A thin stream of light shown threw the dormitory windows and greeted Teddy as he awoke from his sleep. He felt oddly peaceful as he opened his eyes, although the night before it had been difficult falling asleep from the argument he had had with Collin. Teddy sat up and looked over at Collins bed; the auburn head was peeking out from the sheets and his deep snoring echoed off the walls.

From the bliss of waking up so serenely, the tension and anger he had felt the night before had melted away. Teddy knew why he was annoyed at Collin but was not able to feel anything more than a slight annoyance. Collin was just being a good friend and trying to make him happy, he shouldn't be mad at him for that.

By the time Teddy had finished getting ready for his morning classes, he had already resolved to apologize to Collin the next time he saw him. Clearly the lazy bum had had a late night as he was still sleeping as soundly as a sloth. Teddy chuckled fondly as he left the dormitory, catching a stirring from Ned's bed as he shut the door behind him.

He trotted down the stairs with a slight jump in his step, feeling refreshed from sleep. He would apologize to Collin as soon as he got a chance and the worst of diminishing his feelings for Victoire were over. Only good things could happen from this point on, and that thought made him smile as he exited the Gryffindor common room.

Or, so he thought.

As Teddy walked through the corridors, he could tell he had woken up earlier than usual from the amount of students he passed. There were few but he knew by the time he had finished breakfast he would be joined by the rest of the school. Everyone he passed seemed to be whispering to someone however, or reading a piece of parchment intently with wide eyes. Hogwarts was known to have news spread like wildfire, but by the time he got his hands on a Prophet, there was no interesting news he could see that seemed to be worthy of the hushed tones that filled the Great Hall. Gradually, more and more people came flooding in, although there was still no sign of Collin or Ned. Unable to wait any longer, Teddy decided to head off to his first class early and hope to talk to them before hand.

Just as he left the Great Hall however, he spotted Bex and Leah in fervent conversation ahead of him. Thankfully Victoire was nowhere in sight, and perhaps they knew where his friends were. "Hey guys!"

Their heads snapped up, eyes wide in what he took as surprise, although there was a slight terror in them. "Er, is everything all right?"

Bex shook her head as if clearing it from the frightful thoughts that made her expression so frazzled. "Fine, fine! Everything's great!"

From what he could tell her voice was two notches higher in pitch than usual, but because he was in such a good mood, he let it go. "Excellent. Have either of you seen Collin or Ned yet today? They were still sleeping when I left but they never came to breakfast."

"They were with Vict-ow!" Leah gasped midsentence. She clutched her side and glared at Bex who had presumably thrown her the jab. They glowered at each other, seemingly in a mental argument, before turning back to him as if nothing had happened. "But we haven't seen them since we left the common room."

Teddy looked between the two, their faces mixed with guilt and fright. He was suspicious, but knew girls could act absolutely insane for no reason at all, so didn't question it. "Right, thanks. See you later, then."

"Bye, Teddy."

If Collin and Ned were with Victoire he had no intention to go find them in fear of the mere sight of her bringing back all the emotions he felt. Teddy suppressed the fond memories and thoughts of her that rose to his mind and decided to cut through the courtyard for some fresh air.

The mid-January snow was melting slightly and the pathway was clear. A crisp wind nipped his nose but it felt nice in his lungs. There were even more people whispering than before, in close huddles scattered all around the courtyard. He had the odd feeling some where even staring at him. Just as he began to debate with himself whether he should ask what they were all bloody talking about, he ran into a solid figure in front of him.

"Whoa, sorry Teddy, didn't see you there," Dennis Davies, the Ravenclaw quidditch captain proclaimed. "But I'm glad I ran into you!"

"What's up?" Teddy questioned pleasantly. Although there was always a rivalry between the quidditch teams, he had always liked Dennis and they didn't let what happened on the pitch interfere with their friendship.

"The Ravenclaws are throwing a party tonight, sort of a new semester thing," Dennis smiled, clearly proud of the rebellious reputation they were to acquire. "It'll be in the Room of the Requirement, you know where that is, right?"

Teddy nodded, remembering sneaking into a party there with Collin in his second year. "Can I bring my mates?"

"I already ran into Collin and Ned and invited them, if that's who you're referring to," Dennis informed him. "Speaking of which, the whole school is going crazy about the news!"

"Yeah, what's that all about?"

Dennis' eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "I thought you were Collin's best mate?"

"I am. I mean, we got into a row last night, but it was nothing serious."

"Then I think you better be the one to ask him. After all, everyone thought it was you she'd end up with!"

"What are you-?"

"Gotta go Teddy, Care of Magical Creatures is starting any minute now, and it takes ten minutes to get to Hagrid's. See you tonight!"

Teddy watched Dennis run off, wondering what the hell he had been talking about, and what he could have missed in the twelve hours he and Collin hadn't spoken to each other.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was the second time Teddy had woken up that day, but this time was much less tranquil than the last. He woke up with a jolt, covered in a cold sweat, and in complete darkness. He gasped and fumbled for his wand on the table next to his bed.

"Lumos."

Teddy looked around his dormitory and saw he was alone. When he tried to remember what he had been fearful of, the nightmare he had been having seemed to disappear from his memory. He looked at his watch; it was eight o'clock, so everyone was probably already down at the Ravenclaw party. Switching on the lamp beside his bed, Teddy staggered up and squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the head rush from getting up to quickly to pass.

Normally, he would have opted out from going to the party. He wasn't much of an alcohol kind of guy and felt no need to be in a crowded room, dancing for fun. But he hadn't seen Collin all day and wanted to apologize to him. Clearly he was still upset if he skipped meals to avoid sitting with him. So Teddy changed out of his uniform and into jeans and a t-shirt, finger-combed his turquoise hair, and made his way to the Room of Requirement.

He had no trouble getting in and was instantly engulfed with the music of The Weird Sisters and noise ofpeople talking, yelling, and singly along badly. He sighed and grabbed a butterbeer off a nearby table, observing the scene in front of him. The only light in the room came from blue bulbs hanging from the ceiling, giving everything an oceanic feel. There were butterbeers and firewhiskeys littering the tables and people were everywhere. How was he ever supposed to find Collin in this crowd?

"Whattt are youu doing hereee?" slurred a voice from behind him. He turned to see a swaying Victoire with a giddy smile on her face. Although his mind started protesting at her sudden appearance, his feet wouldn't move and his heart thudded in his chest.

"Hello to you too, Weasley," he replied, trying not to think how adorable her hair looked in a ponytail. She stared at him intently, making him feel uneasy. "Can I help you?"

"Are you alcohol?" she giggled and Teddy had to catch her from falling over.

He scoffed, partly in amusement. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

"And you're sexy," she snickered and allowed Teddy to lead her away from the crowd and over to a mostly empty area near a wall on the other side of the room. He bit his inner cheek to keep himself from smiling as he sat her down against the wall.

"You know what's fun?" Victoire asked aloud, getting a fascinated look in her eyes. Teddy sat down next to her and shrugged, holding in the laughter from seeing her like this. "Alco-hick!-hol."

He laughed aloud. "Weasley, what the hell did you drink?"

"What didn't-hick!-I drink, Luuupin," she slurred and slapped his shoulder, tittering. "Two firewhiskeys and a butterbeer, but who's counting?"

"Victoire, that's incredibly dangerous-"

"Oh shut it, Dad," she stopped him and waved a hand in front of his face, leaning too far forward so he had to put her up right again. "I just had to get, to get, to get…"

"To get?" he raised an amused eyebrow.

She smiled. "My mind off of things."

"Oh?"

"Yup, things about," Victoire poked a finger into his chest. "You."

His heart stopped. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Victoire hadn't removed her finger and instead put her entire hand on his chest. She grazed her fingers over his t-shirt, staring at it in wonder. He felt a warm sensation spread through his body and a pleasant pang in his stomach. Teddy was aroused, and it took all of his self-control to remove her hand and put it back in her lap.

She continued on as if nothing had happened. "You know, how you told me things that made my heart hurt."

"Your heart hurt?"

"Yes," she sighed, looking very sad all of a sudden. "And I had to stop it from hurting so I did something."

She reached for his hand and began playing with his fingers, inspecting them and entangling them with hers. He didn't bother stopping her this time. "You mean get yourself piss drunk?"

"Noooooooo, before that."

"What did you do?"

"I hoped it would make you angry."

"What was it?"

"I hoped it would make you feel how you made me feel."

"Victoire, tell me."

"But the heart-hurting didn't go away, it just made it worse, so I drank all of that Firewhiskey."

"Just tell me!"

"And it still hurts, but it's duller now."

"Please, Victoire!"

She looked up at him, as if realizing he was there for the first time. "Oh, want to know why everyone was talking about me today?"

"They were talking about Collin, I thought." Teddy's eyebrows crinkled.

"They were."

He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Victoire, you're not making any sense because you're completely mad."

"No! They were talking about both of us today!"

"Why?

She started giggling. "Because word got around about what we did last night."

He felt fear trickle through him. "What did you do with him, Victoire?"

"I don't know how everyone found out so fast."

"Victoire-"

"But the whole school knows."

"Victoire!" he yelled and grabbed her as gently as possible, making her face him. "What did you and Collin do?"

She leaned in and cupped her hands around his ear. "We did what you and I did on Christmas Eve. And then he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes."

The noise disappeared from the room and Teddy could no longer see anything except the rage that had taken over his entire body. His hands began to shake and he wanted nothing more than to punch something, hit something, kick something as hard as he could. Every thought turned violent and malicious just as everything looked out to get him.

"Teddy, glad you showed up!" A voice that was too familiar broke him from his thoughts. His vision came back and standing above him was the one person he wanted dead. Faster than a bludger, Teddy got up and grabbed Collin's shirt, slamming him against the wall.

"What the hell-"

"How could you? How the hell could you do that to me?" Teddy demanded, feeling no mercy from the fear in Collin's eyes.

"What are you-?"

"Don't lie to me! I know! I know! How could you do that to her?"

Collin looked down at a dazed Victoire beside them, who was being helped up by a frightened Bex and Leah who had appeared out of nowhere. He turned back to Teddy and smirked, making Teddy want to hit him. Instead he tightened his grip and leaned in closer.

"I know you Collin, and if you dare hurt her-"

"Oh, like you haven't?" Collin glared, raising an eyebrow. Teddy's chest heaved.

"What are you saying?"

"That you hurt her first, and you said you didn't care about her!"

"Teddy, let him go," Bex pleaded as Leah tried to hold Victoire upright. Teddy ignored her and slammed Collin against the wall again, enough to knock the wind out of him but not enough to seriously hurt him."

"I swear to Merlin, you traitorous prat-"

Two arms yanked him off of Collin and held him back. Without even looking behind he knew it was Ned. "Teddy, calm down-"

"Then don't make me mad!" he yelled and ripped his arms free. "That's like telling someone not to bleed after you stabbed them!"

"If you would just-"

Teddy pointed at Collin saliently, his eyes murderous. "Drop dead." And he stormed off, disappearing into the crowd.

Collin watched him go as Bex and Leah led a sick Victoire into a bathroom that hadn't been there before. He heard Ned sigh, knowing he felt the frustration he felt. "What was your plan again, oh wise one?"

"Get Teddy a bit drunk, tell him about Victoire and I, make him jealous enough to admit his feelings, I tell him it's all a joke. He professes his love to Victoire, who won't care I've been using her this entire time, and we all live happily ever after," Collin sighed and grabbed a butterbeer out of a random person's hands, gulping the rest of it down.

"Right, 'the ends will justify the means', like you said," Ned crossed his arms, knowing he had been right all along. "And what exactly happened in the end?"

"Teddy wishes my immediate and painful death, wants nothing to do with Victoire, and I'm still dating his girl."

"Good plan, mate," Ned muttered sarcastically, taking a sip of a butterbeer he had picked up off of the floor.

Thank you so much for all your reviews/subscriptions! It makes me happier than when my mom tells me we can order pizza, and that is saying something.

Up next: Five words: quidditch practice in the rain.

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