By now it was nearly Christmas, which meant that almost every class had an essay due. Teddy was struggling to keep himself afloat, but he was lucky to have his friends with him. Victoire was dealing with the academic stress in her own unconventional ways- the boys often found her taking walks in the Forbidden Forest late at night, which was what she called "relaxing". One morning during breakfast, they were all discussing (more like complaining about) all their homework assignments. "I swear, this History of Magic essay is going to kill me," Liam moaned.
"It'll be alright, I can help you with it," Hana smiled up at him. He kissed her and took her hand. Teddy and Victoire laughed and made faces at the couple.
"All I know is, if I don't get my Patronus perfected by Friday I'm screwed!" Victoire put her head in her hands and her golden- strawberry hair fell over her face. "Right now it kind of looks like a mix between a horse and a goat…" she whined. She kept chatting out loud about her work while Hana and Liam looked into each other's eyes. Teddy couldn't help but wonder about himself, if he would ever have a girlfriend. His memory flicked back to Madelyn, and he shivered at the thought of Liam ever finding out. He tried to clear his head, but then he looked over and Victoire was staring at him.
"Wha…?" he muttered.
"Augh, I should have known you weren't listening. I was asking you how many essays you have left to write."
"Oh, I think I have three. One in History of Magic, one in Transfiguration, and one in Muggle Studies. When I'm done I can help you with yours, Vi, if you want." Her eyes lit up and she put her arms around Teddy.
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you! Teddy, you're the best. Je t'aime, mon ours!" Teddy chuckled and blushed at the nickname she sometimes used for him: 'my bear'. He hated being called 'Teddy- bear' so she said it in French from time to time.
He hoped she hadn't seen his face getting red, but it didn't seem like she had, so he went back to drinking his pumpkin juice. "I can't believe it's almost Christmas already," he said, which caused everyone to erupt with complaints about homework again.
Liam was hunched over his History of Magic essay with Hana soothingly rubbing circles on his back and trying to help him. Victoire was playing a game of Wizard Chess with her sister Dominique, who was a second year. "Vi, I know you and Dom want to play, but you can't keep putting off your work." Victoire looked up and stuck her bottom lip out at Teddy, and made her eyes big and sad.
"Vivi, Teddy's right. We can finish playing later." Dominique gave her sister a kiss on the cheek and wandered over to her friends. Victoire growled and crossed her arms when she stood up.
"Fine. But you promised to help me!" she smirked. Teddy smiled and put his arm around her.
"I promised. Which one is first?" The two worked on Victoire's Muggle Studies essay for a few hours. Teddy helped her with most of it, since he lived in a mainly Muggle area. Teddy wrote his Transfiguration essay and helped Victoire on her Patronus. "Look, Vi! It's amazing! Brilliant job." His friend beamed back at him as her silver cheetah raced through the air. He couldn't stop staring at the beautiful witch- her long, straight hair swayed down her back as she laughed and it seemed to glow in the dim common room. She turned to Teddy and raised her light eyebrows and cocked her head.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing! Nothing," he smiled. "Practice again, you're almost perfect."
Teddy's long arms stretched and he gave a loud yawn. The sun had been up for a while, and Liam was getting dressed. Teddy got up and brushed his teeth. He walked over to his chest and dropped his toothbrush. "NO! No no no no no!" he cried as Liam raced over. He gasped and stared at the top of the chest. "How in the hell did this happen?" All of his essays that he had left on the top of his chest were gone, and in their place was a pile of ash.
"Merlin's beard, Teddy…what're you gonna do?" Liam's eyes were round like saucers as he looked from the ash pile to Teddy, who was kneeling on the ground inspecting the pile.
"I'm gonna talk to McGonnagall, that's what." He said quietly.
Teddy looked around at the high ceiling and dark wooden walls covered with moving photographs, and imagined how his father must have felt when he was at Hogwarts. How much had the headmaster's office changed since Dumbledore was there? His mind drifted to the unknown past, then focused when he heard McGonnagal's voice. "So you're telling me, Mr. Lupin, that you had finished every single one of your essays and when you woke up this morning, they were burnt to a crisp?" Teddy nodded.
"There was a pile of ashes where my scrolls were."
"And do you have any idea who could have done such a thing?"
"Not a clue, Professor." Minerva sat back in her chair and thought a moment.
"Well it will take a bit of complicated magic to put it all back the way it was, but I will try my best at that. What I am concerned about, Mr. Lupin, is why this happened and who was responsible for it. If anything like this happens again, please notify me immediately." She shooed him off to collect the ash pile and with her many years of Transfiguration mastery, she successfully put his essays back together after four long hours of work. Teddy thanked her furiously and she waved it off, giving him a small smile. He met up with his friends at dinner, and they contemplated the mysteriousness of the situation.
"I just don't see who would do that," Hana murmured. "I mean you're nice to everyone."
"What, so you're saying he's nicer than me? You like him, don't you?" Liam said angrily. Hana's eyes filled with tears and she blinked quickly, causing her bangs to quiver.
"I didn't say that!" Her eyes pleaded with her friends'.
"Liam, stop being a douche," Victoire put her hands on his shoulders and gave him a stern look. "Just because you're having a hard time finishing your work doesn't mean you can treat Hana or anyone else like crap." Liam rolled his eyes and shrugged so her hands fell off. She turned to face Teddy. "Fine. Teddy, would you like to go on a walk with me?"
But Vi, we can't walk around the grounds after dark. You know that…you've been in trouble seven times." She shrugged. "Oh, alright. But I'm not going into the Forbidden Forest." Her eyes fell for a moment, and she reluctantly agreed.
Teddy fiddled with his thumbs and listened to his friend talk on and on. He smiled to himself and thought of how she never could keep quiet about something she cared for. They had been walking for hours, just feeling the chill air and talking. At around 2 A.M. they made their way over to the Black Lake, and they sat down under the big tree. "You know Ted, I really think we should try to get to the bottom of this, not just let McGonnagall sort it out first…" he looked at her, and noticed how her eyes sparkled gold in the light. "Teddy, are you even listening to me?! Well anyway, I was just thinking about Madelyn-"
"What about her?" Teddy snapped to attention. He didn't want ANYONE to know about their kiss, not even his best friend.
"Well I keep thinking of when the two of us saw another me at Hogsmeade. Our next trip is in a few days, and I'm worried something strange will happen. Why, do you know something about Madelyn?" he shook his head.
"I just didn't know you were friends with her."
"Oh me? No, I'm not really friends with her. I chat with her in the common room sometimes, but she always has boys fawning all over her. It's not worth it being friends with someone like that." Teddy was confused.
"Wait, so are you saying you're not friends with her because boys like her? Because boys like you too, Victoire." She blushed, and turned her face so he wouldn't see.
"Shut up, mon our. You're trying to make me feel better; it won't work." Teddy had had it. He stood up, his long figure casting shadows on the grass.
"Victoire, I don't like how you put yourself down all the time. You don't understand how beautiful you are. Why, I have to stop myself from punching other gits every day because I have to hear them talk about you in a way that makes me sick. I try to protect you Vi, I really do. Because it would kill me to have to see one of those guys ever do something to you. I don't even want to think about it. So the next time you look in the mirror and think how it could be better, remember how hard I work to keep you from doing something you'll regret. Because I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt. You are the prettiest girl I have ever seen and I won't let you treat yourself that way." Victoire looked up at him with misty eyes. Teddy was panting now; she had never seen him so upset before. His chest was heaving and his hazel eyes were piercing hers, his hands were clenched and he seemed to be pleading to her. She noticed that his hair had turned red. Victoire stood up and touched the red hair near his neck, and leaned towards him. They kissed for quite a while, until the moon fell under the lake and a new day had begun.
