The few days that passed after the disaster of the twentieth didn't do much to improve Victoire's outlook on life. Dominique wouldn't tell anyone who it was that she was writing to all the time, and Teddy still hadn't showed up when Monica left on the twenty-third.
"Vic, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for why he wasn't here," Monica said, "Don't get angry with him before you find out what happened, it's not going to do either of you any good. You'll work yourself up and he'll have to go to a ton of trouble to start explaining what happened, when you could both save yourself the effort and just let him talk before you react."
"So you're saying I'm overreacting then," Victoire said.
Monica hugged her and sighed. "Honey, no, I'm just saying that you need to let him talk before you get mad, alright? He loves you, you know that, and I hate seeing you beat yourself up about this when you don't even know why he wasn't here."
"I guess you're right," Victoire said, "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Definitely," Monica said, "Honestly though, Vic, give him a chance first. Love you loads, and see you."
With that, she tossed a handful of Floo powder into the fire, stepped in, and disappeared.
Early in the evening of the twenty-fourth, Victoire stood in front of her wardrobe eyeing the shelves of clothing. She eyed a pair of jeans for a while before shaking her head and turning her gaze to the black dress that hung on the back of the door. It was simple, with long sleeves and a scoop neck, but its skirt was what made it special.
"Try it on, Vic," Alexa had said, thrusting it into her hands as they stood inside a favorite Muggle clothing store of theirs, "I think it does the thing."
For some people, the thing might have seemed silly or not important, but having a dress with a skirt that made a perfect circle upon spinning was one of the simplest pleasures in life according to Victoire and her friends (Ask any girl that likes to wear dresses or skirts. The thing is incredible, and if they don't say it is, they're doing it wrong).
She stripped out of her pajamas and pulled on the dress, tugging on the skirt until it rested properly against her legs. After tugging a brush through her hair, she threw it up into a ponytail.
"Vic, can I borrow your–" Dom entered the room and stopped. "Nope, we're not doing this."
"What?" Victoire asked.
"You are not going to walk into that party looking like you'd rather be at home in your pajamas," Dom said, "I don't care if you would or not. I know you're disappointed about the fact that Teddy didn't come back when he was supposed to, but you're Victoire Weasley. You're part Veela. Every girl there is going to envy you if I have anything to say about it. Sit down."
She sat Victoire in a chair in front of the mirror and undid the ponytail.
"You really don't have to do this, Dom," Victoire said, as Dom began to brush her hair.
"Yes I do," Dom said, "You've been feeling awful the last few days. I may be younger than you are, but I'm not blind. I know you love him, and I know that you two decided to be more than friends when he was here visiting. You should really check to make sure there's no one nearby while discussing those things in the common room, I don't know if you ever thought about that. Regardless, you're Victoire Weasley. You're a Weasley woman. You don't need Teddy, and tonight you're going to prove that to everyone."
"You're right," Victoire said.
Dom grinned. "It happens sometimes. Anyway, make sure that you bring clothes for the inevitable snowball fight, or we're going to have a problem on our hands."
"I will," Victoire said.
Dom fixed a rhinestone clip in Victoire's hair and started on her makeup. "You're hardly the only one whose boyfriend isn't around anyway."
Victoire froze. "Dom, were you ever going to tell me, or were you determined to make me suffer?"
"I'm still not telling you who it is," Dom said, "All I'm telling you is that I have one. You'll find out eventually, but given the circumstances I figured I shouldn't bring it up."
"You can't dangle something like that in front of me and then not tell me who it is," Victoire said, "At least tell me if I know the guy."
"You do know him," Dom said, "Not well, but you do know him."
"That narrows it down so much," Victoire said, "Now I'm going to be wondering about who it is all night."
"At least it'll keep your mind off of everything else," Dom said.
"I suppose you're right," Victoire said.
"It has been known to happen sometimes," Dom said. "All done, I didn't do much. I only touched up your dark circles and put some life back into your cheeks since you've been walking around looking like an Inferius since the twentieth."
"Do you have to keep bringing it up?" Victoire asked, "But point taken."
"Here, shoes," Dom said. She handed a pair of red heels to Victoire, who put them on and stood.
"Ready to go?" Victoire asked.
"Completely," Dom said.
Victoire shouldered the bag that held a few different sets of clothes and followed Dom out of the room and downstairs. Bill and Fleur stood in front of the fireplace with Louis. They offered the bowl of Floor powder to Victoire and Dom, and soon enough, the entire family was dusting off their clothes in the kitchen of Potter Manor.
"Victoire!"
Victoire laughed as Ginny hugged her. "Hi, Aunt Ginny."
"You look so nice," Ginny said, stepping back to look at Victoire, "We just need Percy and Charlie and then all of the Weasleys will be here. I hope you're excited."
"Of course I am," Victoire said, "You know I love the parties."
"I might join you lot for the snowball fight later," Ginny said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I know we invite them for the sake of politics, but I get a bit tired being around the stuffy old Ministry representatives. The rest of the party is much more fun, and besides, sometimes I feel more like one of the cousins than your old aunt."
"You're hardly old," Victoire said, "You're barely more than thirty."
"That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that I feel old," Ginny said, "You lot remind me of what it was like to be at Hogwarts, and I do miss it a lot sometimes. Enough about me though, how have things been for you?"
"Decent," Victoire said, "There have been a few disappointments, but school's been going well."
"That's good," Ginny said, "Sam has kept me informed about your Quidditch successes as well. I must say, I was quite pleased to hear about the team's progress this year. You'll get the Cup again. Liam has built an excellent team this year."
"He really has," Victoire said.
"Have no fear, the greatest cousin ever is here."
"Really, Molls?" Victoire asked, turning to face her cousin, who was busily dusting ash off of her sweater. "That rhyme might be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. You know I don't play favorites."
Molly grinned. "Give me a hug."
Victoire did as she was told. "You smell like cinnamon."
"Mum gave me a Christmas-themed perfume this morning," Molly said, rolling her eyes, "I thought I'd humour her."
"I like it," Victoire said.
"I like the dress," Molly said, "It does the thing, doesn't it?"
"Oh, it definitely does the thing," Victoire said.
"You'll have to show me later," Molly said, "I want the full effect, with the lights and the garlands and all of that in the ballroom."
"Victoire! Molly!"
Victoire and Molly leaned down in unison and hoisted Lily up between them.
"Hey, Lil," Victoire said, squeezing her cousin with one arm, "How are you?"
Lily's face broke into a wide smile. "Really good!"
"Excellent," Molly said, helping Victoire to lower Lily slowly to the floor, "Say, do you know when everyone else is meant to start arriving?"
Lily looked at the clock on the wall. "Uh… In about twenty minutes, I think."
"Brilliant," Molly said.
"We all know you're excited about it, Molls," Victoire said, "Well, most of us know it. You still haven't told your dad, have you?"
"Of course not," Molly said, "He'd kill me."
"Why would Uncle Percy kill you?" Lily asked, "Did you do something bad?"
Molly and Victoire exchanged a glance. Molly chuckled. "Not technically, Lil. You'll understand once you're at school."
"Everyone says that," Lily said, crossing her arms, "I want to go."
"You've got a year and some and then you'll be going," Victoire said.
"Yeah, but you two won't be there," Lily said.
"We'll visit," Molly said.
"You promise?" Lily asked.
"We swear," Victoire said, "We wouldn't be very good cousins if we never came to see you at school, would we? Besides, I'll have to check on Dom and Louis, and I'm sure Molls will want to make sure Lucy is behaving herself. We'll stop by sometimes."
"Good," Lily said.
Fifteen minutes later, someone hugged Victoire from behind.
"Really, Lexa?" Victoire asked, turning around, "Again?"
Alexa shrugged. "It's the best way to make sure that you know it's me."
"I suppose," Victoire said, "Where's Liam?"
"They're on their way," Alexa said, "He Flooed me ten minutes before I left. His mum and sister were still getting ready, but they should be here soon. Are you excited for the snowball fight?"
"Obviously," Victoire said, "When am I not?" She caught the arm of Harry as he walked past them to go to the ballroom. "Say, Uncle Harry, Gianna wasn't invited this year, was she?"
"Of course not," Harry said, rolling his eyes, "Don't say a word to anyone, but I've never liked the girl, not even before she transferred from your Aunt Hermione's department to mine."
"You're sane then," Victoire said, "Good to know."
Harry chuckled. "The party is safe, Vic. I promise."
"It's nice to know that someone has some sense," Victoire said.
"You know, I never liked that girl," Alexa said, shaking her head.
Victoire laughed. "I know, Lexa. None of us do."
"Where's Molly, anyway?" Alexa asked.
"She had to use the bathroom," Victoire said, "She should be back any minute. Shall we go to the ballroom?"
"Sounds good to me," Alexa said, "Also, I approve of the dress."
"You're the one who told me to try it on," Victoire said, "Regardless, I'm glad you like it."
"Anyone who doesn't is completely mad," Alexa said, "It looks great, and I told you it would do the thing."
"You were right," Victoire said, leading Alexa to the ballroom, "I feel so fancy."
"It's a perfectly appropriate dress for the occasion," Alexa said, "It's pretty, but it's not 'this isn't a family party' if that makes any sense."
"I completely understand what you're saying," Victoire said, "I felt the same." She stopped in the doorway to the ballroom. "For the love of Merlin, this is beautiful."
"It is," Alexa said, her eyes wide.
The ballroom was glowing with lights. The chandeliers that hung from the high, vaulted ceiling were draped with garlands of evergreen branches, and fairy lights twinkled on the mantles of the fireplaces that lined the walls of the room. Each corner held a tall, decorated Christmas tree. Outside the windows and doors, the patio and grounds were blanketed with perfectly white snow that sparkled in the light from the ballroom.
"They outdo themselves every year," Victoire said, stepping into the ballroom, "Either that or I'm so busy running around with you lot that I've never really stopped to look before."
"It could really be either one of those things," Alexa said, "Somehow I have a feeling that it's both though."
"I agree," Victoire said, "Definitely."
"And I'm back."
"Hey Molly," Victoire said without turning around.
"I brought a friend. Well, two."
Victoire spun to see Monica and Jade. She hugged both of them.
"You look incredible, Vic," Monica said, "I still approve the decision to buy that dress."
"I'm glad," Victoire said, "You two look wonderful. Jade, I love the dress."
Jade laughed. "I figured a green dress would be appropriate, given my name and the holiday."
"Definitely," Alexa said, "Now, I know one of us has a secret boyfriend and she can't exactly be with him all night for that reason, but I propose that we all dance together for a while. Jade and I don't need to be glued to Jake and Liam all night, and I want this to be fun. It's Christmas Eve, not couple's night."
"That doesn't come until midnight," Monica said, grinning.
"Sounds wonderful to me," Victoire said.
"I like this plan," Jade said.
"Me too," Molly said.
"Well, the pairs have approved, so it looks like we have our plan," Monica said, "We should be getting some music any minute now."
Sure enough, as soon as the first guest who wasn't a close friend appeared, music filled the ballroom. Victoire grabbed Alexa and they began to waltz around the room, laughing the entire time. Jade and Monica joined them. Molly pulled Dom out onto the floor when she entered the room, and the six girls spun around the room as more guests arrived.
"You're all incredible dancers, if I do say so myself."
Victoire dropped Alexa's hands and smiled. "Sam!"
She hugged him tightly. He chuckled and hugged her back. "Nice to know you're happy to see me."
"You're my friend, of course I'm happy to see you," Victoire said, "Come dance! Lexa, Liam's on his way over here, I hope you don't mind me ditching you."
"Go ahead," Alexa said, smiling.
Victoire pulled Sam out onto the floor. They both grinned at Molly as they waltzed past her. Sam laughed.
"You're awfully happy."
"All my friends are here," Victoire said, "Well, not all, but most. Of course I'm happy. It's Christmas Eve. My dress does the thing. It would be stupid if I weren't happy."
"What's the thing that you speak of?" Sam asked.
Victoire looked around. "Everyone's here, I suppose I can show you. We have to get everyone together though."
They called all of their friends to a corner of the room. Jake kissed Victoire on the cheek when he saw her, and she grinned at him.
"Sam wants to see the thing, and the thing is very important, so I figured everyone should be witness to it," Victoire said, "Alexa, would you mind helping me?"
"No problem," Alexa said.
The music had changed to a lively swing, and they did a few steps before Alexa spun Victoire out. Her skirt flared up, revealing the tight black shorts she was wearing underneath for that very purpose, and she grinned as her friend applauded.
"I can see why you girls like that," Liam said, grinning, "I feel like I'm watching a princess."
Victoire bowed. "It's a very wonderful thing. Now, Monica, would you care to dance?"
Monica laughed. "Sounds good to me."
They joined the mass of dancing couples, and eventually, Monica spun Victoire out again. Victoire faced the door for a brief moment and froze halfway through her spin.
Teddy raised his hand in a brief gesture of hello, a small smile on his face. She turned and looked at Monica, who nodded. Victoire nodded back and walked out of the crowd towards the doorway. Teddy followed her down the hallway to the library. She waited until he was inside, and then pulled the doors shut. She crossed her arms when she faced him, and he tucked his hands into his pockets.
"What the hell, Teddy," Victoire said.
"I know, I'm sorry," Teddy said, removing a hand from his pocket to run his fingers through his hair. He looked around the room and then took a seat on a couch by the window. "Sit down while I explain, please."
She sighed and did as he asked. He pulled out his wand and flicked it, locking the doors. She raised her eyebrows. "Well?"
"Harry told me that he told you that I would be home on the twentieth," Teddy said, "I was supposed to be, but something came up, and I had to be there for it. There was a mission, and I can't divulge details, but let's just say that it was serious, and they needed me to be there. It's not an excuse, and I would have written, but we couldn't have any contact with anyone at home while we were on the mission, in case someone intercepted the owl and found out what we were doing. I wanted to be here with you, I swear. Please forgive me, Tori."
She looked at him for a few moments. He was staring at her, his hazel eyes wide and unblinking and his turquoise hair sticking up in all directions. She nodded eventually. "I forgive you, but Merlin, if you ever go on a mission again when you're meant to be coming home and you don't send me an owl before you leave just to let me know that you were called on something and won't be able to write me, I will kill you, Ted Remus Lupin."
"Heard and understood," Teddy said. He looked down at his hands, and then back to her. "You look absolutely beautiful, by the way."
"Thank you," she said. When he continued to watch her, she rolled her eyes. "Are you going to kiss me or not, you complete idiot?"
He smiled. "I was hoping you would ask. I didn't want to be a prat and do it without your permission."
"You could've asked too, you-"
He cut her off.
She slid closer to him as he kissed her, and smiled widely when he pulled away.
"I missed you so much," he murmured, taking her hands in his, "I really do think I annoyed Liv and Veronica even more after I got back from visiting you."
"Well, you're here now, and you'll be here for a little while, so let's just live in the moment while you are," Victoire said, "I'd rather not think about the fact that you're going back to Australia in a week or so."
"About that…" Teddy said.
Victoire's mouth dropped. "Wait, Teddy-"
"I don't have an exact date yet, before you get too excited," Teddy said, "But this is part of your Christmas present. Because I went on that mission, and it was successful, I get to come home early. Everyone that was on it does. We were supposed to stay until the end of May, but they've decided that we're experienced enough to come home and finish our training here. I'll be back somewhere around the end of January, which means that I have a week to go flat and furniture shopping before I have to go down for my last few weeks of training."
Victoire threw her arms around him. "I'm coming with you to look at everything."
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "I figured as much."
They sat there for a while, content to be with each other, and then Teddy sighed. "We should probably return to the party. I'm keeping the prettiest girl here from everyone else, and that's not right of me. Plus, I haven't actually talked to any of our friends yet, and that includes Sam."
"As long as you promise you're going to stay by me all night," Victoire said.
Teddy smiled. "Of course I will. We've been apart for way too long. I'm not going anywhere you don't tell me to. Well, except for the bathroom."
Victoire rolled her eyes. "You're permitted to go to the bathroom. Shall we?"
He took her hand and kissed it. "Let's."
"You know, I was ready to kill you," Victoire said as he unlocked the doors.
"I figured as much," Teddy said, "I did deserve it a bit. Your dress is lovely, by the way."
"I'm glad you like it," Victoire said.
Teddy dropped her hand as they entered the ballroom. She made a face as he chuckled. They made their way over to their friends, and after Teddy had greeted everyone, he pulled Victoire aside. "There's someone I want you to meet, seeing as she's heard a lot about you."
"Okay," Victoire said, raising her eyebrows.
He led her out of the ballroom to the formal dining room. The table was lined with food, and a few couples were eating. She followed him to a window where a girl stood. Her blonde hair was curled into perfect ringlets, and she wore a deep red dress.
"Tori, meet Tatiana," Teddy said, "Tatiana, this is Victoire."
The girl turned around. Her grey eyes crinkled when she smiled. When she spoke, it was to reveal an Australian accent. "Victoire, it's so lovely to meet you. Teddy talks about you all the time."
Victoire smiled. "He mentioned you in his letters a few times."
"Tatiana's going to be returning here with those of us from the program when we come back," Teddy said, "She's here to do some flat shopping."
"I was born in London," Tatiana said, "My parents moved us to Australia shortly before they… Well, the point is, I'm looking forward to returning to the place where I was born."
"I'm sure," Victoire said.
"Vic! Teddy!"
Victoire turned to see Alexa standing in the doorway of the dining room. "Yeah, Lexa?"
"Snowball fight in twenty minutes," Alexa said, "Get dressed!" She turned and left.
"One dance first?" Teddy asked, looking at Victoire.
"I think that would be quite nice, yes," Victoire said, "Lovely to meet you, Tatiana."
"I'll see you," Teddy said, nodding to Tatiana, "Our snowball fight is a tradition. I would invite you to take part, but I doubt you've got the clothes for it, and as I said, it's a tradition." Tatiana's eyes had widened, but she smiled and nodded anyway. He looked at Victoire and bowed slightly. "Milady."
"Milord," she replied, curtsying. He took her hand and led her back to the ballroom. They joined the whirling mass of couples and began to waltz.
"I missed this," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Me too," he said, "When we go flat shopping, I want your honest opinion. It's as much yours as it is mine, so we need to find a place that we both love, alright?"
"Whatever you say," she said, "Just to repeat myself, though… If you ever do something like this ever again, I will kill you. If you die on a mission that you didn't tell me you were going on, I will kill you a second time, and then haunt you in the afterlife once I die, understood? I hate worrying about you. I know I'm going to, but it just gets worse when I don't know where you are."
"I know," he said, "I was stupid, and I really am sorry about that." His voice dropped to a nearly inaudible whisper. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said.
"Good," he said, as the song ended, "Now, I propose that we go and change for the snowball fight. It wouldn't do if we weren't dressed properly."
She laughed. "No, it certainly wouldn't."
They parted to go upstairs. One of the few house elves had taken Victoire's bag up to the room she always stayed in, and she switched her dress in favor of jeans and a sweater. She pulled on her boots and a thick coat that had her hat and gloves stuffed in its pockets. When she went back to the kitchen, it was to see almost everyone standing there.
"Who are we waiting on?" she asked, pulling out her gloves and putting them on.
"Teddy and Molls," Monica said, "Sam is doing the waterproofing charm."
Victoire nodded and walked over to Sam. He waved his wand and murmured a few inaudible words. "There, now you don't have to worry about your clothes soaking through during the inevitable tacklings that are bound to occur."
"Great," she said, grinning, "We don't want me catching hypothermia, do we?"
"Of course not," Sam said.
Once Teddy and Molly arrived, they went outside to the lawn outside of the ballroom. After dividing up into teams, they began to fire snowballs at one another.
"This is the greatest," Alexa shouted as she dove sideways to avoid a snowball that Sam had thrown at her.
"I agree," Victoire yelled back.
When they finished throwing snow at one another, they went into the kitchen to find a pot of hot chocolate sitting on the stove. Ginny and Hermione were seated at the table having a conversation, and they looked up as their nieces, nephews, and respective friends came in.
"Have fun?" Ginny asked.
"That we did," Victoire said.
"Good," Hermione said, "It's never Christmas Eve until you've all had your snowball fight. Are you going to rejoin the party?"
"I'm not changing, but definitely," Victoire said.
"What she said," Molly said.
Ginny laughed. "I can't say I blame you for that. You're just in time though, we've only got twenty minutes until it's midnight."
Victoire ran up to her room and left her coat and boots there. She slipped on a pair of slippers and went back downstairs. A minute before midnight, Teddy pulled her into the library and shut the doors. They could hear the countdown from the ballroom, and as soon as it hit zero, Teddy kissed her.
She threaded her fingers into his hair, conscious of every place they were touching, and when he finally released her, she kept her hands locked around his neck.
"I really, really, really missed you," she said.
"I can tell," he said, "Love you to the moon and back, Tori."
"To the moon and back," she replied, kissing him again.
They remained in the library until somebody knocked on the door. Teddy opened it to reveal Molly and Sam, the latter of whom was blushing slightly.
"I figured you two were the ones in here," Molly said, "Now go away, I need to have time with my secret boyfriend."
Victoire laughed and grabbed Teddy's hand. They exited the library and went back to the ballroom, where they began to dance with the rest of the couples.
"I've never danced in slippers before," Victoire said, "This is interesting."
"I'm sure it is," Teddy said, "Tomorrow's Christmas, but what would you say to the idea of coming with me the following day to look at a few flats? I've got two places lined up, and if you can find any others in the classifieds of the Prophet before we go, we can add them to the list of prospects."
"I'd love to come," Victoire said, "Now, are we looking at one or two-bedroom?"
"Two," Teddy said, "Mostly so that when you come stay, your parents think that you're in the guest room, and also so that if I do have any of my other friends to spend the night, they have a place that isn't the couch."
"How close to London?" Victoire asked.
"Anything should really be fine," Teddy said, "The Floo network exists, so getting to the Ministry for work shouldn't be too difficult. I'd prefer something close to Hogwarts though, so that I'm close to Sam and all of you."
"Alright," Victoire said, "Well, I'm sure we can find something that we like."
"I have no doubts about that," Teddy said.
They continued to dance as the crowd around them began to diminish.
In Victoire's mind, it was the best Christmas Eve she had ever had.
A/N:
See, I'm not completely the worst person ever. Teddy's back!
I'm not planning on sending him away again. He goes back to Australia for a few weeks and then he will return and that will be it (Obviously as an Auror he'll have missions and whatnot but I'm not planning on sending him out of the UK). I missed him and his wonderful hair.
Also, Tatiana has a purpose that will be revealed in time. She's not just a random character.
It's approximately a quarter past eight o'clock PM on Monday here, so I technically am on time with this update.
Now, in other news...
I am addicted to How I Met Your Mother and I ship Robin and Barney times a million. They are perfect and I love them.
I leave for a week of vacation on August 10 and will not have internet access that week. I will tweet, but that is because I can text Twitter. As a result, there will be no update that week. I will be on the beach having fun and getting sunburned because I'm super Irish and don't tan.
I see Mumford and Sons on August 29th, which I am very very very excited about, because I love them.
I go back to school for my final year of high school on August 27th.
Tomorrow, I begin my education in starting horses under saddle.
Life is good :3
Peace and love x
~AC