AN: Okay, I am SO SORRY. It has been forever since I posted a chapter. A huge thank you to all you lovely people who reviewed or followed- without you, this chapter probably would have never been written. I'll try to update more frequently!
There's a reference to my oneshot "Memorizing the Mesmerizing" in this chapter, if anyone's interested.
Thank you sosososososo much for your reviews. I love getting them! Okay, enough babbling- time for the chapter. Let me know what you think!

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The next morning, Teddy awoke bright and early. For a moment, he wondered where he was. Then he remembered. He was in his four-poster bed in the Gryffindor dormitories.

Teddy loved Hogwarts. He loved all the hidden doors and moving staircases, the ghosts and the talking portraits, the greenhouses and the lake. He even loved his classes, especially Transfiguration, which was his best subject, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, because his father had once taught it.

That was the other thing Teddy loved about Hogwarts— it was easy, somehow, to imagine his father there, wandering around the grounds, studying under the trees on the lawn, sitting in the library— and his mother, too, tripping over things and turning her hair bright green.

After glancing around the room to make sure that his roommates were still asleep, Teddy climbed out of bed, opened his trunk, and pulled out the photo album the Order of the Phoenix had made for him when he was a baby.

It was full of pictures of his parents, starting when they were babies and progressing through their lives. On the very last page was Teddy's favorite picture. In it, his mother and father were both asleep. His mother's hair, a dark, midnight-blue color, was spread across the pillow. In between them slept small baby Teddy, a tuft of lavender hair on top of his head.

His grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, had taken the picture the day his parents died.

After gazing at it for a moment, Teddy closed the photo book, placed it in one his drawers, and piled his socks on top of it. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about the book— he simply preferred to keep it to himself.

Once he had unpacked everything, he decided it was time to wake his friends.

"Aidan! Arty!"

"Ugggggh."

"Mmmhmm?"

"Come on, let's go get breakfast!"

"Breakfast?" said Aidan, sitting bolt-upright. "Okay, let's go. And after that we should go out to the Quidditch pitch and start practicing so we can make the team this year!" Always energized by the thought of food, Aidan leapt out of bed and started to get dressed.

Teddy grinned. It was good to be back.

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Later that afternoon, Teddy wasn't feeling quite so enthusiastic. History of Magic was still boring, and he had already been assigned an essay. Aidan and Arty had told him not to stress about it— after all, it wasn't due for a week and half. But Teddy liked to stay on top of his work, the way his father had. So, while his friends played a game of Gobstones, Teddy set off for the library.

He had been working for about a half an hour and getting absolutely nowhere when he noticed a girl with long, silvery-blonde hair moving among the books, her back turned to him.

He hesitated for a moment, and then whispered "Victoire?"

The girl spun around, looking confused. Then she spotted him. "Oh! Hi, Teddy." She walked up to the table and set down the large book she had been carrying. "How are you?"

"I'm all right," he said. "How are you? How was your first day?"

She smiled. "It was pretty good. I like Potions and Herbology best."

"Did you meet your class partner?"

Victoire nodded. "Her name's Elizabeth. We didn't really talk, though, since we had classes all day. She's a Slytherin."

Teddy nodded. "Hopefully she's nice," he said.

"Hopefully," said Victoire. "What are you working on?"

"History of Magic," said Teddy. "It's horrible. What about you?"

"I was getting a book for Transfiguration," said Victoire. "It's so hard. I know I'm going to be awful at it. "

"I'm pretty good at Transfiguration," said Teddy. "I could help you, if you want."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," she said, shaking her head. "You're busy."

"Come on," he said, rolling his eyes. "We're almost family, sort of. Although you're never around for summer or Christmas, so I've barely ever seen you."

"We go to France and see my grandparents," she explained. Hesitantly, she sat down at the table. "Are you sure you have time to help me?"

Teddy smiled. "It's fine."

"I wish I could help you with your history," said Victoire.

Teddy laughed. "Well, unless you're an expert on the Leprechaun-Veela feud, I'm not sure that there's much you can do."

"Oh, that story?" exclaimed Victoire. "Mother's told me that one a thousand times!"

"Really?" said Teddy. "Well, in that case, let's get to work!"

Victoire grinned.