"Do not try and tell me nothing happened over Christmas, Victoire. Obviously there was something. I can see it all over your face!"
It was well past noon on their first day back to school of the new year, and GInger, Toire and Marcy were in the Gryffindor dormitories helping Marcy unpack her trunk. They had the whole room to themselves for privacy, and Marcy had even offered to break out the fire whisky again if it meant getting Victoire to spill her secrets.
"It's nothing." Victoire said for what must have been the hundredth time. She was laying face up on Marcy's bed, staring intently at the picture of Clyde that Marcy had taped to the ceiling of her four poster. It was starting to feel kind of creepy, so she sat up and flipped to her stomach.
"You're doing that thing again where you pretend you can just shake us off from pestering you." Ginger mused, sitting on the edge of the windowsill and picking her teeth with a fingernail. "It never works."
"Because you always think there's something to tell!" Toire objected, slamming her palm down half heartedly on the bed so it bounced and fell limply beside her.
"There's always something to tell with Tedtoire." Marcy said, pulling a stack of books out of her trunk and dropping them in the pile she had marked "school".
Victoire sat up straight. "What did you just say?"
Marcy's face split into a smile. "You know, Tedtoire. Some third year came up with it. It's all over the school."
"Oh my God!" Victoire moaned, falling back into the pillow and covering her face with it. Ginger gave a long roll of her eyes and crossed her legs.
"Whmm thmm hmm am I gmm to dmm?"
"Pardon?" Ginger smirked. Victoire threw the pillow aside and spat out a feather. "I said, what the hell am I going to DO? I can't have people keep talking like this when there's nothing, and now I have to deal with-"
Marcy let out a frustrated sigh and reached out in front of her, slamming her trunk shut. The sound made Toire flinch a little from her spot on the bed and she looked at her friend hesitantly.
"Seriously Victoire?" Marcy said, agitated. "What are you going to do? Well here's an idea for you. What if you, I dunno, TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL! I MEAN IT'S ONLY BEEN SIX YEARS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"
She broke off and grabbed the bridge of her nose, breathing in deeply. Victoire was still frozen on the bed, never having seen Marcy like this before.
"Wow." Ginger mused, standing up and going to Marcy's underwear drawer. "There's that Gryffindor rage I keep hearing about." She pulled out the stored bottle of firewhiskey and popped the top, taking a swig of it herself before passing it down to her friend, who reached out weakly to take the bottle. Marcy took a gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sorry." she breathed out raggedly. "It's just... it get really frustrating listening to you sometimes Victoire. We're trying to help you here, and you keep complaining and pushing us away. You make such a huge deal out of the littlest things."
Toire sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chin, looking at both her friends who stood across from her.
"Do you both feel this way?" she asked them quietly, looking to Ginger. The other Ravenclaw sighed and ran a hand through her curls. "I love you Toire, but Marcy's right. You've got to stop worrying about what other people are saying about you, and focus more on what your friends are saying. On what Teddy is saying, if you're so worried about it."
Victoire crossed her arms around her knees and sighed into them. "Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize!" Ginger exclaimed, jumping up on the bed and wrapping her arms around her friend. "Just worry about yourself. Other people don't matter."
"Except us." Marcy butted in, sliding up to Toire's other side and and hugging her. "We're the ones that really care about you. Us and Teddy, of course."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Victoire said quietly, snagging her friends' attention. "The might have been a slight incident over break." she winced, as Ginger scrambled away to sit across from her.
"Well spit it out, girl! Tell us everything!"
So she did. She told them about how Christmas had been amazing, even all the way down to the flaming tart fiasco. Things had been going great between her and Teddy and she had been able to talk to him smoother than she could ever remember. It felt amazing to have her best friend back as well as someone she had feelings for. She told them about his plan to exchange gifts later on, and they sighed on cue when she told them about him showing up at the window, skimming briefly over the explanation of the first time they'd ridden the broom together.
"So we're out there flying around and everything is perfect." she confessed. "I couldn't think of a better time to... give him my present... so I told him."
"Told him what?" Marcy asked, eager in anticipation.
"I told him I love him."
The reaction from her friends was instant. "Oh my God!" Ginger squealed, her hands covering her mouth. "Victoire, that's amazing!" Marcy cried. "That's what I've been hoping you'd do for ages! What happened next? Was it perfect?"
"Well..." she said, feeling an increasing twist in her gut. "...no. He actually didn't say anything." She watched as her friend's expressions slowly changed from elated to confused as she spurted out the rest of the explanation. "He didn't say anything so I... I had to fix it, I couldn't ruin our friendship by letting him think I was in love with him and not love me back! It would ruin everything we have, and it would just be this awkward mess, so I told him that he was the best friend I could have ever asked for. That I'll always love him like a friend. Like family."
She waited for her friends to react while they processed the information. As hard as she tried, she couldn't read their expressions until Ginger finally gave in and burst.
"OH MY GOD! VICTOIRE!"
"Ahhh! What!" she said, flinching back at the look of disbelief on Ginger's face. "What is it! I'm sorry!"
"I SERIOUSLY WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE RIGHT NOW!"
"OH MY GOD I'M SORRY!" Victoire screamed, backing up and shielding herself with her hands as Ginger fell backwards on the bed and slapped a hand to her forehead.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Toire repeated, peaking out from between her fingers to where Ginger was sprawled and Marcy was sitting cross legged with her head in her hands. "Toire..." she groaned in frustration while Victoire hid behind her knees once again.
"Sorry." she meeped.
"Alright, hold on now." Marcy continued, pretending she hadn't heard her friend. "You said he didn't say anything. How long did you wait before you butted in?"
She felt herself blush red that went straight to her ears. "About twelve seconds." she said softly.
"Merlin's pants!" Ginger cried from her spot on the bed, swinging up to face her friend. "Victoire!" she said, her voice dripping with desperate frustration. "I know Teddy! I've seen the way he looks at you! Honestly, he was probably just taken off guard by what you said and trying to think of something to say in response!"
She felt her face go slack. Could that be possible? Had he really been that shocked? Knowing Teddy and how he was prone to react to things... The timing had been perfect, everything had been perfect and she had ruined it with her lack of confidence and stupid big mouth! That intake of breath he'd made- it wasn't to reject her, it was to confess his feelings to her! She could feel her eyes widening at each second's realization and the smug looks her friends gave her as they saw her seeing the truth.
"Oh my God." she breathed. Then, completely unexpected, she slammed her head back toward the pillow, but instead of her head being swallowed by feathers and sheets, she undershot and got a splitting pain through her cranium courtesy of her headboard.
"Arggg!" she yelled, grabbing the back of her head in pain.
"Holy shit, are you okay!" Marcy gasped, rushing forward.
"Karma..." Ginger muttered before stepping in to help. Victoire slumped down to her mattress, cursing violently.
Pain or no pain, all Toire could seem to think of at that moment while her eyes watered at the discomfort of wood-on-skull was her complete stupidity and obliviousness in to world of romance and boys. No matter what Fifi had taught her, she still had a hell of a lot to learn.
The morning of the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game was clear and brisk, but when Teddy looked out the window of his dormitory he could see the storm clouds rolling in.
"Looks like a wild one." Jensen mused, pulling his red and gold Quidditch garb over his head before turning toward the door. "You coming down for breakfast?" he asked, one hand on the door knob, the other trying to flatten his hair to no avail.
"I'll be down in a minute." Teddy replied, turning his head back to the window before he could see Jensen nod. He knew his friend had left when he heard the click of the lock in the doorframe and it wasn't until then that he turned round to face the empty room. Standing at a good couple of inches over six foot, Teddy was well known throughout the school by sight and personality. Godson of Harry Potter, orphan to a werewolf and an auror, close personal friend of the famous Weasleys and now captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team... he had a lot to live up to. Usually it was pretty easy. All he had to do was be himself, and friends and glory seemed to follow. People liked him for his humor, his wit, cunning and charm... and he liked being liked. Being one of the "It" kids of Hogwarts definitely had it's perks. But for some reason today, with one of the biggest matches of his Quidditch career just hours away, he couldn't bring himself to live up to those expectations.
It's all her fault, he thought to himself spitefully, but then shook his head to clear the bitter notion. That's what he told himself when he was feeling particularly bad about the Christmas incident, but the sensation always passed. In truth, he couldn't blame her for anything. Maybe it was him- maybe he wasn't what she was looking for... but still, it bothered him to no end that he hadn't even had the chance to tell her how he felt. He'd just been so surprised when she'd said the words. "I love you." It had been like a dream. So much so in fact, that he had thought he'd imagined her saying it... until he realized he was wrong, that is was real. But by then it was too late.
Frustrated, he walked over to his bed and reached under the mattress, feeling around until his hand grabbed what he was looking for. He pulled out the photo album she had given him last Christmas. He'd already looked through the book half a hundred times, but it never got old. Not truly, with all the photos moving and smiling at him. He flipped to a particular page at the back that Victoire had filled with photos of their own group of friends after the ones of the Order of the Phoenix finally stopped. He'd even added a few of his own.
Flipping a few more pages, he finally landed on his all time favorite. It was one of the ones Victoire had sent him from France last summer when she'd gone to her aunt's wedding. It was originally just a shot of a hallway in Gabrielle's villa, but then there was that familiar flash and Victoire was there like she always was- an actress playing her part in a moment in time. He could practically recite the movements- Run, stop, turn. The sleeve of her dress slips off her shoulder and her face is a mask of surprise. She pulls herself together and flashes the camera a smile, and then she's off again with a final swish of her hair.
"I love you."
I word seemed to repeat in his head over and over again- a broken record going on forever.
"...as a friend"
He didn't know how he was going to get through this match.
After Victoire's head had been inspected to make sure she hadn't fractured her skull or done any serious damage ("Nothing could damage that mind much further anyway" Ginger had said) the girls hurried down to the Great Hall to grab something for breakfast before going off to the pitch to get good seats. They entered the hall and immediately caught sight of Jensen, Clyde and Sean sitting together at the Gryffindor table.
"Oi, there's your men." Victoire said, nudging her friends and cracking a smile. Marcy smiled in return and Ginger blushed while cracking a grin. "Sod off..." she mumbled, but hurried toward them all the same.
"Our men, certainly." Marcy said as the two of them followed her to the table, watching as she slid in beside Sean and leaned over to grab some toast while strategically giving him the perfect angle to look down her shirt. "But where's yours?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as they reached the boys.
She was right. Hurriedly, Victoire took a look around the hall, scanning for turquoise hair. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs remained in their usual state of pre-game excitement while the Slytherins seemed to be making a rather large commotion over the anticipation of the match. She could just see Max Northwick in the midst of giving some sort of pump-up speech to his house, drilling his fist into an empty hand to emphasize the point of something. Where was Teddy? He should be doing the same thing- giving his house mates and teammates something to believe in! This was his first game as captain, and he was just going to let that pass by?
"Where's Teddy?" she asked, sliding into the seat beside Jensen. From the look he gave her, she guessed he could detect some of the anxiety in her voice. "Still in the room I guess." he shrugged, smearing marmalade on his toast. "He said he'd be right down, I don't know why he's not here by now..."
She gave the hall another hasty look before turning toward the table. Despite the spread of eggs, toast, jam, hash browns, pancakes and various other early morning goodies, she couldn't bring herself to consume more than a swallow of pumpkin juice.
"You alright Victoire?" Clyde asked from across the table, eyeing her strangely. Sean and Ginger were too distracted "not looking at each other" to notice.
"I'm fine." she said hastily, her voice strained. She took a nibble of toast as if to prove her point. Now that she knew Teddy still might have feelings for her, everything suddenly seemed brighter, her senses heightened. She was more alert and if possible, more on edge.
"Not coming down with a case of the Teddys are you?" Clyde joked, shoveling eggs into his mouth.
Victoire's head whipped in his direction. "A case of that what?"
"The Teddys!" Clyde smiled, his mouth still full of egg. "Tell 'er Sean!" he said, elbowing his friend in the shoulder and jolting him from sneaking a glance at Ginger.
"Oh, um, it's just this gag we came up with." Sean shrugged, taking a drink of his orange juice. "Ever since term's started up again Teddy's just been acting really strangely. Doesn't talk much, always seems really distracted... you know, it's unlike him."
The Teddys? Victoire thought to herself, horrified. She had hardly spoken to words to him since they'd gotten back, and seen almost less. Was it really as bad as they said? And if it was and Teddy really was different... would he be able to change back?
There was a sudden clinking from the head table. The Great Hall quietly gradually and Professor McGonagall rose from her seat, overlooking the students. "Would the Quidditch captains please lead their teams down to the pitch now to begin preparations for today's game." she said, her thick scottish accent ringing out across the hall. "The rest of you will be dismissed shortly to maintain proper seats in the stands."
Across the hall at the Slytherin table, the team began to rise. Northwick was up first, looking over at the Gryffindor table probably with the hopes of flipping Teddy off a final time before their match... but his face soon turned to a frown as he noticed Teddy's lack of presence. Others were beginning to notice as well as the rest of the Gryffindor team stood up. It took only a few moments of searching before the rest of them realized that there was absolutely no turquoise haired boy in attendance.
A nervous muttering began to rise from the Gryffindor table and make its way across the hall as the students tittered and looked about for the red and gold leader. Five minutes passed, each second without Teddy passing through Victoire like a knife to the stomach. Her nerves were almost at an end when it hit the six minute mark and the Gryffindor players were debating loudly weather to continue on without him when there was a cry from the end of the table. Everyone looked up toward the voice to see someone pointing at a figure who had just entered the room. Just over six foot, lean with muscle and glad all in Gryffindor red and gold- but his hair wasn't it's usual teal. Instead this boy had a mop of limp dull brown hair that lay flat and dull over his head. Victoire felt her heart plummet.
"Sorry I'm late." Teddy said to his team, stopping directly behind Victoire as everyone at the table gave a sigh of relief. She glanced up at him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the light stubble on his face. Her heart clenched and she felt a surge of guilt. He seemed to sense her eyes on him, because he glanced down suddenly and blushed when their eyes met. She wanted to hold them there, to tell him she was sorry and that she's lied- but he looked away too fast. "Hey." he muttered in greeting, avoiding her gaze.
"Hi." she said, her voice almost cracking. She wanted to stand up and hold him, grab him right there and tell him to snap out of it, tell him she was wrong and that all she wanted in the world was for him to love her as much as she loved him. She almost opened her mouth to speak she was so determined, but Clyde broke in quicker.
"Nice dye job." he joked, and for a minute Teddy looked confused before a strand of hair fell in his eyes. "Oh." he said, his confusion turning to embarrassment and frustration. Clearly this change of appearance wasn't planned.
"Come on," Jensen said, standing up. "we're gonna be late already. McGonagall's about to let the students down." he said, elbowing Teddy toward the door. There was a hurried chorus of "Good luck!" from the Gryffindor table and with a half hearted wave the team was gone, taking Teddy with them, Victoire's pre-planned words dying on her lips.
Sure enough, Jensen was right. A minute later McGonagall rose again to dismiss the the rest of the students who hurriedly made their way toward the grounds, shoving on jackets and wrapping up in scarves. Once outside, Victoire fell into step beside Ginger, the two of them keeping pace as the Quidditch pitch grew larger and larger in the distance. "Did you see him?" Victoire asked, her voice strained. "He looked terrible."
"A broken heart'll do that to you." she shrugged as Victoire scowled at her.
"You're really not going to let me out of this easily are you?" she asked her friend.
"Hey, you're the one who jumped to conclusions." Ginger said, holding her hands up defensively. "Let's just hope he plays better than he looks."
Alright, so a bit of a short chapter this one. I was originally just going to keep going, but I'm leaving for vacation for three weeks tomorrow and I wanted to leave you with at least something before then. Sorry it's so glum.
But I've gotta say, I've absolutely LOVED reading your reactions to the previous chapter! I found it really interesting how some of you sided with Toire and some sided with Teddy, and then how some of you got really frustrated, etc etc. It's exactly the sort of reaction I was hoping for :P
If I had to make an estimated guess, I would say that we've got about... sevennn? chapters left in this story? Maybe? I'm not sure, I'm bad with these things. I've got the plot all figured out but sometimes I take a short bit and end up making it extra long, or I do a spur of the moment thing like messing up Toire and Teddy's perfect broom ride (it was originally scripted as "Christmas family burrow thing with teasing from relatives and maybe a mistletoe moment as well as some super cute cuddles and a midnight snowy broom ride" SORRY GUYS!)
You're the best readers I could ever hope for though. Your support has been way better than I deserve with my terrible infrequent updates. So thank you. So so so so much.
See you in three weeks,
Calla