Bull Pen 06 – Furry
a/n – This one focuses on Teddy and Victoire, with a slight twist. It's Harmony compliant, EWE, and chapter one is a series of scenes that show the two growing up together, along with explaining exactly how Victoire ended up two years behind Teddy Lupin in school. Also, it takes the stance that Fleur was lying her bahookie off during the TriWiz to mislead the press since there's no such thing as a quarter or half veela. Either you're Veela or you're not. And Victoire's a veela.
Of course, it can't be that simple, a fluffy little story about a romance between a Veela and a Metamorphmagus.
Love and the Accidental Werewolf – A fluffy, furry little tail.
Chapter One – Fuzzy Beginnings
8 August 1999 Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London
"Crooks, behave yourself!"
Shaking her head in exasperation, Hermione Granger handed Teddy off to Harry and walked over to the portable cot they had set up in the sitting room. Smiling apologetically at Fleur Weasley, Hermione reached down and scooped the ginger familiar into her arms.
"I honestly don't know what's gotten into him. He's usually very good with children; I'm always amazed at his patience with Teddy's continually confusing him with some sort of plush toy."
Shrugging, in a typically Gallic fashion, Fleur smiled in return as she levitated a giggling Victoire from the cot and into her arms.
"Eet is no problem, Hermione. As adorable as our petite belle Victoire is, I doubt she weel ever be a 'cat person'. If you think your Crookshanks doesn't like her, you should have seen Aunt Muriel's Ophelia last weekend. One would have thought that she was zee 'Hound of zee Baskervilles' from the way Muriel's kneazel was carrying on."
Placing the giggling infant down on the playmat in front of the chesterfield beside the quietly playing Teddy, the four adults returned to their conversations. Teddy looked up and watched the blonde haired infant beside him for a few seconds and then returned to his blocks.
A few minutes later, when Crookshanks had escaped from his mistress' embrace, movement at the edge of the playmat caught Teddy's attention. Seeing his playmate Crookshanks watching the baby beside him with a baleful glare and a swishing tail, Teddy put down his blocks and crawled over to where he was between Crookshanks and Victoire.
Closing his eyes and frowning, he shifted his hair and eye-color until it mimicked his mum's. Opening his now chocolate brown eyes, he glared at Crookshanks. "Bad Crooks. No." Shaking his head at the ginger familiar, who was staring at him curiously, he seemed unaware that all four of the adults in the room were watching him and chuckling at his scolding of the ginger kneazel-mix. Only Kreacher was watching the sleeping infant, deep in concentration, and smiling.
24 December, 2006 The Burrow, Ottery-St.-Catchpole
"One more step, and you are a dead wizard."
"Vic, don't get your back up, I was just curious to see if there was anything I could tell about the presents for tomorrow." Smiling sheepishly, Teddy Lupin looked over his shoulder at his best mate, Victoire Weasley, his hand just inches from a green and gold wrapped package near the tree in the Burrow sitting room.
"Well, your story would be a bit more believable if it weren't for the fact that your grimy fingers are about to clutch the present I brought for you, Monsieur 'I'm So Misunderstood'." Seeing the puppy-dog look on his face, she rolled her eyes.
"Don't even start. Your mum might buy that from your dad, but I'm not going to. I've known you my entire life and I'm not going to start letting you charm your way out of trouble." Seeing the hangdog look on his face, she shrugged. "Well, not all the time."
Shrugging, Teddy pulled his hand back and grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry Vic, I just wanted to make certain what I got you measured up to what you've gotten me." Walking over to where his best mate was standing, he nodded towards the overstuffed chair by the door. "Want to wait with me for Mum and Dad to get back?"
"Of course, silly. Where else would I be, upstairs with the babies?" Grinning, she dramatically flipped her blonde hair and moved towards the seat he'd selected. "Why didn't you go with them?"
Blushing, Teddy shrugged his shoulders as they both sat themselves in the chair. Once they were comfortable, which seemed to only occur when Victoire was sprawled across Teddy's lap, he smiled self-consciously.
"Mum asked me to go with them to the Hollow, but I didn't want to go alone. And since you weren't around, I begged off." Seeing the understanding look on her face, he nodded. "I sort of feel like I'm intruding on the two of them at Christmas. I like going with them other times during the year, but tonight…" Drifting off, he turned to his friend and saw the understanding in her eyes.
"Ted, I know what you mean. Your mum and dad have shared so much over the years; there are certain things and times that are just for them and them alone. Papa says that they'll be the death of the family by the time they get themselves sorted out." Breaking off, she turned her head, and took a deep breath.
"They're here."
"I'll never figure out how you do that." Shaking his head, Teddy rolled his eyes.
"Il est tres simple." Smirking, she kissed him quickly on his cheek before continuing. "Your mum has worn that vanilla fragrance for ever. And your dad always smells like a bit like parchment and ink, which is really peculiar considering it's your Mum that's always up to her ears in parchmentwork."
Jumping up, she grabbed his hand. "Let's go see them, maybe your dad finally found his nerve and proposed to her."
1 September 2009 – Platform 9 and 3/4s. King's Cross
"Totally unfair"
Standing there, staring forlornly at the waiting train, Victoire Weasley felt tears prickling in her eyes. Refusing to look at the young wizard at her side, she sighed dramatically.
"I can't believe you're getting on that stupid train without me."
"Come on, Cabbage, we talked about this." Smiling sadly, Teddy looked over at where his parents were standing, waiting to say their 'goodbyes' before he left for his first year at Hogwarts. "The only way I could get out of it would be to homeschool." Seeing the involuntary shudder from his best mate at the prospect of homeschooling under the watchful eye of Hermione Potter, Teddy nodded.
"It's still not fair. If you really loved me, you'd do it. We both could." Catching the roll of his eyes out of the corner of hers, she smirked. "You know I'd sit through a year of hell with your mum to keep up with you." Shaking her head, she glared. "And stop calling me 'Cabbage'. The phrase is 'Mon petit chou'. Mon Dieu."
"And, according to your dad, the translation is 'My little cabbage', Cabbage."
"Just great, I'm stuck at home and you're off charming the knickers off every Slytherin hottie you meet with French phrases my Mum taught you."
"Vic, how many times do I have to tell you, that's not going to happen?" Putting his arm around his best friend, he smiled. "At best I'm going to spend the year getting everyone ready for the arrival of the hottest girl to ever enroll in Hogwarts."
"You're just saying that because my mum went to Beauxbatons." Sighing dramatically, the young blonde put her hand to her forehead. "Oh, the burden it is, being moi."
"Let's go let my folks say 'goodbye' to me and then you can help me pick out a compartment on the train."
"Smooth talker. Since its thirty minutes until the train leaves, how much of an inspection of your compartment are you hoping for?" Smirking, Victoire watched as Teddy's hair began to shift colour.
"You're adverse to saying goodbye to me without my parents standing there watching us?" Looking over at where his parents were standing, he blushed as he noticed his mother watching them.
"Should I tell you mum she's pregnant? That might distract them a bit." Grinning mischievously, Victoire stopped when she saw the knowing smile on her friend's face. "How'd you know?"
"I think they've been trying to have another one since James is almost two. They were making jokes about finding the worst possible baby name for a Potter baby at the dinner table last night." Seeing the subtle shake of her head, he smirked. "Told you you should have come over for dinner last night."
"Mama insisted I stay home since Aunt Luna and Aunt Audrey were both there, along with Aunt Gabbie." Shaking her head over her mother's younger sister, she sighed. "That girl has so still got the hots for your dad."
"'Got the hots'?"
"American slang. Aunt Audrey was talking about Gabbie still crushing on your dad while she was out of the room being lectured by Mum last night." Looking over at Teddy she chuckled. "What was the worst name? Vernon Tom?"
"That was Kreacher's suggestion, but it came in second." Shaking his head, Teddy laughed. "I still can't believe Dad had the nerve to even suggest 'Albus Severus'."
Boxing Day 2009 – Maxine's Café, London
"Fleur, it's good to see you." Smiling, Hermione Potter stood as the blonde witch approached her table. "Thanks for taking time away from the family."
"Hermione, it's been a bit over twenty-four hours since we were both at the Burrow for Christmas morning and much less since Beel and I left Grimmauld Place last night." Smiling wickedly, she took the seat across from her friend and nodded to the server who was standing there. "Bonjour Natalia, and a belated Joyeux Noel. I'll have one of your specialty buttered rums, s'il vous plait."
"Yes mum, I'll get the drinks and be back momentarily." Nodding cheerfully, the red-haired witch took the wink from the blonde to mean that it would be best if she arrived quickly with the drinks and took her time returning for the rest of the order.
Smiling nervously, Hermione nodded absentmindedly as the server retreated from their table. Fleur waited patiently until their server had returned with the drinks and retreated from the general area. Seeing Hermione was still trying to figure out how to begin, Fleur took a cautious sip of the buttered dwarven rum and sighed.
"Hermione, just start with whatever's got you so flummoxed and we'll work from there, non? Your patronus was very distracted and made it sound as if it was something serious."
"Actually, I'm not certain where to begin." Picking up her mulled cider, Hermione took a generous drink before looking at the other witch over the top of her glass. "I was up early this morning, and went to see if the kids were awake yet." Breaking off, Hermione set her glass down and began to worry the napkin in front of her. "I stopped by Victoire's room..."
"And it was empty, non?" Shaking her head at the astonished look on her friend's face, she nodded kindly. "Not only that, but ze bed was still made up, oui?"
"Oui. I mean yes." Narrowing her eyes, Hermione glared at the blonde witch across from her. "You knew?"
"But of course." Shaking her head and chuckling, Fleur watched the various emotions playing across her friend's face. "Hermione, you have forgotten one important thing. Ma fille, elle est une veela." Shaking her head, she chuckled. "Like myself, my daughter is a veela."
"And exactly how does that explain that your daughter and my son have apparently been sleeping in the same bed whenever one or the other has stayed the night and I found the pair of them in a full out snog this morning when I peeked in on Teddy to see where Victoire had gotten to."
Looking annoyed that her friend and the mother of her eleven-year-old son's apparent girlfriend wasn't upset by this revelation, Hermione stared at the blonde witch as she calmly set the mug back on the table.
"Hermione, did you ever do any research into veelas, other than the sensational things that 'everyone knows' about us?" Clearly amused, Fleur sat back into her chair and watched her friend fume. "Even back during the tournament when I was causing such a stir among the young wizards at Hogwarts?"
Shaking her head, Hermione blushed a bit. "Honestly, no. I just attributed it all to wishful thinking and legend. Especially since Harry seemed mostly immune to the whole thing, I just attributed it to teenage wizard hormones and concentrated on keeping him alive during that ridiculous event."
Shaking her head, Fleur rolled her eyes. "Hermione, if you would have done any research at all, you would have known two things. Why ze wizards were flocking around me and why your precious Harry was mostly oblivious to me." Seeing the curious look on Hermione's face, she composed her features and began.
"All Veela have an ability to attract the males of the species. Our nature has us in search of 'The One' and we simply unconsciously attract the attention of males until we find him." Seeing the suspicious look on the other witch, she shrugged. "It is true."
"'The One'?" Looking incredulous, Hermione shook her head. "Forgive me if that sounds a bit… fantastic." At a loss for words, she sat back and took another sip of the cider. Silently wishing that her condition would allow her something a bit stronger, she sighed.
"A relationship where the hearts, soul, and magic of two individuals are linked together for this life and the next is fantastic? As fantastic as magic existing, as fantastic as my being the descendant of a race that lure men to a blissful doom and can change into outsized birds of prey?" Staring at disbelief, she smirked. "Especially since you and Harry have such a relationship how can you doubt it?"
"Back to this allure that veela have. I can credit that it exists, I saw the results with my own eyes, but Harry only reacted that once, during the World Cup pregame."
"Oui, and that was a slight reaction to dozens of veela trying their best to entice and beguile." Shaking her head, she shrugged.
"I really don't understand my eastern cousins, they spend too much of their life on the hunt, they postpone settling down until much too late if you ask me." Nodding, Fleur smiled as she could see her friend was beginning to understand.
"Once I had a chance to observe the two of you together, I put the word out to my classmates that the legendary 'Hareee Potter' was well and truly taken, so they could just put their French wiles to rest." Chuckling, Fleur arched an eyebrow at the brunette witch across from her. "For the most part, they listened."
"Gabrielle?" A bit amused, Hermione shrugged her shoulders when Fleur nodded in answer. "I really had hoped she would have gotten over her infatuation with him."
"Ah, but Hermione, you forget that Veela and fishermen have something in common, a very long-term memory for 'zee one that got away'." Shaking her head, Fleur looked reprovingly at Hermione.
"Back to the subject of my time at Hogwarts, I was very disappointed in you when you allowed him to go to the Yule Ball with another witch just so you could appear on the arm of the dour Monsieur Krum. As gallant as Victor was, I couldn't understand why you'd let your wizard attend the ball with another witch."
"Harry never asked, so when Victor asked, I eventually accepted." Looking a bit defensive, Hermione took another sip of her cider, absentmindedly rubbing her hand over her pregnant belly.
"Did you think to tell the boy that you would appreciate him asking?" Seeing the shocked look on her face, she sighed.
"It's a wonder there are any wizards and witches left in England, you make it so difficult sometimes for Nature to take Her course. It's difficult to credit the Normans had any influence on this puritanical little island at all."
"Witches don't ask wizards to the bloody Yule Ball." Shaking her head, Hermione smiled self-consciously. "No matter how much we would want to."
Shaking her head in disbelief, Fleur laughed. "Hermione, I now understand exactly why it took you two over a decade to sort things out." Continuing in spite of the blush on her friend's face, she nodded.
"Back to the veela. From the time a veela reaches menarche until she finds 'The One', she unconsciously radiates this attraction to make certain that she has the attention of the one she is supposed to be with when she finds him. Once she finds him, she can still have that effect on males, but it's conscious and very much under her control."
"And what has this got to do with our children, who are much too young to be sitting there snogging for all they're worth at half seven in the morning? Especially since it apparently seems they're much too old to be sharing a bed any longer."
"Victoire is a veela, and Teddy is 'The One' for her." Seeing the disbelief in Hermione's eyes, Fleur shrugged in a very Gallic fashion. "It is true."
"How? When?"
"When? Last spring. Victoire made the transition a few days after her tenth birthday, and apparently she and Teddy accepted the fact that they were right for each other in very short order because she was causing a stir in zee village for less than a week."
Seeing the look of disbelief in Hermione's eyes, she smiled. "It took me until I was almost twenty to find my beloved. My mother didn't find Papa until she was a ripe old twenty-one. My grandmother was a bit more traditional, she was from Provence and was working with the Ministry in Paris and didn't meet my grandfather until she was well into her eighties."
Shaking her head, Hermione glared at the other witch. "I've met your grandmother, she can't be that old."
"For a veela, it is simple. We tend to reach an age where we feel we are our most desirable, if we haven't found our other half by then and just stay there until we do. Grandmother Giselle looked as if she was seventeen until she met Grandfather Guillaume and then began to slowly age. And since she is a veela, it slows the aging for both halves of the couple."
"And exactly how does this pertain to our children? And I'm still waiting for the 'How'."
"Hermione, unfortunately, the fact the two of them found each other so fast will probably mean that they will grow up before any of us are ready to let them go. In fact, it would explain why both of them have always seemed older than they should be." Seeing the alarmed look on the brunette's face, Fleur held up a hand.
"I don't mean that they literally grow older, but they have become a bit more mature than the children around them both physically and emotionally, and this will continue until they're both ready to move forward." Shaking her head, Fleur smiled softly. "And as to 'How', it is magic, I suppose."
"That's not a very satisfying answer, you do realize." Looking annoyed, Hermione rolled her eyes at the shrug from the other witch. "I realize I'm a witch, you're a witch, she's a witch and he's a wizard, but still…" Looking lost, Hermione shook her head.
"I'm just repeating what my Grandmother Giselle told me when she mentioned it to me two years ago." Seeing the shocked look on Hermione's face, Fleur smiled.
"She could see the potential for the two of them, said it was the fact that Victoire was her father's daughter that she would choose and choose so early. When I asked her 'Why?' she simply replied, 'Magic'. Two years later, that's all she'll say, but she saw the connection between the two then, just as I saw the connection between you and Harry during the Tournament."
Seeing the server approaching, both witches put off the conversation to order. Making small talk until their lunches had arrived, they both waited until they were nibbling on desserts with coffee before they turned back to the reason for their meeting.
Chuckling, Hermione shook her head. Looking at her curiously, Fleur arched an eyebrow and waited. Finally Hermione nodded and sighed. "I take it Gabrielle hasn't found her match, yet."
Smirking, Fleur shrugged again. "My younger sister is having too much fun searching to actually find, I think. Although she's very frustrated that the wizard she wants to be 'The One' belongs to another, but she knows the risks of trying to interfere to actually do more than flirt with your Harry. But it still is very frustrating for her since his doesn't pay her any heed."
"It does amuse him; Harry simply chalks it up to a crush after rescuing her all those years ago." Smiling tolerantly as she thought about the antics of Fleur's younger sister around Harry, she nodded. "What should we do about the children and what should I tell Harry?"
"I would suggest you tell Harry exactly what I've told my husband. Nothing." Seeing the shocked look on her face, Fleur nodded solemnly. "Both are well meaning, they love their children very much, but both are wizards, and that means that no matter how hard they try, they will be hard pressed to understand a matter of the heart such as this.
"Beel knows it will happen someday, but he is content to believe his little princess is a long way from making that decision in her life. If he wasn't the DADA professor, I would be able to discuss it with him something after she's finished her OWLS. However, since they will both be his students, what happens, happens."
Looking a bit troubled, Hermione glanced at Fleur a couple of times as she thought about what the other witch had said as she toyed with her dessert. Finally placing the fork down on the plate, she nodded. "I can see that, but what do I say to the children? What have you said to them?"
"Again, nothing so far. I had planned on talking to both of them before Victoire goes off to Hogwarts next fall, and I had planned on breaking the news to you and enlisting your help for that." Seeing the look on Hermione's face, she smiled and nodded. "My intent was to find out how much you knew about veelas and then gradually bring you around to the subject, but since you know, and Victoire knows you know…" Seeing the shocked look on Hermione's face, Fleur laughed.
"She noticed you standing there, even though she was busy snogging your son. She called me on your library floo just before you messaged me, so I was waiting for your message when it arrived. I had a short discussion with her regarding appropriate behavior and suggested that if she really didn't want anyone to know she was slipping into Teddy's bed, she needed to start the night in hers and then it will look slept in it the next morning if she doesn't make it back before someone comes to check on her."
Seeing the annoyed look on Hermione's face, she smiled. "She's spent too much time with you, she dislikes causing Kreacher and Winky extra work making up the bed if she's not going to use it."
"What should we do in the mean time?" Looking perplexed, Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. "Start planning the wedding? Start planning my son's funeral for when you husband catches them?"
"Just let them be children. Children that are very much in love, but children nevertheless. They won't do anything until they're both ready and want to, so we shouldn't worry there." Looking smug, she sighed.
"This year with Teddy off at Hogwarts by himself, they're fine, but before Victoire joins him next fall, we will need to have a small chat with the Headmistress and their head of house before she joins him."
"This is a conversation with Minerva that I'm not looking forward to." Shaking her head, Hermione was vainly trying to envision the reaction from her former Head of House to this discussion. And then thinking about her school friend Neville, she actually blushed.
"Or with their Head of House, for that matter."
"Give your Headmistress a bit of credit. She was a student the last time a veela attended Hogwarts." Seeing the look on Hermione's face, Fleur smiled. "One of her dormmates, actually. And she wasn't paired up while she was a student, so the Gryffindor common room was a very popular place for seven years. I'm certain Minerva will appreciate the small inconvenience of allowing for the eccentricities of Teddy and Victoire rather than having a veela in full search mode distracting every eligible wizard in the castle." Shaking her head, Fleur chuckled. "Along with a few of the witches, if my time there was any indication."
"Really? Do tell." Looking intrigued, Hermione indulged her rarely expressed need to gossip with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone I know?"
Smiling smugly, Fleur shrugged. "Let's just say that through my repeated unwanted conversations with that Slytherin witch you loathe so much, it would seem she 'plays both sides of the quaffle' as the saying goes."
That was the last coherent thought Hermione had for quite a while, as it took until well after the bill arrived for her to stop laughing
31 August, 2010 - Shell Cottage
"One word, just one word Lupin, and I'll hit you so hard you'll be seeing your life flash before your eyes."
"I'm sorry Vic, I didn't know I had the flu, and I certainly didn't know you would catch it." Sitting uncomfortably on the edge of Victoire's bed, Teddy shook his head.
"I think that blasted Hufflepuff swot you were falling all over last year did it on purpose." Pouting, Victoire Weasley was sitting on her bed, dressed in Teddy's Gryffindor quidditch jersey, a pair of shorts, and covered in feathers. Brilliant yellow feathers.
"I didn't catch bird flu from her, and the girl has a name. Nadia is an excellent student; we were revising together all year while I was trying to get her fixed up with one of my dormmates." Shaking his head at her insecurity, Teddy smiled.
"She's nothing like her father 'The Hyphen' as Dad calls him, and she most definitely has her eye on Hector, so you can just stop with this obsession you have with her.
"Most likely it was from that ridiculous laughing owl that visiting professor Kettlemyer from Dunedin brought with him when he came to lecture at Mum's summer series at the castle. Mum kept telling him his Whekau looked a bit off; she finally made him go see the healers at Eyelops. They quarantined the bloody menace, the day after we left to go on holiday in Brighton." Looking up at her, his heart broke at the distress on her face.
"Honestly, I didn't realize I had the flu until after we all got back from going to the beach with the Durselys."
Reaching over, she put her hand on his arm and squeezed gently.
"I know, and if I didn't realize that I could catch the bird part of bird flu from being Veela, how were you supposed to know?"
"I can't believe you can't go to school this year." Shaking his head and laying back on the bed, he stared at the ceiling. "I don't care if your mum sat out a year for the same reason; you'd think they'd find a cure or a shot like the muggles have, or something."
"Teddy, it's all right. I'm not going to hex you, but I'm still not a happy witch." Scowling, Victoire scooted down the bed, lifted his head onto her lap and sat there watching him. "You better not even think about having a good time this year."
"Uncle Neville said he's going to ask the Headmistress if I can come home one weekend a month to keep you company." Looking up at her, he smiled as he could see a light in her blue eyes.
"Non. Impossible." Shaking her head gently, the blonde witch smiled at the look on her best friend's face. "Merci beaucoup, but there are three very good reasons why you're not going to do that."
"All right, Cabbage, why aren't I going to come home to keep you company one weekend a month?" Sighing, Teddy closed his eyes as she began playing with his hair. Changing the color of his hair to a faint blue, which showed his confusion, he smiled as she giggled once before speaking.
"The first, ma petit chiot, is that neither of us wants to trade on our families or our names. If it weren't for me, you'd never think of letting Uncle Neville set something like that up and you know it." Smiling at him, she nodded as he thought about it.
"Blast, you're good." Opening his eyes, he stared up at her. "Number two is just as good?"
"I'll let you be the judge." Smiling, she dimpled as she nodded. "The second reason is that you're Gryffindor's hotshot seeker and I'm not going to be remotely involved with Gryffindor not taking the quidditch and House Cups again this year." Nodding seriously at the shocked look on his face, she smiled.
"You start skiving off weekend practices to come home to see me, do you really think I want to explain to Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Ron, ma Papa, Uncle George, or Aunt Angelina why we're in second place to those snakes in Slytherin?" Trying to keep a serious face, she bit her lip at the look on his face.
"Number two is good. I can't imagine the look on the Headmistress' face if she had to give the cups back to Slytherin. I thought she was going to dance a jig in front of everyone when she handed the House Cup to Uncle Neville at the Leaving Feast." Smiling, Teddy morphed his features until they matched Harry Potter's at age twelve. "I am only the second first year to play in over a century."
"Stop that, who do you think I am, some sort of fangirl?" Shaking her head, Victoire giggled, causing her feathers to rustle.
"Do you think I've got a shot with your Aunt Gabbie? She's kinda hot for an older witch." Panicking at the look on her face, he quickly shifted back to his normal looks. "Vic, you know that I'm just kidding."
"Teddy, you're such a prat, sometimes." Shaking her head, her feathers rustled as she glared at him. "It's going to be bad enough, you going back to school without you making jokes about my crazy aunt."
Rolling up off her lap, Teddy wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him.
"I'm a git, I know. I was just trying to make you smile, Cabbage."
Holding her close for a second, Teddy nodded. "Have you forgiven me enough to tell me about reason number three?"
"Regardless of how much of a prat you can be, at times, I do love you and I do trust you, so I'll be fine here at home while you're off at school until the Christmas hols, but I expect you to be standing in my door as soon as you can get your scrawny arse to Shell Cottage."
The pair sat there, side by side for almost a minute, just holding each other. Finally Victoire blew out the breath she had been unconsciously holding.
"This is ridiculous; I lose another year being at school with you. I'll be the oldest first year student in the history of Hogwarts, at the rate I'm going." Shaking her head, she sighed.
"Teddy, I know we said…"
"Nothing's changed, at least as far as I'm concerned." Shaking his head, Teddy brushed his cheek against hers, trying not to react as the feathers tickled his face. "You're still my best mate, and nothing's ever going to change that."
"Teddy, be serious. Best mates don't normally do this." Reaching up, she slipped her hand behind his head and slowly leaned forward. Brushing her lips against his, her eyes sparkled for a second before he started kissing her.
Feeling him wrap his arms around her, she slowly deepened the kiss until they were engaged in a full out snog. Shifting until she was sitting on his lap, Victoire pressed herself against him until the need for oxygen forced them to stop.
"Do they?" Looking at him intently, her blue eyes staring into his hazel ones, they both waited until their breathing returned to normal before she smiled and leaned against him, letting her cheek rest against his shoulder.
"Only if they're very lucky." Rolling his eyes, Teddy shook his head. "How did I end up snogging my best mate?"
"Your best mate's a veela, so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility." Blushing a bit at the look on his face, she nodded. "That, and the fact that we've practically grown up together seems to have conspired to bring us together sooner rather than later. Like it or not, we seemed to have chosen each other."
"What's not to like?" Smiling as she started chuckling, Teddy looked up as he heard someone in the hallway outside Victoire's room. "Vic?"
Smirking, she held on tighter. "It's just Mama and your Mum, and since they both know, it won't do any harm if they come in."
"They know!?" Teddy's voice broke a bit as he stared at her. "How in the name of Merlin did that happen?"
"Be serious, Chiot. Mama is a veela and your Mum is Hermione Potter. Honestly." Shaking her head, she smirked. "Mama, it's safe to come in, Teddy's got his clothes back on."
The bedroom door slowly swung open and Teddy looked up to see his Mum and Victoire's both standing in the doorway, shaking their heads and rolling their eyes, almost in unison. While a study in contrasts, the two witches had the same amused look on their faces.
"Mum?" Seeing the faint ghost of a smile on his mother's lips, reminiscent of when she was desperately trying not to smile at something his father had done, he relaxed a bit. "Mrs. Weasley?"
Looking around, Fleur Weasley looked slightly flustered. Hermione shook her head. "Stop that, he's talking to you, not Molly." Trying not to smile, she nodded to the two sitting on the bed. "I think Victoire's had just about enough excitement for one day, don't you Fleur?"
"Mais oui. Teddy is very good for Victoire's morale, but I think he probably needs to start packing for school tomorrow." Shaking her head, and trying to hide a smirk behind her hand, she chuckled. "We'll leave you two to say goodbye, but be downstairs in five minutes."
As the two witches turned to leave, Hermione looked back over her shoulder at her son. "And Theodore, make certain you wipe the feathers off your face, you look like the cat that ate the budgie."
"Mum!"