Posting and extra update in honor of
Memorial Day!
Take that Voldemort!
Happy May 2nd!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Fast
When Harry got home from work that evening it was to find all three boys outside on the quidditch pitch, accompanied by Freddie, Tarryn and Ollie. Ginny was standing along the sideline leaning against her own broom. Parker was sitting on the ground nearby thumbing through a book while Lily sat next to him, brushing her doll's hair.
"Hey pretty princess, what are you doing?"
"Fixing Emma's hair." She said sweetly as he lifted her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
"She looks brilliant." He kissed her cheek. "Hey Parks, what are you up to?"
The light blonde headed preteen looked up and smiled his sweet smile. "Hey Uncle Harry. I am reading about Merlin, the real one, the actual wizard." He clarified.
"I can honestly say I have never really looked into him." Harry replied with an answering grin. "So what are the other boys up to?"
"Quidditch. You know Jamie and Albie had to play with Teddy before he went back to school tomorrow." Lily responded, looking back down at her doll.
He couldn't resist kissing her fiery hair. She was so different than he had ever imagined she would be. He always envisioned a small version of Ginny running around. She did look like her mother, an exceptional amount, with the exception of the freckles. Her skin was a soft creamy color, only a few freckles dotted her nose. Her personality however was more that of Fluer than Ginny. She loved to shop, and was immensely prissy. She adored her big brothers, but rather than striving to be like them, or beat them at something, she delighted in using her charm to make them play dolls, or tea party, or dress up. Something they all did willingly. Lily held no interest in quidditch. She would watch her brothers for a minute and then was completely over it, something that Harry and Ginny both found strange in one of their children. However, she had inherited her mother's quick whit and snappy mouth. At seven she already could get her own self into trouble for smarting off just as much as her older counterparts. He smiled down at her and carried her towards the pitch, listening to the boys as he did so.
"Come on Teddy, please teach me how to do it." James was begging. Al was hanging in midair watching the pair along side of Ollie, while Tarryn batted a bludger back and forth at the other end with Freddie.
"Jamie, that is really hard to do. And these brooms are really fast. I don't think it's a good idea." Teddy answered, looking worriedly at his little brother.
"If you don't think I can do it just say so." James spat, Harry chuckled, thinking of Teddy's statement earlier in the morning.
Teddy winced and sighed. "If you get hurt it isn't my fault."
Harry didn't like the sound of that as he sidled up to his wife who was frowning slightly.
"What are we teaching James to do?" he asked before kissing her cheek.
"That jump that Teddy did over his own chaser at the last game."
"Ahhh, I don't know why I even asked, he has been talking about that since we saw the match."
Ginny nodded and folded her arms as she watched Teddy fly off at full speed to the other end of the pitch. "Do we let him teach it?"
Harry shrugged. "It's that or Jamie is going to sneak out here and break his neck trying to do it himself to prove that he can. He is too much like you."
She chuckled and nodded, knowing that he was right. They both watched nervously as Teddy turned back around to face James from fifteen feet or so away, knowing what was coming Ollie grabbed the end of Al's broom and pulled him off to the sidelines where they landed to Harry's left.
"Oi, T! Get off the pitch and stun the bludger!" he yelled, pointing to Teddy and James.
Recognizing the position that Teddy had taken, Tarryn guided Freddie to the sideline as well, stunning the bludger to a standstill and catching it as he went. James was looking nervously at the two older boys as they moved off the pitch, he looked back to Teddy.
"Alright Jamie, fly at me, fast as you can go. And do not veer away from me, I am not teaching you to do it changing directions today." Teddy yelled.
James bravely nodded his head and charged full speed at his much older and much bigger brother. Teddy shot forward, heading straight for him, when it looked like they were going to collide face first and James actually yelped Teddy suddenly stood on his broom handle and Jumped right over James, as he flew into the air his broom dropped a few feet, went under James and once he was clear he landed back on his feet before dropping back down to sit on it.
"Bloody hell!" James yelled.
Neither Harry nor Ginny reprimanded him. Both of them were equally shocked and terrified.
"You weren't moving like that at the match! That was so fast!" James said.
"That's because I was jumping my own team mate, and he was a stationary player, I designed this to scare an opponent and get him to drop the quaffle into Ollie's hands, who if we were playing would have been flying under you to intercept. Every single move that I make is tracked by my chasers just like I track every move they make. To be a good chaser you have to watch your team and know their flying better than you know your own."
"He really is a good captain, where do you think he learned to play like that?" Ginny asked, watching as Ollie and Tarryn jumped back on their brooms and joined the other two, to help James learn the move. Freddie and Al flew over slowly, watching as well.
"He learned it from you Gin."
"No way!" she protested.
Harry laughed and nodded. "He did. Think about it, I am purely a seeker, I rarely pay attention to what anyone else on my team is doing. Short of knowing when to go after the snitch and when to defend against it being caught I don't pay attention to the chasers at all."
"Alright, Ollie is going to help you. He helped me learn to do it so don't be scared. Watch how I do it with Tarryn and then you do the same thing."
"I'm not scared." James protested, sliding closer to Ollie to show that he was ready.
All three of the older boys laughed. "Good, now hold Ollie's hand with one of yours."
0o0o0o
Standing in front of the crimson steam engine, Teddy threw his bag over his back. He hugged Albus and then Lily, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He forced James into a quick hug against his will and ruffled his crazy hair.
"You know this is the last time you ride to school without me." James said, bouncing excitedly.
"You're right. I can't believe it happened so fast. I had better make this one extra peaceful." Teddy replied with a wink.
"Git." James muttered.
"Prat." Teddy shot back as he let Harry pull him into a hug and Ginny kiss his cheek.
"Behave, and study. Your exams are in just a few weeks. You will have a mini break in four and a half weeks. Memorial Day falls on a Tuesday so you have Saturday thru Wednsday off of classes and we are bringing you all home on Friday night." Harry said.
Teddy nodded and prepared to turn for the train when someone smaller collided with him and wrapped her arms around his waist from the side. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her small shoulder.
"That goes for you too Victoire, behave and study hard, you have your OWLS."
"Yes Sir." She said, grinning when Teddy kissed the side of her head without thinking about it.
"Go on before you miss the train!" Ginny told them both when the train whistled.
"And stop kissing girls in front of us, that's gross!" Al called after them, making several people in the crowd laugh. Teddy turned quickly and stuck out his tongue at his youngest brother.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
He was sitting at breakfast studying his bacon when he felt a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Good morning." Victoire said as she sat down next to him, her long blonde hair flipping over her shoulder.
"Hey beautiful." He replied looking into her eyes.
"You two are sickeningly sweet, you know that?" Rhyan said as she sat down on Victoire's other side.
"Says the one who's boyfriend left a rose on the bottom step for her this morning." Victoire teased.
"He left a rose on the bottom step?" Teddy asked, picking a muffin off of his girlfriend's plate.
"Yep, with a note that he would be in the library until practice. He enchanted it to keep people from stepping on it."
"Sorry Rhy, he wins hands down, that is ridiculously sappy." Teddy said, wrinkling his nose.
Rhyan laughed in agreement as Victoire stole her half eaten muffin back. "Should I resign myself to not seeing you today?" she asked, knowing that with April winding down Ollie and Teddy had reduced themselves to studying for exams in any free time, Tarryn even joined them every once in a while. She herself had started cracking down on studying with her owls coming up. She hadn't seen much of her boyfriend.
"I need to work on Herbology, but I need to be in a greenhouse to do what I need to do and I haven't gotten around to seeing if Neville will give me a pass during a break to use them. We have quidditch at two until six then dinner and then I need to finish my arithmancy essay. Which means I should probably talk to Neville about the greenhouses and try and use them now before lunch, we only have a fortnight until…"
His speech was cut off as a very official looking letter dropped onto his plate and the brown owl flew off as quickly as it came. He stared at the letter like it was a bomb for several minutes until Victoire picked it up and looked at it. He turned his face to hers, all of the color had drained from it.
"Do you want me to open it for you?" she asked, looking at the seal. "It's from The Department of Mysteries."
He nodded. "I know who it's from. I'll, I'll open it. I just…I can't believe they sent a reply so fast." He said numbly as she handed it back to him.
The two girls watched as he broke the purple wax seal and opened it, his hands were shaking. He was silent as his eyes ran down the page and he read.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Theodore Remus Potter-Lupin,
I am pleased to welcome you into the Department of Mysteries Application program.
As a sixth year Hogwarts student your application process will take place over the next summer and school term, ending with the final results of your NEWT examinations. All of your examinations that take place at the end of this term and next will be directly forwarded to this office for approval. A substandard mark will result in the end of your application process.
You will be required to come into the Ministry on Tuesday May 2nd to fill out the proper paperwork for clearance into the department.
You are due in the office of Castion Lynch at 8 am on the Monday June 17th, you will be expected in these offices every morning henceforth until Friday August 16th.
We look forward to working with you.
Connor Kent
Department Head
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Teddy was stunned as he stared at the letter in his hands.
"Do we get to know what that says?" Victoire asked, breaking through his shock.
He handed her the letter and watched her face as she read it. At the first sentence her face lit up, Teddy knew exactly when she got to the part about his lack of summer break when that smile fell and she still tried to hold it on her face.
"Teddy, this is wonderful. I am so proud of you." She said, her voice only slightly hitched.
"France…I-I'm sorry Vic." He said quietly, and he truly meant it.
She shook her head. "Don't be silly. We have all the time in the world for you to come with me to France. But this is huge, it's what you have wanted forever. You do still want this right?" she asked, looking into his eyes.
"I do. I really really do." He assured her.
"Then act like it silly. You just got into the application program that you have been dreaming of since you were like thirteen. Be happy."
He couldn't help it, his face broke into a true smile. He took the letter in one hand and pulled her towards him with the other. "Screw Herbology, how do you feel about spending the morning with me until practice?"
She laughed and leaned her forehead against his. "What about OWLS and exams, this letter says that you have to get…"
"I know what it says. I will do fine, and you will do fine. Tell you what, we'll grab our books and study together."
She laughed as she pulled back and took a bite of her cereal. "Because that ever works."
He smiled. "I don't care, spend this morning with me."
She grinned and leaned into kiss his cheek. "I never said no, I said it was going to affect our studying negatively."
0o0o0o0o
The next week found Teddy and Victoire more often than not, apart. Between quidditch, her needing strong OWLS to continue with NEWTS that were required of a healer, her rounds as a prefect, and him needing outstanding marks on his own exams they saw very little of each other. Excluding meals on the off chance that both of them ate that meal.
Tonight Teddy was wandering in from quidditch late. It was Friday and they had pushed practice back until 7 that night to allow everyone time to get some studying in and time to eat, something that Teddy did not take the opportunity to do. Instead he had finally gotten into the greenhouses after classes and worked on his herbology issues. Ollie and Tarryn had accompanied him to the kitchens after the three of them did an extra run after practice, putting them back into the dorm around midnight, they were using Ollie's position as a prefect to keep themselves out of trouble should they get caught since Teddy had forgotten the map.
"Do you think it is entirely necessary to have practice tomorrow?" Tarryn asked.
"We have this weekend, next week, then we go home for four days, we have three days, and then the final match. What do you think?" Teddy replied quietly as he followed him into their room.
"Well, I was actually thinking that your girlfriends would appreciate time with the two of you, seeing as they appear to be asleep in your beds." He hissed in response. "I am sure mine would like to see me as well, seeing as she can't exactly sneak into my room and all."
Teddy looked up instantly and smiled sadly at the sight of Victoire laying on her stomach on his bed, sleeping soundly with her books around her. Rhyan was laying similarly, still in her quidditch warmups from practice. He felt immensely guilty, they had told her they would be back in the tower quickly, it had taken them more than two hours to get back from when practice actually ended. He ran his hand down his face and glanced over at their other two dorm mates Stephen and Blake. Both of whom were asleep and didn't seem fussed over the girls presence given that they each had fallen asleep with their own homework on their beds. If Teddy had to guess he would say they had all been working together when they lost the ability to see straight and fell asleep.
"Do we wake them up?" Ollie asked quietly, pulling his trainers off and sitting them soundlessly by the door.
Teddy shook his head. "No, we can change in the bathroom and just let them stay. They look worn out."
"And you would rather sleep in bed with your girlfriend than in bed alone with her smell on your sheets." Tarryn joked softly as he grabbed his pajamas out of his trunk and tiptoed to the bathroom.
"Well, that too." Teddy admitted as he tried to quietly dig through his own trunk.
After a quick shower and changing he was climbing into bed and pulled his hangings closed around himself once he had removed all of the books and scrolls. He lay down and shifted around, trying to get comfortable, he wasn't used to wearing a shirt to bed, but with Rhyan in the room too he had put one on. Sighing in defeat he rolled towards Victoire with his stomach to her back and lay his arm over the curve of her waist.
"You're back." She mumbled, rolling over to bury her face in his chest. "Since when do you sleep in a shirt." She frowned.
He quickly reached out of the hangings and grabbed his wand casting a silencing charm over his bed.
"Since there are girls sleeping in here with me." He teased, he kissed her nose. "I thought you were sleeping?"
He moved his arms as she pulled his shirt off him and threw it to the bottom of the bed. "I don't like it." She grumbled and lay her head down on his chest. "And I was but you woke me up moving around."
"I can't sleep shirtless Vic, Rhyan is still in Ollie's bed." He said, though he pulled her closer and wiggled his hand until it was under the hem of her shirt. He ran his fingers over her lower back softly.
She moaned happily into his skin. "Put it back on before you get out of bed. I like you this way. I miss you."
"I miss you too." He kissed her hairline. "But in a few weeks it will be summer holiday."
"And I still won't get to see you." She whispered.
He let out a soft breath. "It won't be as bad as you think. I am only an applicant, they won't keep me there all night, I will be off on weekends and there will be no quidditch practice or studying." He said.
"You have been hit by one too many bludgers if you think there will be no studying. And let's be real Teddy, you will still practice at least three times a week at home."
He said nothing because he knew she was right. "Do you know that I love you?" he asked.
"I think you have told me once or twice." She murmured, trying not to sound as sad as she felt.
"I do, I really do. I don't like not getting to see you either. I am sorry this is all happening so quick. It is going to be similar in your seventh year, when you apply for the healing program. It seems worse because we are in school still, and have so much going on. When we are both out of school, and can spend our extra time together without hundreds of other people, it will be a bit easier. I promise."
"That's two and a half years away. I am having a hard time after a few weeks and it hasn't even really started yet."
"Oh it's started, it has definitely started." He took his hand from her back and cupped her face before kissing her softly. "Vic, we waited fifteen years to realize we wanted to be together. We can handle these next few years."
Somehow she managed to push herself farther into his embrace, entwining her legs with his. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."