I was about to go look for Teddy but thought better of it. I was more determined than ever to ignore him and going looking for him was doing the opposite of that. I stayed put with my sister and cousins. "Did you know that Teddy wrote you a letter?" Dominique asked me.

"How should I know? He couldn't bring himself to send it apparently. Or call me, or text me…" I replied. Dominique shrugged delicately.

"And why do you care, Dom? Don't you have your own problems?" I snapped. I didn't want to talk about Teddy all the time, especially not with my family. Domique smirked. She was used to my moods and honestly she was much worse when she was in a bad mood.

"My life is pretty good right now, actually. You know why? Because I know where I stand with my relationship." I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Since when do you have a relationship?" I asked her. This was the first I was hearing of this.

"I don't have one. And thats why I know where I stand with it," she said.

I rolled my eyes. How unhelpful. I was about to reply, when I heard someone singing. That wasn't that unusual at the burrow but it was multiple voices, singing in unison, which was definitely not a normal occurrence.

Just as I got up to explore, Teddy came in, singing. Behind him were Harry, Ginny, Charlie and my mum. They were singing All I want for Christmas is you. Teddy was standing in front of me and really performing the song. I put my face in my hands. What the hell was going on? My cousins were all staring at Teddy like he was mad. I guess he was because he certainly looked like a fool.

He was singing the chorus and dancing stupidly.

I just stood there, not knowing what to do. I thought about just walking away but that would have set a bad example for my cousins so I stayed put, crossed my arms and waited for it to be ever.

One thing was for sure, Teddy was giving this his all. He performed that stupid Christmas song as if there were no tomorrow. When he finished by going down on his knees and howling the high note, my cousins al started to clap. Teddy was looking at me and I was deliberately not returning the look. He had some nerve if he thought I would forgive him just like that. I slipped out of the room while my cousins were still clapping and giving Teddy the thumbs up.

To my surprise, it wasn't Teddy who came after me, but my mum.

"Victoire, wait. Please don't be so hard on Teddy. He did what he did because your father and I were worried about you. It's our fault. Teddy just wanted to do what is best for you. And not to get in trouble with your father." My mum was gesturing wildly as she explained that my parents had started worrying and that my father thought Teddy might be a bad influence on me, which my mum thought was ridiculous. She told me to not be mad at Teddy and be mad at them instead.

"That's not how emotions work, though. Teddy hurt me. And that's entirely his fault and I can't forgive him just like that. I don't care if he thought he was saving the world. He was hurting me. That's all I know." I walked upstairs.

I decided to go to bed, so I went straight to the bed room I had put my stuff in. I tried to fall asleep but all I could think about was the look on Teddy's face whenever I walked away from him. I turned to my sight.

Think of something else, Victoire. I told myself. I thought about the homework I was supposed to complete over the winter break. Was it even worth doing? I had no idea what I wanted to do after Hogwarts so it seemed pointless to even try to do well. At the same time, I felt extremely guilty for not even trying. I decided to at least try.

I rolled onto my other side again. Time to sleep. My body thought otherwise. I had a sudden urge to run. I pressed my eyes shut harder, trying to signal to my body that it was time to sleep. My body refused. Eventually, I stopped trying and looked at my phone. It was 3 a.m. which meant my family would have gone to bed already. I got out of bed and put on running clothes. I wasn't going to sleep anyway, so I might as well do something productive.

I walked downstairs. To my surprise, it wasn't quiet. There was music playing. Christmas music. I decided to check it out. The music was coming from the living room. I walked in, careful not to make any noise.

Teddy was sitting on the sofa. His hair had turned black and he had his face in his hands. He looked broken. I felt my stomach plunge. I never wanted to see him like this. Normally, I would have sat with him and comforted him but I needed to stay strong about my own principles. I leaned against the door frame. I wasn't sure what I thought was going to happen once he looked up.

He didn't even look up though. He didn't move at all, except that he said "Please sit".

"No." I stayed where I was. He scoffed. Now he looked at me. His eyes were red, like he'd been crying.

"Why are you so stubborn?" He asked, but I thought I could hear pride in his voice.

"I had to be, or you would have walked all over me," I said.

"I never would."

I shook my head. He still didn't see why I was mad.

"You already did, Ted." I turned to walk away. He got up and took my hand.

"Dance with me?" He pulled me closer and we started swaying. I tried to keep some distance, but it was hard. This was Teddy. And he was here. With me.

"Why did you come?" I asked. It would have been so easy to just be sad.

"For you. And for me. Christmas is hard enough for me, and even harder if you aren't there." He put his head on my shoulder. It was familiar and strange. He wasn't usually this open, not even with me.

"Teddy…" I sighed.

I couldn't keep this up. I had missed him so much. I wanted to tell him about my life, my problems and my plans and I wanted to hear about his.

I put my head on his shoulder and we swayed in silence for a while. Eventually, he lifted his head off of my shoulder and put his hand under my chin.

"I'll never leave again," he promised. And then, he kissed me.

AN: sorry for missing a few days but it was Christmas for me too. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is the last one for now, but there might be more if people want to read more.

xx EmbraceTheMystery