The hustle and bustle of family and friends popping in and out of the ward for the next few days was overwhelming. Victoire couldn't quite understand why she felt so tired; she rarely left her bed, and never walked any further than the hospital café downstairs, with Teddy having to semi-carry her each time. Perhaps it was having to watch everybody weep, the knowledge of how close she'd come to death, and the thought of the pain her loved ones had been through in her 'time out' as they called it.

It came as an annoyance to Victoire each time somebody new visited. She felt grateful that so many people appeared to care about her enough to take time out of their day to give her their good wishes, but she'd begun to notice the slightly startled facial expression that was replicated by every visitor as they walked in to the ward. She could see their eyes dancing around her face, a sense of worry in them that told her that they didn't know quite where to look, or whether to mention it. In actual fact, what really irritated Victoire was the fact that she was unable to relate. She hadn't looked in the mirror since before the incident. A rather patronising doctor had explained to her how he didn't want to 'alarm' or 'upset' her, which was a talk that was in effect rather counter productive, for it only increased Victoire's anxieties about how she had become.

'I want to see.' Victoire said firmly to Teddy on a dull Tuesday afternoon,

'I know you do,' said Teddy, who turned a page of his book,

'Well?' Victoire sighed,

'You've asked me this before,' Teddy frowned, not tearing his eyes from the text, 'I'm not sure if it's a good idea,'

'But-' Victoire grumbled,

'It's probably best to wait until you've made a full recovery,' Teddy said, turning his head to look out into the sky,

'You sound just like Doctor Berging,' Victoire whinged,

'Well he is a professional-' Teddy began,

'So?' Victoire spat, 'you'd want to see, wouldn't you?'

'Well-' Teddy started,

'Exactly,' Victoire crossed her arms, wincing slightly as she did so, 'It'd just be nice if I could see what everybody keeps staring at,'

'Look Victoire, I-' Teddy sighed,

'Let's go and find a mirror,' Victoire said, swinging her legs out of bed,

'Don't get up,' Teddy gently took her arm, 'you don't want to tire yourself out,'

'I'm fine,' Victoire said, attempting to be chirpy, 'come on!'

'Where's all this energy coming from?' Teddy frowned, 'Look- just stay in bed. I'll go and speak to one of the nurses and see what I can do,'

Victoire smiled sweetly at him as he hauled himself out of the armchair and puttered out of the room. Staring down at her hands she noticed how pale her skin had become- translucent white, a network of indigo veins uncomfortably noticeable on her clammy palms and bony fingers. She felt fragile. Fragile in the way she felt pain every time she breathed, fragile in the way she felt tired after the simplest of movements, in the way she was still so secretly afraid.

She shook slightly as Teddy emerged from the doorway a good half an hour after he'd left, holding a silver hand mirror, with ivy patterns carved into its back.

'I was given this,' Teddy said, holding it up, 'are you sure you're ready?'

'I'm ready,' Victoire said quietly, waiting for him to reach her bedside.

'Here,' Teddy said, carefully handing her the mirror, before sitting close by her side.

She held the mirror out in front of her, looking directly across into it. She sat stiffly, not moving, not even appearing to be breathing. Teddy could hear his heart pulsing in his ears.

'I'm done,' she said, setting the mirror down on the bedside table and turning away from him.

'Vic-' Teddy began,

'Can you shut the curtains?' Victoire snapped, 'I want to go to sleep now.'

'Of course,' Teddy said, obediently standing at her demand. With the curtains shut, only a slither of light fought its way in to the long empty room, forming a thin beam across part of the bedspread.

'Can you close them properly?' Victoire sniffed,

'I'll do my best,' Teddy sighed, tugging at the fabric.

Victoire lay in silence, the thought of the face that she didn't know that stared back at her from the mirror plaguing her mind. The face was tired and pale, with deep-set circles beneath its dull eyes, and three ugly healing scars torn right across its cheek and jaw.

'It's awful,' Victoire whispered.

'It's not,' Teddy said back, shaking his head in the dark.

'It is,' Victoire hissed, 'I can see why you didn't want me to see it,'

'I didn't want you to be upset,' Teddy sighed,

'It's hideous,' Victoire said, her voice shaking, 'the cuts-'

'The scars will fade,' Teddy told her,

'They'll always be there,' Victoire tried hard to restrain her tears,

'It doesn't matter,' Teddy said, resting his hand on her arm.

'It does,' Victoire sniffed, 'I'll be one of those girls people have to pretend not to stare at in shops, the one people whisper about, the parents have to stop their children shouting about,'

'Victoire,' Teddy said slowly, 'to this day, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, scars or no scars'

'Why did you stay?' Victoire said quietly,

'What?' Teddy asked,

'Grace told me about how you stayed here all through my coma,' she continued, 'why did you stay, just to watch this hideous face, with no response for weeks,'

'You're not hideous!' Teddy exclaimed,

'But, why did you stay?' Victoire asked again,

'Because I couldn't leave you,' Teddy said, 'I need to be with you, to protect you,'

'I thought you hated me,' Victoire said, 'we argued, remember?'

'Just forget about the argument,' Teddy sighed, 'forget about all the arguments. They were stupid. I was stupid.'

'What do you mean?' Victoire sniffed,

'I've been awful to you,' Teddy said, 'for the last five years… all your time at Hogwarts, I've just been terrible, wasting so much time- time I could have been spending with you, but instead I was with Joseph, with Isabelle, with Leah, being a twat to all of those girls, saying horrible things to you…' Victoire could hear his voice shaking,

'It's ok,' Victoire said,

'It's not ok,' Teddy said, 'it'll never be ok- look at all that time, time I can never get back, stupid choices I can never change, things I've said that I can never take back-'

'There's time now,' Victoire said, 'there's time for us now,'

'Can you ever forgive me?' Teddy asked her,

'Of course I can forgive you,' Victoire said,

'But it's my fault,' Teddy said,

'What is?' Victoire asked,

'This,' Teddy said, 'I- I should have noticed the signs with Nate, I should have stopped you from going-'

'You tried to stop me!' Victoire exclaimed, 'I wouldn't listen. Don't blame this on yourself,'

'You deserve so much in life, Victoire,' Teddy said, 'you deserve the best there is,'

'I have the best there is,' Victoire said, running her hand over his, 'and it's right here.'

'You're wrong.' Teddy protested, 'It is an honour for me to call you family to me, my best friend. I've never met a girl like you, Victoire,'

'I'm not wrong,' Victoire shook her head, 'this is all I want,' she said, squeezing his hand.

'I love you,' Teddy said,

'Love you too,' Victoire said smiling,

'I don't mean like a sister,' Teddy continued, unable to see the look of disbelief that fell across Victoire's face in the darkness, 'Merlin, I wish it could be that simple.'

'Wh-' Victoire began,

'I'm going to say it now.' Teddy continued, 'because god knows if I don't say it now, I never will… I've been falling in love with you over and over again for as long as I can remember, Victoire- because you're just… perfection. And I know… that this is going to be horrendously awkward for us for a while… and that you won't feel the same, and that you might even be a little disturbed, because we grew up together and it's weird and-'

'Why did it take you so long to say so?' Victoire sighed,

'What?' Teddy narrowed his eyes,

'I have been stressing,' Victoire began, 'for the best part of about five years, about my bloody confusing feelings for you.'

'What are you saying?' Teddy asked,

'That I love you back, you idiot!' Victoire exclaimed.

Phew! That was tough scene to write!

I am SO sorry it's been such a long time- literally- this is the longest I think I have EVER left an update, and it's just not acceptable. To tell the truth, I have been busy (A level exams this month), but I've also just been lazy, so for that I apologise profusely.

I'd like to thank you all for coming back, even though I made you wait for a silly amount of time for this update.

I hope you liked it! Please please let me know what you thought- this is the scene a lot of you have been waiting for for a long time now, so I hope I met your expectations!

So yes, if you have time, it'd be lovely if you could leave a review, I read every single one, and they literally just make my day. Also, never be afraid to PM me- I absolutely LOVE to talk to you guys.

Lots of love my darlings,

Em x