The weeks following Teddy's departure went better than Victoire had expected. She was busy trying to make sure that Louis had settled into school well, and he had his duties in the Auror program that prevented him from worrying too much, but they continued to write each other as frequently as possible. The knowing looks from the girls returned in full force, despite Victoire's attempts to tell them off for it.
"You know, this is mental," Alexa said one day in mid-November as they sat in the library working on essays for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The place was empty aside from the five girls, as it was a Saturday morning, and everyone else was off having a lie-in.
"What is?" Victoire asked, not looking up from her parchment, "The essay? If that's what you're talking about, I totally agree."
"No, not the essay," Alexa said, "Though that is also crazy. I meant the fact that things are getting serious."
"Meaning?" Monica asked, dipping her quill in her ink bottle, "If you mean school, yeah."
"Not school," Alexa said, "Although, again, still serious. I just meant the fact that we're getting close to the rest of our lives. Life after Hogwarts. Four fifths of us are in serious relationships- not to say that yours isn't serious, Mon, but you know what I mean. We all know what we want to do after school… Where'd the time go, is all."
Molly nodded, "I know what you mean. I mean, at this point it's probably pretty safe to say that Sam and Liam aren't going anywhere, and we all know that Teddy isn't. Jake will probably be around for a while. We're only sixteen and the end of Hogwarts really isn't all that far off."
"Let's not talk about it now," Jade said, "I for one want to finish this essay, and we have another year and seven months until we're done here. That's a lot of time, even if it doesn't always feel like it. Besides, who's to say that something completely unexpected won't spring up and change our plans for what we're doing after school?"
"Although, speaking of," Monica said, "I need to find someone to share a flat with me within that year and seven months. Obviously Vic and Molly are going to be off with their boys, and you'll probably be with Liam, Lex, but I need a flatmate, or I won't be living anywhere nice."
"I don't know if I'd go that far," Victoire said, "You just won't be living anywhere that's as expensive. Besides, who's to say that you won't end up in a serious relationship by then?"
"No one," Alexa said, "You'll find someone though, Mon, I'm sure. People love you, and you can always put out an advertisement for a flatmate."
"Yeah, I know, but I don't want to end up with a complete nutter," Monica said, "What if they're into the Dark Arts or something?"
"Then you'll write one of us and we'll come deal with it," Victoire said, "You'll have Aurors and people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on your side, I don't think that you need to worry about dealing with people who aren't doing what they're supposed to. We've got it covered."
"That we do," Molly said, "And like Jade said, you've got plenty of time to worry about it. It'll be fine."
"Yeah, yeah," Monica said, "Now, can someone please explain to me what in Merlin's name is going on here? I don't have idea what I'm saying anymore."
Jade rolled her eyes and reached for Monica's essay. As they began to discuss the topic at hand, Victoire's gaze moved to the window. They had a clear view of the grounds from where they sat, and it was easy for her to picture Sam and Teddy out there on their brooms, throwing the Quaffle around. It was something that they had always been fond of doing while she was in the library studying, but they had to give it up in her fourth year after Professor McGonagall yelled at them for disturbing the other students in the library. It hadn't been a serious reprimand, she always had a soft spot for Quidditch, but they knew that they had to stop after that.
As strange as it felt to admit, Alexa was right. They got closer to the end with each passing day, and it felt more like a reality than it ever had with the boys off following their own pursuits. In approximately a year and seven months, Victoire would be out of school and off to carve herself a place in the Auror department and the Wizarding world. Teddy had done a good job of it, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue the program abroad. It would mean being away from him again, only she would be the one off on another continent for who knew how long.
She'd be lying if she said that she didn't miss him. He was her best friend above anything, and they played off of each other in ways that they couldn't do with anyone else. Plus, it wasn't the same, not knowing everyone that he was working with. It calmed her to know that he was down there with Olivia and Veronica, both of whom had always been nice to Victoire, but it wasn't the same as having him living in the same castle as she was, or only being a Floo trip away. She knew that Molly felt it too, but it was different for her. Sam was just down in the village, and had managed to make his way into dinner at the castle a few times. They were hardly on opposite sides of the planet from one another, and they hadn't been best friends since they were children.
"Everything okay over there, Vic?"
Victoire looked up to see Jade looking at her curiously. She shrugged, "Yeah, fine, just thinking."
Jade nodded slowly, "If you say so." She went back to looking at Monica's essay without another word, and Victoire set about getting back to work.
"The annual Potter Christmas party invitations arrived this morning," Molly said, after a long period of silence punctuated by the scratch of quills on paper, "You weren't there to get yours, Vic, since you got breakfast in the kitchens today, but I have it if you want it."
"Please," Victoire said.
Molly leaned down and opened her bag. She dug around for a few moments before pulling out a thick parchment envelope with Victoire's name scrawled on it in a cursive script that she recognized as Aunt Ginny's.
"Thanks a million, Molls," Victoire said, sliding her finger through the envelope to open it.
"No problem," Molly said, "I knew you'd be upset if you missed it, so I figured I'd keep it for you. I think that Bat knew to leave it with me since you weren't there."
Victoire chuckled at the mention of Aunt Ginny's owl, who Harry had named for her famous use of the Bat-Bogey hex, "Yeah, probably."
She pulled the invitation out of the envelope and looked at it. In a flowing script, it read:
This invitation invites you, Victoire Weasley, to attend the annual Potter Christmas party at the Potter Manor, beginning on Saturday, December the Twenty-Fourth of the year Two Thousand and Sixteen, and ending on Sunday, December the Twenty-Fifth, Two Thousand and Sixteen.
Another piece of paper fell out of the envelope, and she picked it up. Uncle Harry's familiar handwriting was centered on it, and she smiled at the sight of the message.
Victoire,
As Head of the Auror office, I can promise you that those in our accelerated program will be given time off for Christmas and New Year's. They will be coming home on the twentieth, and remaining until January third. I don't know if you've heard from Teddy already, but I thought that I would let you know.
-Uncle Harry
"Somebody got some good news, then," Monica said, laughing, "That's more than just an invitation, isn't it?"
"Uncle Harry left me a note saying that the people in Teddy's program will definitely be home for Christmas and New Year's," Victoire said, her smile widening, "He's going to be here for about two weeks."
"Vic, that's great!" Alexa said, "I bet you're happy."
"You bet correctly," Victoire said, "It'll be good to have him around for a little while."
"Yeah, have him around," Jade said, winking at Victoire.
Victoire's mouth dropped, "Jade!"
Molly laughed, "You know you'll have to tell us eventually, right?"
"We haven't done anything even remotely close to- We're not going to do anything like that for a- This is- I can't believe you four," Victoire said. She glared at them as they continued to laughed, and slammed her book shut, "If you don't stop, I'm leaving."
"If you all don't stop, I'm going to have to ask you all to leave."
Their laughing fell silent as they looked up to see Madam Pince glaring down at them.
Molly swallowed, "Sorry, ma'am, it won't happen again."
She fixed them all with an imperious stare and then walked away.
"Well, I guess that's that," Alexa said, "We're going to get banned if we make any more noise, so I say we retreat to the common room."
"Works for me," Victoire said, "I'm nearly done with the essay, I'll finish it tonight. Anyone else want to head down to the kitchens with me to get something to eat? I really don't feel like waiting until dinner."
"I'm in," Jade said.
"Lexa?" Victoire asked.
Alexa shook her head, "Can't, I need to get through more of this essay before I stop. I'll see you at dinner."
"Molls? Mon?"
"Nah," Monica said, "I need to pick Alexa's brain about this since Jade's leaving me."
"And I have work to do," Molly said, "Go on, you two have fun."
"Aye-aye, captain," Jade said. She shoved her things into her bag and stood up as Victoire did the same. "Shall we?"
"Let's," Victoire said.
They left the library and walked in silence for a few minutes.
"So, what was so thought-consuming in the library earlier?" Jade asked eventually, "You seemed to be very out of sorts."
"It just hit me, you know," Victoire said, "The end is in sight, we're not going to come back after next year… We have to start living as adults. And it also struck me that even Molly isn't really familiar with what things are like for Teddy and me right now. Sam's right down in the village, and they see each other pretty regularly. They can exchange multiple letters in a day. It takes Teddy and me over a week to even do one exchange of letters, and I see him on occasion. I just… We're growing up, Jade, and it's odd."
"It had to happen sometime," Jade said, shrugging, "But I understand. He'll be back soon, it's only another month or so until Christmas. You two will have plenty of time to spend together over the holidays, it's not like anyone is going to expect the two of you to be apart, whether they know about your relationship or not. You two always were joined at the hip, they won't expect anything different when he comes back."
"Well, they might," Victoire said, "I mean, the whole family is pretty much aware that we weren't speaking much at the end of the year, and they might wonder what happened to make us be friends again. That's the first real fight that we've ever had, I mean…"
"I'm sure they've been waiting for you two to make up," Jade said, "A person would have to be completely mad to think that you wouldn't. You two are really great friends, regardless of the whole love thing, and you're bound to fight, but you're also bound to make up eventually. Nobody would expect you to do anything different. You're Teddy and Vic for a reason."
"I suppose," Victoire said, "Still. And my mum knows about what happened with Teddy at the end of the year, the real reason why we weren't speaking, so I don't know what she's going to think about the whole thing. Besides, I feel like I'll have to tell her that he and I are together, which means I have to tell Dad, because I can't ask her to keep that a secret from him. A break-up is one thing. A relationship is something else."
"Your parents love Teddy," Jade said, "Everyone does. And you don't have to tell them now. You can just tell your mum that the two of you decided that your friendship wasn't worth throwing away over something like that, and that you wrote each other and smoothed things over and you're back to being friends again. It's really not that far from the truth, you know."
"I suppose," Victoire said, as they entered the kitchen, "You're a lot smarter than I ever gave you credit for. I'm still sorry about that."
Jade waved her hand in dismissal, "Well, I didn't really give you much of a reason to like me, so I can't say I really blame you. At least you know that I'm awesome now."
Victoire laughed, "I'll say. How are things going with Jake? I haven't asked you that in a while."
"Well, I think," Jade said, smiling, "His parents are lovely, and his sister seems to like me, which is good."
"Relationships rarely last without the approval of siblings," Victoire said, "Something I learned from my massive family. Not getting along with the parents is one thing, because they're easier to get away from, but people are normally closer to their siblings and it's necessary to maintain a certain level of friendship with them."
"Definitely," Jade said, "But yeah, things are good."
"I'm glad," Victoire said, taking a seat at the table that rested in the kitchen, "You're good for each other."
"We try," Jade said, laughing.
"I know," Victoire said, "I'm glad that things are working out for everyone. I think we all deserve it, after the madness of the last year or so. One thing's for sure, I never expected my time at Hogwarts to be this crazy."
"Hon, if you think this is crazy, you're setting yourself up for something completely and utterly mental," Jade said, "Think about what our families went through while they were here. Merlin, you're the niece of the Golden Trio and the daughter of one of the few people to survive a werewolf attack without becoming one themselves. We haven't gone through anything near as mad as they have, and we still have time for things to go south. I say take what you can get."
"You're probably right," Victoire said, sighing.
"It does happen from time to time," Jade said, smiling.
"I just wish Teddy was home," Victoire said, "Things would be better if he was here. Say, did you get an invitation to the party?"
"Yeah," Jade said, "So did Jake, and his family, so we'll be there."
"Good," Victoire said, "The party can continue as usual, then. I usually go a few days early to spend time with Teddy, but it always turns into a gathering of our entire bunch after the first day or two. We just really don't like to be away from you guys for long. Plus, he wants to get to know you and he'll have a better chance of it when we're not completely pressed for time."
"I look forward to it," Jade said, "Now that he knows I'm not completely mad."
"It is a definite improvement," Victoire said, laughing at the face Jade made at her.
They got their food from the house elves and continued to joke around as they ate.
The days that followed fell into a pattern for Victoire. She would get up, go to breakfast, then class, and then she would either have free time or Quidditch practice, which was followed by the occasional patrol, and then bed. She and Danny were still patrol partners, and it had been a good way for them to build their friendship, something that Victoire was grateful for.
The last Monday in November found them walking the halls together, catching the occasional snogging couple. Most were sent on with a warning, but there were a few who had become such regular occurrences that they immediately got detention rather than points taken off.
"You know," Danny said, as they walked away from a classroom on the third floor where they had just caught a pair of sixth-year Ravenclaws, "Nessa really wants to spend some time with you."
"Really?" Victoire asked, "I would, I'm just swamped with work. What with patrols and Quidditch, I barely have time to do homework, let alone do much of anything fun."
"I know," Danny said, smiling, "I just thought I'd mention it. Also, we were invited to the Potter's Christmas party. I trust that you're going?"
Victoire nodded, "Yeah, I am. I sort of have to, and not just because they're family."
"Why do you have to go, then?" Danny asked, "It's not like you and Lupin are… Wait, you and Lupin are talking again, aren't you?"
"You could call it that, yeah," Victoire said, "I just realized I never told you. That first Hogsmeade weekend, he came back from Australia for a couple of days, and we decided that we were going to give things a try again. They're going better than last time, honest, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him."
Danny was silent for a moment. "Well, if he hurts you again, I will maim him," he said eventually, "But I'm glad that the two of you figured it out. I'm not really sure that he deserves you, but better him than anyone else, I suppose."
"It was just as much my fault as it was his," Victoire said, sighing, "I wish I hadn't been that stupid, but it did have its benefits. I wouldn't be friends with you if he and I hadn't split, and we wouldn't have had time to really think about what it was that we wanted out of a relationship with one another. Teddy's just been such a definite in my life that neither of us really knew how to appropriately handle the fact that we weren't just friends anymore. Time apart let us figure it out."
"Yeah, I suppose Nessa going away helped us to avoid that," Danny said, "I still owe you for that."
"For what, breaking up with you?" Victoire asked, "No, you don't. If we look at it that way, I owe Jake, and you owe me, and the whole thing will just turn into a cycle of all of us owing someone else. You two are happy together, that's all I really care about. Nessa's sweet."
"She is, yeah," Danny said. They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then Danny said something that made Victoire stop in her tracks, "I'm going to ask her to marry me."
"You're what?" Victoire asked, once she'd regained her voice.
"Not yet," Danny said, "Not until after we graduate, but I am going to ask her. She's… She's the most important thing in my life, and I don't want to lose her again."
Victoire smiled, starting to walk again, "I'm happy for you. That's really good, Danny. She's sweet, and you two are really good for each other."
"I know we're a bit young," he said, "And we probably won't get married for a couple of years, but I know that she's the one for me and I want her to know that too."
"She's a fool if she doesn't know that already," Victoire said, "But I get your point."
"What about you and Teddy?" Danny asked eventually, his gaze falling on Victoire.
"That's not going to happen for a long time," Victoire said, "But we did talk about it. It's certainly an idea that we're both fond of, I think, but who's to say if it'll come true?"
"Meaning?" Danny asked.
"When he was here, he asked me where I saw us in five or ten years," Victoire said, opening a broom cupboard with a wave of her wand. She rolled her eyes, "Fitzpatrick, Shelby, get back to your dormitories before I give you detention. Five points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor." She waited until the fifth and sixth years had hurried off to continue talking, "Anyway, he and I have pretty much the same idea."
"Which is?" Danny asked, "Sorry if I'm prying, I'm just curious."
"Don't be sorry," Victoire said, smiling, "I haven't even told the girls this, so you're sworn to secrecy, but anyway… In five years, we'll be in our own flat together, and in ten, we'll be married with a house somewhere. Personally, I think that sounds completely reasonable for us, but who knows what will happen. Plans can change, but I don't think that Teddy's going anywhere, and I'm definitely not."
"As long as you're happy with it," Danny said. He fell silent again, and then spoke as they walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, "It's weird, knowing that this is my last year. I can't quite wrap my mind around it."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Victoire said, "It's a big change, after seven years of this place. Are you doing the fast-track program for the Aurors, or are you just going to do regular training?"
"Regular, I think," he said, "I just can't see myself going off to another country for who knows how long, even if it would put me further along in the process at the end than I'd make staying here for that amount of time. Besides, I feel like I'd be better served to train under your uncles, because they've completely changed the department since their school days and I think I could really learn a lot from them."
"Oh, you'll learn a lot alright," Victoire said, "They're very serious about their work, Uncle Harry especially. He really doesn't want for there to be a repeat of his experiences."
"I don't really see how there could be, but you're right," Danny said, "Better we all know how to defend ourselves now rather than later when we don't really have time to do much of anything."
"Exactly," Victoire said.
They continued to patrol, and then parted ways to go back to their dormitories. The Gryffindor common room was still partially filled when Victoire entered it, and she raised her eyebrows as she approached the girls.
"Homework," Monica said, as Victoire sat down in an armchair and opened her mouth, "We're not all brilliant like you, so we figured we'd better just stay up late and get it done rather than scrambling to work on it tomorrow. You know, priorities and all of that."
"Well, I'm glad that you're finally learning something from me," Victoire said, her gaze traveling around the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of a few people, and she stood up, "I'll be back."
The girls nodded in understanding as Victoire walked to the other corner of the room. She paused in front of her young cousins and their friends, her hands on her hips, "And what exactly do you lot think that you're doing? I'm not an idiot, James, I know you guys."
James looked up at her with wide eyes. To anyone who didn't know the eldest Potter child, it would have looked like an expression of completely innocence, but Victoire knew better. James only got that look on his face when he was about to do something that could get him into trouble. A lot of trouble.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," James said.
"I have known you since the day that you were born," Victoire said, pointing at him, "You can't get past me. I was trained by Uncle George too, you know." She looked around at the rest of the group. Fred and Roxy looked away as soon as her gaze fell on them, and Tara Jordan looked the picture of innocence as she gazed up at Victoire. Sarah Winters was staring at the ground, the flickering firelight hiding the blush that Victoire knew was on the younger girl's cheeks, and Declan and Aidan Finnegan had the same blank expression on their faces.
"Regardless, it's nearly eleven, and you lot should really be in bed," Victoire said, crossing her arms, "It's only Monday, you'll be tired for the rest of the week if you stay up much longer. Off you go."
Her cousins and their friends scampered off, saying goodnights as they passed. Victoire grabbed James' arm as he tried to go past her, "James Potter, you listen to me right now, understand?"
"Yes," he said, after staring at her for a few moments.
"I will admit that the school is in need of some pranking. Things have been too quiet since Sam and Teddy left," she said, "However, whatever it is that you do, it had better be harmless, and it had better not be illegal, do you understand me?"
James laughed, "Like we would do anything illegal, Vic. We're too smart for that." His smile widened and he stood up on his toes to press a kiss to her cheek, "Goodnight."
He walked away without waiting for a response, and she shook her head, watching him leave. Once he had disappeared up the stairs to his dormitory, she returned to her friends. Alexa looked up from the book she held as Victoire sat down.
"What was that about?"
"The hell if I know," Victoire said, "Whatever it is, it's not illegal, so I figure they're probably okay. They're going to end up with multiple detentions during their time here, and things have been pretty dull ever since Sam and Teddy left, so I figured I might as well let them give us a laugh, at the very least. James is right. They may only be twelve, but they're all way too smart to do anything that's going to get them into loads of trouble. Besides, they've got Uncle George on their side, and I'm pretty sure that Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick still have a soft spot for him."
Alexa was staring at her, and she shrugged, "What?"
"Teddy really has corrupted you," the black-haired girl said, her eyes wide, "You always used to yell at him for doing stupid things when we were younger."
"That was until I realized that the stupid things were hilarious and harmless," Victoire said, "Well, harmless except for the matters of several people's pride, but most of them needed the reality check."
Molly laughed, "I'll say. Anyways, Lex, I was always the more responsible one out of the two of us."
"How responsible you are now is entirely questionable though," Jade said, "I mean, you do have a boyfriend that very few people know about, so I'd say you're starting to reach Victoire's level of irresponsibility."
"I'm perfectly responsible," Victoire said, "I get my work done, I don't get detention. What more do you want from me?"
"She does have a point," Monica said, "Still, hiding your boyfriend from your family is a pretty irresponsible thing to do, so I applaud you for that."
Victoire shook her head, "You're all ridiculous. I hope you know that."
They sat there for a while longer. Jade, Molly, Monica, and Alexa continued to work on their assignments, and Victoire alternated her gaze between the fire and the grounds outside the window. She could almost see the cold, and she shivered despite herself. The temperature had dropped drastically within the few days previous, and every Hogwarts student was feeling it. The usual hurry from class to class had only increased, an inverse relationship with student morale. Despite Gryffindor's win against Ravenclaw in the first Quidditch match of the season two weeks before had helped to keep some spirit, but it was fast decreasing along with the weather.
At half-past eleven, Victoire stood up, "We should probably head to bed. I'm going to try and convince everyone else to go too, there's no reason for anyone else to stay up or we'll just end up with people in the hospital wing because of sleep deprivation."
Molly looked at the clock, "Vic's right, it's bedtime for us." She gathered her things and headed upstairs, Alexa, Jade, and Monica following close behind.
Victoire made her rounds, stopping at every small group that was still in the common room. When she finally reached the stairs again, all but a few Gryffindors had taken her up on her advice and gone upstairs.
"My work here is done," she said, surveying the near-empty common room before turning and walking up the stairs.
They'd thank her for it later.
A/N:
This chapter is madness, but so it goes. This is what happens when I'm up until four AM the night before and have to write another two thousand words... Oh well.
I'm riding my lesson horse tomorrow and Thursday for my instructor because she's out of town this week on vacation, so I've been really focused on that. It's really nice to be riding again, it was such a big part of my life and I missed it a lot.
I'm knitting house scarves to raise money for LeakyCon, so if you'd like to find them, you can go to my etsy store, which is acreatureofhope. Unfortunately, I have not yet listed any, but I'm nearly done with the Ravenclaw scarf that someone wanted, so pictures will be going up for that (they're made to order), and you can always submit a custom order for one if you'd like to.
I also had an idea for a Supernatural/Harry Potter fandom scarf, and a Merlin/Harry Potter, and I will likely come up with others as time goes on.
Also, you guys keep finding me on Tumblr. I swear, you're all detectives, I only have ~300 followers so it's not like I'm Tumblr-famous or anything.
That's all for now.
Peace and love x
~AC
