Where We Belong

And I have to be sure

That there's gonna be a cure

'Cause somewhere down the line

I lost the part of me that's pure

.

While she was not vain, she was beautiful, and she knew it.

Her constant fear was that she was looked at as a beauty and nothing more. The boys of Hogwarts, those who did not fear her, sought her for her looks. They cared nothing about her dreams, her plans—they desired her body, and left it at that. Disgustingly, she would, on occasion, allow their advances, allow them to fulfill their desire. She hated herself for that.

Add to this that she had been sorted into Slytherin, and she was the ready-made black sheep of her family.

The tension was not caused because her parents, her brothers and sisters, and her many cousins did not love her, because she knew they did. But while the whole of the Weasley clan had their Gryffindor status in common, she set herself apart from the very beginning of her schooling. She could not talk about "that one time in the Gryffindor common room," because she had never been into the Gryffindor common room. She did not regret her choice, but she did, on occasion, wish that one of her family members had made the same choice. This was usually after she let a boy kiss her in a broom cupboard.

He was different, though. He, like everyone else she had known before coming to Hogwarts, had been sorted into Gryffindor. He was a year older than she, and the only person she had known upon her arrival. He had never shamed her into feeling guilty about being a Slytherin. He had constantly been there for her, allowing her to cry on his shoulder when another boy loved her and left her. He had never left.

After five years of being alone, she finally realized that she wasn't alone, after all.

They are walking by the lake in mid-January. She is bundled up, her green-and-silver scarf wrapped around her neck several times and her hands shoved down deep into her pockets. He wears the scarlet-and-gold scarf loosely around his own neck and talks, gesturing hugely with ungloved hands. His hair is a deep gold today, and his eyes a warm brown. She wishes, briefly, that she could change her appearance at will.

"So anyway, he finally just got up and walked out, and Professor Binns didn't even notice! It was hilarious, you had to have been there." He stops and looks her in the eye. "Vic? Are you alright?"

"Yes," she says. Frost pours from her mouth as she speaks.

"You're lying," he says, casually tipping her chin so her eyes meet his. "Who do I have to beat up this time?"

"You don't have to beat up anyone," she says, a little exasperation seeping into her voice. "I got myself into it." And after his eyes continued to stare she sighed. "Thomas Hughes."

"That Ravenclaw bloke, in your year? I'll kill him."

"Not necessary," she intones. "It was mutual."

"That's a lie."

"Alright, I broke up with him."

"Did not."

"Fine!" She did not intend for her voice to be so angry. "He dumped me, alright? Are you happy?"

"No." He dropped her chin. "No, I'm not. May I at least hex him?"

"No, Teddy." She sighs again. "It's just as well, anyway." She continues walking, urging him forward toward the castle.

"It's not," he disagrees. "I can't stand the thought of you heartbroken."

"I think I'll live all my life heartbroken," she says, and then she realizes that she has voiced this aloud and claps her hand to her mouth.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asks, stopping again.

When she removes her hand, she's frowning. "Let's face it. I've spent nearly three years now letting boys kiss me whenever they have the fancy and then letting them break my heart. Why should that change? Now, or when I leave here?" Again she has said too much, and she curses herself and looks away. Finally she mutters, "You can't protect me forever, Teddy."

"I can," he answers quietly.

"And how?" she asks.

It is slow, because she's cold and she has trouble making her lips move at first. And then she realizes what she's doing and pulls away. "Teddy!"

"What if I said I want you?" he asks, meeting her eyes. "What if you let me in?"

"I can't lose you," she said, shaking her head and feeling tears come to her eyes.

"You won't," he promises, and he kisses her again.

And for the first time, she kisses someone who is just as beautiful as she is.