Chapter Four: Veins (Value)

"You're completely certain you have everything, Teddy? You've packed your books, stationary and potions ingredients?"

"Ye—es, Gran." Teddy rolled his eyes as he lugged his trunk down the stairs. Gran had asked him the same question at least twenty times in the last three days. It was just like her to expect that he'd forgotten something—although, to be fair, he had almost left his new History of Magic textbook in the Flourish and Blotts bag. It wouldn't have been too big of a loss, though. History of Magic was his least favourite subject, and he couldn't wait to drop it the moment he got the chance to.

He deposited his trunk on the ground floor with a loud thump and joined his grandmother in the dining room, where she had already filled his plate with fried eggs, sausages, beans and fruit.

"Eat well, now, Teddy. Then you won't feel the need to stuff yourself full of sweets on the train."

Teddy nodded, grinning to himself. He knew that even if he ate a good breakfast, he'd be ravenous by the time he got onto the Hogwarts Express— and what was more, he knew that Ella would spring for treats off the trolley, as she always did.

His grin widened. Although it hadn't been that long since he'd last seen Ella and Alfie, he'd missed them loads. Their next year at Hogwarts together was looming, and he just knew that it would be fantastic—how could it not be, now that Victoire was joining them? As he ate, he babbled on to his grandmother about all the things he was looking forward to: the feasts, the Quidditch—

"—the homework," Gran teased.

Teddy screwed up his nose. "Maybe not the homework, although it's not usually that bad, and Ella helps. I wonder how Victoire will find it though—I mean, it can be a bit overwhelming, although we can definitely help her out, since we learned it all last year, and—"

He was interrupted when Gran cleared her throat, and put her fork down.

"Did I say something?"

"No," she reassured him. "But there is something I'd like to say to you."

"Oh." Nervousness crept into Teddy's stomach as he looked up at his grandmother, wondering what she could possibly want to say. She looked awfully serious; perhaps she was about to warn him not to look into what Ralph was up to. After all, she'd already spoken to him about it several times; according to her, it was the Aurors job to figure out whether Ralph had indeed cast that sign in Knockturn Alley, and Teddy was to simply leave the whole situation alone and concentrate on his studies. Although he'd promised to do so, Teddy had every intention of at least trying to figure out what Ralph was doing. He didn't know how he was going to investigate, but he felt as if he had to—after all, everything that had happened was his fault. If only he'd never agreed to steal that book from the library.

Thankfully, though, Gran didn't seem to want to discuss Ralph. Rather, the subject of the conversation was quite different. "I want to talk to you about Victoire."

"Victoire?!" Teddy almost dropped his fork. "What about her?"

"I understand that you're excited, Teddy. You two have been friends since you were toddlers, and now you're both about to go to school together. But keep in mind that you will be in different years. It is important that Victoire has the chance to make friends in her own year group, with her own peers."

"Yeah, but what if she wants to hang around with us?"

"I have no doubt that she will indeed wish to spend a majority of her time with you, Alfie and Ella—at least at first. But—and Aunt Fleur quite agrees with me—she must learn to move out of her comfort zone and make other friends as well, just as you did last year. And she will likely only do that with your encouragement."

"So you're saying that I shouldn't spend time with Vic?"

"No." Gran sighed heavily. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that yes, of course you should spend time with her, but you must also give her space."

"I don't understand," Teddy said. "What if she doesn't want that space?"

Gran paused for a second, contemplating, before continuing. "Let's think of it this way—what if your roles were reversed? Let's say that Victoire went to Hogwarts last year, and she made lots of really good friends, who you've met and you like. Now, you're about to start at Hogwarts, and you already have a group of people who you know through Victoire, so you spend all your free time with them. You sit with them on the Hogwarts Express, and at breaktimes and lunchtimes, and as a result, you don't become close friends with anyone in your year. Perhaps you know Alfie and Ella in passing, but because you're always with Victoire and her friends, you never get to be proper friends with them. Does it make sense, now?"

Teddy bit his lip and looked down at his plate. He'd been so looking forward to sitting with Victoire on the Hogwarts Express, to showing her the ropes, but Gran's little story had really gotten to him. What if it had been the other way around, and he'd never become friends with Alfie and Ella? They had been his support system, his backbone all the way through his first year and he couldn't imagine life at Hogwarts without them. Victoire was his best friend; how could he deprive her of the opportunity to make the same kind of friends that he had?

"I guess it does," he mumbled. "But what if she wants to spend all her time with me, Alfie and Ella?"

He saw a flash of irritation in his grandmother's eyes and quickly elaborated. "I don't mean that she should, no, I completely get what you're telling me, Gran, and I agree. But I don't want to push her away, either."

Gran visibly softened. "I understand, Teddy, and it will be difficult. But Aunt Fleur will have had the same conversation with Victoire—"

That'll have gone well, Teddy thought sarcastically.

"—and I'm sure she'll understand. Subtle hints now and then wouldn't hurt either, if you need to make them. Remember, it's for her own good."

Teddy nodded slowly. Suddenly, going back to Hogwarts didn't seem nearly as exciting. Victoire was surely expecting to sit with him on the Hogwarts Express—how on Earth was he going to convince her not to?

.oOo.

Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters was bustling, as it always was on September the first. Teddy couldn't help but wonder why Muggles never noticed a surprising lot of funny-looking people disappearing through a solid wall, but he supposed that there were some sort of enchantments on the place that made them simply look in the other direction.

The goodbyes passed without much event, for the most part. Aunt Fleur did get a little bit teary-eyed at the prospect at being away from her eldest child for so long, and Dominique threw a bit of a tantrum about not being old enough to go to Hogwarts. Teddy couldn't help but feel a little jealous as he watched Victoire with her family; although he knew he wasn't alone, like his uncle Harry had been when he first went to Hogwarts, he would never see his mother get teary-eyed at the prospect of him being away for too long, he would never appeal to his father when he couldn't get through to his mother. They could never be there for him like Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur were for Victoire.

His pocket suddenly felt rather heavy; he remembered that he was carrying the Marauder's Map in it. Although he wanted to show it to his friends, he also wanted to keep it to himself for a little while. It was so special; one of the only remnants he had of his father. He didn't want to share that quite yet.

Soon, he and Victoire were clambering aboard the scarlet Hogwarts Express, waving frantically to their families on the platform below. Teddy couldn't quite tell, but he thought Victoire looked a little teary-eyed. He didn't blame her; going off to school for the first time was an emotional moment. He was surprised he hadn't shed a few tears last year.

"We should probably find seats, shouldn't we? Or find Alfie and Ella?" Victoire asked him. "Before the train starts to move."

Teddy felt his heart sink a little. He'd been thinking a lot about his conversation with his grandmother that morning, and he had no idea how he was going to subtly push Victoire to sit with the other first-years. "Er—yeah," he said. "Yeah, we should. I guess."

She gave him a funny look. "Is something wrong, Teddy?"

"Oh! Er, no! Nothing at all!"

"Come on." She narrowed her eyes. "I know you better than that. What's up? Spill, before I make you."

"Wouldn'tyouprefertositwithotherpeople?"

"What?"

Teddy took a deep breath. "Would you perhaps prefer to sit with other people, Vic? Like, other first-years, maybe?"

Victoire laughed. "Nah—I'll have plenty of time to meet them later, won't I? At the Sorting, and during classes. I'd rather sit with you, Alfie and Ella."

"Yeah, but the Hogwarts Express is a great place to make friends, you know. It's where I met Ella, and got to know Alfie a bit better. You sure you don't want to sit in a different carriage?"

The usual glimmer in Victoire's eyes had vanished and been replaced by something a lot more sinister. "No," she said, firmly. "I want to sit with you. Unless, of course, you don't want to sit with me."

"No!" Teddy exclaimed. "No, of course not!"

"Good. Then let's find a carriage."

Teddy followed her down the narrow corridors in-between the compartments, silently cursing to himself. He should've known he'd be horrible at this—although he understood what his grandmother had said, he didn't want to offend Victoire either, and she got offended rather easily. This was certainly going to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

"Teddy!"

He spun around to see Alfie and Ella waving at him from inside a compartment. He grinned and signalled to Victoire, who stopped and turned in.

"We hoped you'd find us," Alfie said. "Ella almost got out and went to look for you. Are you sitting with us too, Victoire?"

"If that's okay with you," she replied, a massive grin on her face. "I'm so excited, you guys!"

"I'm sure," Ella said warmly. "I remember being on the train this time last year—I was sure that I'd be sitting alone the whole way through though. I was so glad when Teddy came and sat with me."

"I'm glad I came and sat with you too," Teddy said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have become friends." He glanced over at Victoire, but she didn't seem to have gotten the hint.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have—" Alfie was cut off by the sound of the glass door of the compartment opening. Standing at the entrance was a girl who looked to be about Victoire's age, wearing black Hogwarts robes. Her dark brown hair was tied up into a messy ponytail and she looked at them with striking, twinkling green eyes.

"Hiya," she said. "Sorry, I can't find another place to sit, and the train's starting to move, and I've got the worst balance in the world—you know how it is. Mind if I sit here?"

She didn't give any of them a chance to reply before she plopped herself down, right next to Alfie and opposite Victoire. "I'm Riley, by the way. Are you lot all first years, then?" Teddy opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it. "I am, though you probably figured that out from the spanking new robes. I can't wait to be Sorted—don't have any idea where I'm going to end up."

"I am," Victoire said quickly. "I'm Victoire. These are my friends—Teddy, Ella and Alfie. They're all in second-year."

"Ooh, second-year? Which houses?"

"Ella's in Ravenclaw, Alfie and Teddy are in Hufflepuff."

Riley wrinkled her button nose. "Hufflepuff? Isn't that supposed to be the loser house which you go to if no other house wants you?"

"That's not true!" Alfie exclaimed. "Hufflepuff values loyalty and dedication, and loads of other things that the other houses don't really care about, you know. It's a great house."

"If you say so." Riley shrugged. Teddy couldn't help but feel a little irritated with her; after all, she'd just barged in, and she had no right to be so arrogant and judgemental about Hufflepuff. But he kept quiet—he didn't want to incite an argument, and at least Victoire was meeting another first-year. "What house are you hoping to be in, Victoire?"

Victoire, who had spent the entire summer adamantly insisting that she wanted to be in Hufflepuff, looked nervously at Teddy. "Well, my dad was in Gryffindor," she said, slowly. "I wouldn't mind Gryffindor, I guess. Or Hufflepuff, really, because I'd like to be with Teddy and Alfie."

"Gryffindor, eh? Just like Harry Potter! I guess Gryffindor'd be cool. I don't think I'd mind Ravenclaw either, but my parents are always telling me that I'm not smart enough. I hear that you have to pass a test just to get into the Common Room—I'd probably fail and end up sleeping in the corridor, which wouldn't be too great."

"Actually, it's just a riddle," Ella muttered, but Riley ignored her.

"Anyway, I've heard so much about Hogwarts and how wonderful it is, and I'm really excited to make loads of new friends and learn loads of new things. I mean, I'm sure it'll be difficult, but it can't be that bad, not really."

She continued to babble on, completely oblivious to whether or not the people around her were even listening. Teddy, Alfie and Ella exchanged looks, all clearly rather peeved. Teddy wished that Riley would stop talking; he hadn't seen Alfie and Ella in several weeks, and he wanted time to catch up with them before they reached Hogwarts. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to even exchange proper greetings until they got onto the carriages that would take them up to the castle.

Victoire, on the other hand, seemed to be rather enjoying herself. She engaged in lively conversation with Riley, and talked on and on about Teddy's exploits in Hogwarts the year before. He was glad to note, though, that she left out all the things he'd told her about Ralph—he didn't quite want people gossiping about that.

Riley's constant stream of babble was only stopped when there was a knock on the compartment door. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"Yes, yes!" Ella sprung up from her chair, practically waving her wallet around. Teddy and Alfie looked at each other, rather shocked. Although they'd expected Ella to spring for trolley snacks, as she usually did, they hadn't expected her to act so eagerly. After all, she was rarely hungry.

When Ella returned, carrying armfuls of snacks, she gave extra to Riley and Victoire, claiming that since they were first-years, they might as well enjoy their first train ride.

"And," she whispered to Teddy and Alfie. "They might just shut up if they're too busy eating."

Luck, however, was not on their side. When they finally reached Hogwarts, the three second-years stumbled off the train, all complaining of growing headaches. Teddy had no idea how Victoire's throat wasn't hurting—she and Riley simply hadn't stopped talking. He was glad, though, that she'd found a friend in her year. Although Riley was quite the chatterbox, she seemed like a nice enough person. She and Victoire had a lot in common—they liked a lot of the same things, namely mystery novels, chocolate and Quidditch, and had certainly found enough to talk about.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!"

Teddy turned around to see Professor Hagrid, the Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures Professor, at the edge of the platform, surrounded by several eager, yet nervous first-years. He spotted Teddy and waved. Teddy waved back; Professor Hagrid was one of his favourite people at Hogwarts, even if he didn't actually teach him. When Teddy couldn't sleep on the night of the full moon, he often went to Hagrid's cabin. The Professor was always very kind to him, and for the first time in his life, Teddy had actually found himself looking forward to the full moon. He made a mental note to check the lunar calendar that Ella had bought him to find out when the next one was.

"I guess I should go then," Victoire said. "Do you three go up to the castle separately?"

Teddy nodded. "Yeah—we go the normal way. You guys get to go by boat—it's a wonderful ride."

"I hear the view's amazing," Riley chipped in.

"It definitely is," Alfie said.

"See you up at Hogwarts, then." Victoire grinned nervously at Teddy. "Just think—the next time you see me, we'll be a few minutes away from knowing what House I'm going to be in! Can you imagine? We'll finally know!"

"We finally will." Teddy smiled back at her and gave her a quick hug. "Good luck, Vic. See you later."

Victoire gave him a jaunty wave before walking off towards Hagrid with Riley. Teddy, Alfie and Ella had barely turned around and begun making their way to the carriages when Teddy heard a rather familiar voice.

"That your girlfriend then, Teddy?"

A girl with long, ginger hair skipped up so she was walking alongside Teddy.

Teddy couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Good to see you too, Daisy." Daisy Shipkins was a Hufflepuff girl in Teddy's year. He wasn't sure if he'd call her a friend—she was a little difficult to stomach, most of the time, and although they'd never fought, he'd frequently thought she was a spoilt brat. Ella certainly didn't like her.

"Oh, yes, it is good to see you! You too, Alfie! And, er, you, Anderson." Daisy looked at Ella with contempt; Ella returned her icy gaze and nodded once. "So, then, who was that? Is she your girlfriend?"

"Daisy!" Matilda Goshawk, another Hufflepuff girl, and one who Teddy, Alfie and Ella were all rather fond of, appeared at Daisy's side. Her mousy brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and her cheeks were red, as if she'd been running. "You just took off, and left me."

"Oh, don't be so silly, Matilda." Daisy waved her off. "I saw Teddy and wanted to say hi. Don't you want to say hi?"

Daisy, Teddy noted, clearly hadn't changed over the summer. Although she and Matilda spent a lot of time together, she didn't seem to be a particularly good friend to her.

"Hi Teddy," Matilda said. "Hi Alfie, hi Ella! I missed you guys!"

"We missed you too, Mat," Ella said, warmly, before shooting another glare at Daisy. "Did you have a good summer?"

Matilda opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Daisy, who said loudly, "So, as I was saying before Matilda interrupted me—who was that girl, Teddy? The blonde one?"

"That's Victoire," Teddy replied. "She's one of my best friends."

"I thought Ella and Alfie were your best friends."

"People can have multiple best friends, you know," Ella snapped.

"Did I ask you, Anderson?"

"Ella, Alfie and Victoire are all my best friends," Teddy cut in quickly. "I've known Victoire since I was a baby—her parents are good friends with my godfather and my grandmother."

"Do you think she'll be in Hufflepuff too, then?"

Teddy shrugged. "Maybe." He certainly hoped that Victoire would be in Hufflepuff; it would be so lovely to have her in the same house. He could really show her the ropes, then.

A few minutes later, they reached the clearing where Hogwarts students were climbing aboard the carriages that would take them up to the castle. Teddy saw several other second-years; Morna Clemmons and Giovanna Downing, two Hufflepuff second-years, waved Daisy and Matilda over and Jonathan Trigg and Archie Quintin yelled hello to Teddy and Alfie as their carriage took off.

"Look, there's Michael and Terence," Ella said in a hushed voice, jerking her chin towards Teddy's right. Teddy groaned; he'd been hoping that Terence might've been eaten by a Hippogriff over the summer. They'd never gotten along; in fact, Terence was often downright nasty towards Teddy, and had even gone so far as to insult his father at the end of last year. Michael and Teddy, however, had been all right until he'd refused to stick up for Teddy.

"I wonder whether they'll make any trouble this year," Alfie mused aloud.

"They'd better not," Teddy said grimly.

"And even if they do, you don't go getting mixed up in it, Teddy," Ella said, sounding an awful lot like Teddy's grandmother. "I know that Terence has some weird aversion to you, but you should try and avoid him as much as possible."

"I'll leave him alone if he leaves me alone."

"If he doesn't leave you alone, I'll make him leave you alone," Alfie said staunchly.

Teddy laughed. "Thanks, buddy."

The trip up to the castle was short and uneventful. They got into a carriage with Madhuri Lodi, one of Ella's roommates. Teddy considered her a very good friend; he'd never forget how she'd helped them plan Ella's birthday surprise the year before. The surprise itself had been a disaster—Ella had ended up in the hospital wing with a broken wrist—but she'd appreciated the thought behind it.

Entering the Great Hall, Teddy and Alfie waved goodbye to Ella and Madhuri, and headed off towards the Hufflepuff table.

"This feels weird," Alfie murmured, and Teddy nodded in agreement. As first-years, they'd mainly sat at the first-year table, a separate table for all first-years, regardless of house. It felt odd to be segregated again.

It felt odd to witness everything from the perspective of a second-year, Teddy thought, as he watched the first-years file in. He caught Victoire's eye and smiled at her. She smiled back confidently, but he could see the nervousness in her eyes all through Professor McGonagall's short speech and even during the Sorting Hat's song, which, he noted, was different to the one it had sang the previous year.

"When I call your name, please step forward," Professor McGonagall said.

"It's kind of exciting, watching it," Alfie whispered to Teddy, as 'Abbey, Melissa' was proclaimed a Ravenclaw. "Not as nerve-wracking."

"Definitely not," Teddy replied. "Remember how we—"

He was cut off as a roar erupted at the Hufflepuff table—'Bletchley, Rudolph' had just become the first new Hufflepuff. Teddy and Alfie applauded eagerly.

Teddy refocused his attention on the line of first-years. 'Burrow, Cassidy' was Sorted into Gryffindor, and as she ran off to her new House table, he noticed a familiar face stepping up towards the hat.

"Carrow, Riley."

A murmur went up among certain parts of the Great Hall; several of the older students began whispering among one another.

"What's going on?" Alfie whispered to Teddy.

"I dunno," Teddy replied, watching as Riley, apparently unfazed, hopped up onto the stool and had the Sorting Hat placed on her head.

Carrow, Riley. Now, where had he heard that name before? Riley hadn't mentioned her last name on the train, he was sure of that, but it still sounded familiar.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed.

Despite the applause that erupted from the Slytherin table, Teddy managed to overhear a nearby sixth-year say, "It figures. After all, she does come from a family of Death Eaters."

And his blood went cold.

A/N: And I'm back (several months later). I've been really busy over the last few months, and haven't had a lot of time to write. Although updates will remain slow, writing this chapter has reminded me of how much I love telling Teddy's story, so I will definitely try my best to keep them coming. As usual, you can keep up with my progress on my blog, sincerelynymph, and also ask any questions you may have either in the review section here, or over on the blog! Thank you so much for sticking with me!