Title: Impossible Grief
Summary: Victoire is due any day, but an unexpected meeting sends everything spiralling out of control.
Pairing/Characters: Victoire/Teddy, Harry, Lily
Rating: T
Warnings: Major character death
Notes: Written for QLFC Round 12: TASK: Write a TRAGIC story about NEXT GEN CHARACTERS. Bonus prompts: N/A.
Written for Ancient Runes: Write about somebody who's unable to stop before it becomes too late (you can interpret this however you want).
The Hogwarts Express stopped, and Lily Luna jumped out. Her family was waiting for her, waving at her, and she started to walk in their direction. She heard a small curse, then a laugh from behind her, and she rolled her eyes. Those boys, she thought in fond exasperation. Her brothers didn't know the meaning of grace.
"Victoire!" Lily called when she spotted her cousin and honorary sister in law. She ignored her parents and ran straight to Victoire, who was standing with Teddy's arm wrapped around her shoulders. Lily heard Teddy's small huff and something about chopped liver when she ignored him in favour of his wife, but other than a small smirk, Lily didn't pay him any attention.
"Greet your parents," Victoire scolded, her stern voice betrayed by her smile. "They've missed you."
Lily rolled her eyes, glaring at Teddy when he laughed, but she complied. She backed up until her arms were wrapped around her mother's neck.
"Hi, Mum." She looked over her mum's shoulders and locked eyes with her father. "Hi, Dad. I've missed you both." Despite her words, Lily couldn't prevent her gaze from returning to her cousin.
Her dad chuckled behind her. "Go on," he said, waving his hand in Victoire's direction.
Lily's face lit up. "Thanks, Dad!" Lily tore herself from her mother's arms and barrelled into her dad. After a quick peck on his cheek and a small wave, Lily was back beside her cousin, staring at her stomach.
"Honestly, Lily," Victoire said with a small smile. "It's like you've never seen a pregnant woman before."
Smiling, Lily laid a small hand over Victoire's belly. "How much longer?"
"Not much." Victoire looked up at Teddy for a moment.
He smiled at her and brushed a finger against Victoire's neck where his hand lay. "A few weeks at most," Teddy said, turning his own eyes downwards.
Lily looked back at Victoire's belly, and Lily's hand laying over it. She smiled and rubbed her thumb in a circular motion. She couldn't wait.
Harry sat in the corner of his study. He kept his eyes on his godson as Teddy paced around the room. He constantly ran a hand through his hair, which continued to change colours to match his changing moods.
"I'm not ready," he said between shallow breaths. "I don't know how to be a father."
Teddy turned wild eyes to Harry, who smothered his smile to the best of his ability.
"How can I be a father?" he asked, but he didn't wait for an answer.
Harry sighed and pushed himself from his seat. He heard his joints groan and creak, and he once again wishing for the days when he could stand without the residual aches. "Teddy," he said, placing his hands over his godson's shoulders, stopping his movements. "You'll be amazing, there's no doubt about that."
Teddy may have stopped moving, but the wild, panicked look in his eye didn't disappear. "How can I be a good father when I grew up without mine?"
Harry's eyes softened. He moved his hand to the back of Teddy's neck and rubbed like he used to when Teddy was a child. "You'll do fine."
"How do you know?" Teddy leaned his head forward onto Harry's shoulder.
Harry wrapped his arms around his godson and chuckled under his breath. "I did alright, didn't I?"
Lily skipped along the streets of Diagon Alley with his cousin by her side. She flittered around the street, and looked into all the windows they passed, but she didn't stray far from Victoire.
"Are you sure you should be out this close to the due date?" Lily asked when she saw Victoire yawn.
"I'm fine," Victoire said with a smile and an eye roll.
Lily frowned at her for a moment, but in the end, she shrugged. "Okay, but I'm kinda hungry."
Victoire sent a small glare Lily's way, but Lily only smiled innocently in response. "Fine," Victoire said.
Lily smiled and turned on her heel, only to bump into a tall, broad-chested male. "Excuse me," she said, ducking her head in apology.
"You're Lily Potter, Harry Potter's daughter, right?"
Lily groaned and lifted her head. It wasn't unusual for the public to recognise her, but she was usually good at avoiding the fanatic ones that wanted to talk to her. When she looked at the man, she froze. He had a deranged, hungry look in his eye. His smile was cold, calculated, and cruel. Lily took a step back and felt Victoire's hand latch onto her wrist.
"We must be going," Victoire said. She could hear the sounds around her soften, and there was a tension in the air that hadn't been there before. Victoire tightened her fingers around Lily's wrist and took a step back, but it was like she had flicked a switch by moving.
The man pulled his wand and pointed it at the pair. He smiled and his mouth started to form words, but Victoire wasn't listening.
Victoire pulled Lily and threw her out of the path of the spell and to the ground. A loud thud sounded as Lily landed, but Victoire didn't notice as pain tore through her body. She screamed and wrapped her arms around her stomach as she crumbled to the ground.
People were screaming around them, and spells were flying. It only took seconds for the man to be contained, but neither Victoire nor Lily saw, as they both drifted into unconsciousness.
"We're not sure. . . spell. . ."
". . .fallen. . . her head."
". . .didn't survive."
The white sheets and the slow rise of her chest distracted Teddy from everything. The healer's voice as he informed Harry what happened was barely a buzz in the back of his mind. No, it was only the bland white sheets that slowly lifted and fell with her every breath and the acute ache in his own chest that held his attention.
The door behind him opened slowly, and the footsteps that approached were hesitant.
"Teddy," Harry said. The agony in his voice was clear.
"What happened?" Teddy snapped. He didn't mean to, not really. He knew that Harry was suffering just as much, and he knew that it wasn't Harry's fault, but he couldn't control himself. He couldn't control anything, and he couldn't listen to the condolences right now. He just couldn't.
Harry stayed silent for a moment. He moved his hand to Teddy's shoulder, but Teddy shrugged him off. He didn't want to be touched right now.
Harry's breath hitched, and Teddy felt a twinge of guilt, but that quickly dissipated when Harry started to speak, his emotions suppressed, and voice monotone. Only a hint of grief snuck through the desperate walls he'd thrown up.
"A man—a relatively unknown follower of Voldemort who was never marked—came across the girls in Diagon Alley. According to witnesses, he was surprised when he recognised Lily but recovered quickly. . ." Harry paused to take a breath. "He fired a spell at Lily. Victoire was already holding her, so when the man cast, she yanked Lily away."
Teddy turned to look at Harry, and he saw the tears already marking his cheek. It was Teddy, this time, who reached out for Harry, and Harry who moved away from the comfort.
"Lily hit her head when she fell to the ground." Harry's breath hitched, and Teddy knew before Harry spoke what had happened. "She died on impact," Harry said, his body shuddering.
Teddy's heart received a sharp pain at hearing his sister's fate, especially after Victoire's efforts to protect her. "Harry—"
"Victoire was hit with the spell that was intended for Lily," Harry continued over Teddy's voice. He started to pace, running a hand through his hair.
Teddy spotted the way Harry's hand trembled and the tears that had yet to stop falling, and he recognised the avoidance tactics. It was hard to push the grief for his sister back, but Teddy knew Harry needed to grief alone for now. He swallowed, and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his focus was on Harry's words.
"The spell hit her. . . indirectly." Harry's shoulders slumped and he moved so that he was standing by Teddy again. He gripped onto Teddy's shoulder almost painfully, but neither moved away this time.
"Is that's why she's. . ." Teddy couldn't finish.
Victoire's body rested in silence on the bed. Her blonde hair spread over the pillow, her eyelids closed over her eyes. Her hands lay limp by her sides, and her beautiful flushed cheeks were an unnatural pale. Teddy couldn't bear to look lower than her slowly moving chest where her now flat stomach was.
"They didn't recognise the spell, but it weakened most of her organs. It's suspected that the spell was meant to cause multiple organ failures. She'll survive, but she'll have problems for the rest of her life. They can't heal all the damage."
Harry paused and let the information sink in. When he started to speak again, his forced calm broke, and his words turned into watery sobs. "The baby took most of the impact. He also died instantly."
"He?" Teddy's weak voice shattered something inside Harry, and he collapsed to his knees behind Teddy.
"Yes," Harry said, his voice matching Teddy's, "a boy."
Teddy leaned forward and placed his head on his wife's cold hand. He didn't let himself cry—he didn't think he'd be able to stop once he started—but the lump in his throat and the pressure on his chest was unmistakeable.
"I should have been with them." Teddy could hear tears in his voice despite the lack of tears falling.
"This isn't your fault, Teddy." Harry moved so he was kneeling beside Teddy instead of behind him. "The only person at fault is the bastard that did this."
Teddy glanced to the side and watched as the fury drained out of Harry, only to be replaced by the smothering grief and guilt. "His and mine," Harry said, looking directly at Teddy, revealing all his pain.
Teddy turned his eyes away again. He wanted to argue with Harry, tell him that it wasn't his fault, but there was a small part that agreed with Harry's words. The small voice whispering words of hate towards his godfather, and he couldn't silence it.
"Do you want to see him?" Harry asked after a long, stale silence. "You don't have to, but I thought you might want to say goodbye."
Teddy's hands clenched into his wife's sheets and his body trembled, but he nodded.
"Okay, I'll let the healer know." Harry stood and walked towards the door. Teddy listened as the door creaked open but paused before shutting again. "I'm so sorry, Teddy." Harry's voice was ruined, and Teddy felt the ache in his chest only increase.
The door shut, and Teddy was left alone with his unconscious wife. He sighed and tried to relax against the bed. "So am I," he whispered to the almost empty room.
The bundle was cold. Wrapped in blankets and curled in his arms, it was unnaturally cold. Teddy tried not to let the chill bother him, but with such a small, peaceful, pale face staring back at him, it was hard not to be bothered.
"Hi baby," he said with a small quiver in his voice. He brought a hand up to trace the delicate features of the child's face. His child's face.
"I know you probably can't hear me," Teddy said when he felt he could speak again," but I want to tell you this."
His breath rattled in his chest as he tried to force himself to breathe.
"I don't know what type of father I would have been, what I could have been." Teddy cleared his throat when a large lump formed. "I don't know if I'd—" Teddy broke off with a sob. He leaned forward, over the small, still body. "I would have loved you," he said, breaking into heaving sobs.
"I'm sorry." Over and over again he whispered the words that could never be enough. "I'm sorry." He rocked his body forward and backwards, letting the tears finally fall.
"Teddy?"
Snapping his head up, Teddy stared into the open, wide eyes of his wife. He felt joy and despair fill him in equal parts.
"Is that our baby?" Victoire said with a smile. Her voice was weak, dreamlike. He could tell she wasn't completely aware of what was happening, but when her joy-filled eyes locked on the small bundle in his arms, Teddy felt as cold as the baby in his arms.
Teddy's features crumbled. He looked away as his wife's eyes filled with horror. The sound of broken, frantic sobs filled the room. The sheets rustled, the bed rattled.
"No," she whispered. "No, please."
Teddy glances up, but he doesn't look into her eyes. "I'm sorr—"
"No!" Victoire wrapped her fingers into her hair and tugged. "No! No! No!" Victoire's voice turned to screams.
Healers and medi-wizards rushed into the room and Victoire fought them with everything she had. "No!" she screamed over and over.
Teddy stayed silent as he watched his wife break down in front of him. He could feel his own tears falling as the healers sedated her. His arms tightening around the small body in his arms and let his own tears fall once again.
(w.c 2,221)
WolfWinks -xx-
