vanished it with a wave of his wand, completely ignoring Victoire's protests. "Come on," he said, taking her by the shoulder, "we should get going."

"Where's Teddy?"

"Out," he said vaguely.

"Out where?"

"Just out," Teddy said, looking curiously down at Victoire, who was frowning.

"Out with some bird?"

"No."

"He really isn't out with some bird?" Victoire pressed.

Teddy sighed. "Nope."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Teddy said forcefully.

Victoire looked visibly relieved and thankfully stopped her endless questions.

"Why are you so interested Vic?" Teddy couldn't help himself from asking.

"I'm not!" she denied loudly before muttering, "I, no... I have a boyfriend... Teddy better not be... ugh," she sighed noisily.

Teddy stared at her, completely baffled as to what she meant.

She tried again, "Je sais que j'ai un petit ami et ce n'est pas mes affaires, mais est-ce que tu sais que Teddy m'aime ? Parce-que tu es le même de son parent et il te parlerait, ouais ?"

Teddy was even more confused, considering that his French vocabulary consisted of only "arrête!" and "bonjour."

Victoire looked at him expectantly. Teddy guessed she must have just asked him a question.

"Er, yes?" he ventured.

Her face fell.

"Um, no," Teddy amended. He smiled at her apologetically, "Merlin, I don't know Vic."

Shaking his head in confusion, he entered the bar and convinced Victoire's friend Grace to accompany him to his flat. It was only a short distance away, and his charges spent most of it giggling.

"He fancies you!" Grace sang as Victoire scowled. "I saw him at Christmas, he fancies your for sure!"

"He does not!" she mumbled, "and shut up!"

"Uh uh."

Victoire gave a "humph!" of exasperation.

"He's better than the other one."

"No, he's not."

"He's more unique."

Victoire wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You can't be 'more unique,' just 'unique'."

Teddy chuckled quietly to himself. It was so like Victoire to be giving a grammar lesson even while totally smashed.

"Admit you fancy him!" Grace seized Victoire by the arm.

She shook her head violently. "I won't, 'cause I don't!"

That set Grace off in a long round of giggles. "That rhymes!" she said, gasping for breath.

A block more of inane conversation and they were at Teddy's flat. "Come on." He opened the doors for the two very tipsy girls and led them upstairs.

"Uncle Harry?" Victoire asked as she entered the living room. "Teddy won't mind us being here, right?"

"No. He won't mind. Why don't you get some sleep? It's getting late."

"Good because I wouldn't want to trouble him. I like him you know," she whispered rather loudly behind her hand. "He's a good friend," she added in her normal voice.

"You're no trouble," Teddy said before he could stop himself.

"You're so sweet Uncle Harry!" Victoire flung her arms around him.

He looked around; Grace had already passed out and was snoring on his couch. Damn. Only the one bed left.

Normally Teddy wouldn't object to sharing a bed with Victoire, and even more recently he had become even less resistant to the idea of sleeping with her. However, being in the same bed with her while she was intoxicated and under the impression that he was her uncle, just felt too wrong.

He prised her arms off him. "Here's the bed Victoire," Teddy said, leading her by the hand into his bedroom. "Get in," he said, throwing back the covers so that she could slide in between the sheets.

"You're so good to me, Uncle Harry," she sighed contentedly once she was tucked in. "I love you so much." She squeezed her eyes shut, not noticing the pained expression on his face.

"I love you too Vic," he said quietly, and gently kissed the top of her forehead before leaving the room and closing the door quietly.

Teddy spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, thinking of Victoire, pondering the value of his friendly relationship with Ethan and wondering why he ever bought such a bloody uncomfortable armchair.

Teddy awoke the next morning to a loud shriek and then a low moan. Getting up from the blasted seat, he made his way over to the kitchen to get a spare bit of potion to help Victoire with her hangover. At least it was Sunday, Teddy thought tiredly to himself as he walked to his bedroom, no work and no Bill to face.

"Uncle Harry?" Victoire looked like she had been hit over the head with a frying pan as she stared at her the black haired and green eyed uncle, sans the usual glasses though.

"What? No," Teddy laughed softly to himself as he changed back to himself.

"Oh Merlin, that was you?" Victoire said softly as she flopped back onto the bed.

"Yeah," Teddy said, still chuckling. "At least it wasn't really Harry."

"True," Victoire relented.

"Looks like I finally fooled you." Teddy grinned as he carefully sat down on the bed next to her.

"I was drunk," Victoire told the ceiling. "Legitimate reason."

"Excuses, excuses," Teddy said, waving her comments away. "Here, you should drink this soon." He handed her the glass with a clear liquid inside.

"Is it more vodka?" Victoire said, sniffing the glass experimentally. "I heard that more alcohol makes a hangover better."

"No," Teddy snorted. "Hangover cure."

"Brilliant." Without further ado Victoire downed the glass, shuddering after she was done. "That's gross."

"Yeah."

"Like, tastes like the-feet-sweat-of-grandma's-ghoul-from-the-attic gross."

"How could you possibly know that?" He looked her over with an appraising eye.

Victoire laughed, and then dizzily put a hand to her forehead. "When does it kick in?"

"In about a minute."

"Ugh," Victoire moaned. "I feel horrible."

"Based on the amount of firewhiskey you drank, I'm not surprised. What do you remember from last night?"

Victoire flushed slightly and muttered, "Not much."

Suddenly sounds could be heard from Teddy's living room. He got up, saying, "That must be Grace. I'll be right back, have to get her some of that same potion."

"Potion my arse. That's a torture device to be used with extreme caution!" she called as he left the room laughing.


A/N: for those of you who don't speak French (or can't understand my garbled version of French grammar -

hey she is drunk after all!), Victoire says to Teddy, "I know it's not my business and I have a boyfriend, but do you know if he loves me? Because you're practically his parent, and he talks to you, yes?" - I assume you guys know which 'he' Vic is talking about :)

the words that Teddy knows in French are "stop!" and "hello," respectively.