I couldn't keep this entire chapter in Teddy's point of view... you'll see as you read.

JK Rowling owns and all that.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Chapter 34 - Teddy

When all that surrounded him was darkness and pain, he dreamed of her. They were at the beach, their beach, by Shell Cottage. He was sitting on a picnic blanket in the sunshine, watching Victoire and Dominique race on their broomsticks.

Deja vu washed over him. This wasn't a dream, this was real. It was the summer before Victoire had started Hogwarts, when he was thirteen. He watched as Victoire came running over to him.

"Teddy! Will you judge a race between me and Dom? Please?"

"Sure give us a sec."

"I love you."

What? Teddy didn't remember that happening five years ago. He suddenly became aware of an ache in his head. He put his hand to it and closed his eyes, then realised that he couldn't open them again. Everything was darkness, every inch of his body ached. But he could still hear her voice, which was tight and breaking.

"Please wake up."

"I am..."

"Please."

"Mmmph."

The sound made Victoire jump a mile. After half an hour of near silence apart from her own mumbled pleadings, she had almost got used to the quiet. It had definitely been Teddy.

"Teddy?" She almost whispered, hardly daring to get her hopes up.

Nothing.

And then... the slightest pressure on her hand.

"Teddy! Can you hear me?"

"Mmm..." he groaned slightly. Then his eyes opened, her favourite, comforting blue. "Vic..."

"It's me, I'm here..." she whispered, stroking his face gently.

He mumbled slightly, just managing to form the words "Where am I?"

"You're in St Mungos. There was an accident. What do you... hang on, I've got to let them know... HARRY!"

The door to the ward burst open and Harry came rushing in. "What is it? Is he worse?"

"No no no, he's just woken up, get the healer!"

Harry ran out of the room with all the energy of a teenager, the door slamming shut.

"Don't..." Teddy managed to say clearly, he was coming to his senses.

"What is it?"

"Don't... leave..."

"I won't," Victoire whispered, clutching his hand in hers and pressing it to her lips. "I'm right here."

Recovering from a major head trauma was tiring. Victoire had had to leave that afternoon to get back to Hogwarts, but Harry had been there, and his Grandma visited every day. Harry had even brought the entire family to visit him, but handling James when his head hurt like a troll had been at it was a little too much.
But now... well, he'd have welcomed the distraction. He was to be discharged the following weekend, once they were sure everything was in order.

According to the daily notes he was getting from Victoire, everyone wished him well, and the Quidditch match had been postponed by a week to give him ample time for recovery. She missed him and she loved him. Finn had sent him some class notes in order to help him catch up, and often Teddy had little better to do.
However, the Thursday before he was due to go back, something changed the dull hospital routine. Harry paid a visit, along with Kingsley and Harry's deputy in the Auror department.

Harry spoke first. "Teddy, we need to talk to you about last week, before you go back to school."

Teddy nodded. He had wondered when the roof would come crashing down on him, so to speak. He couldn't quite remember anything, except that he had disobeyed Harry, caused a lot of mess and got himself knocked out by the ceiling. No-one had told him anything about what had happened after, whether the Death Eaters had been caught, whether he had injured any friends, nothing, which had been infuriating to say the least.

"I want you to know," Harry continued, "that what you're going to hear next has nothing to do with our personal relationship to each other, and solely to do with what you did."

Teddy nodded again. He stared at his lap fearing the worst.

Kingsley spoke next. "You were told explicitly not to get involved. You disobeyed orders, and nearly got yourself killed in the process. You caused a lot of damage to the ceiling of the Ministry, which took an entire five minutes to completely repair."

Teddy looked up. He had never been able to quite tell with Kingsley, but he thought he saw a twinkle in his eye, that made him feel that perhaps he wasn't in quite as much trouble as he feared.

"And as a result, ten people are now in Azkaban facing criminal charges."

"You caught them!" Teddy cried.

"Yes, we did," Kingsley continued. "You behaved rashly, and ignored the rules which had been put in place for your own safety." Teddy was about to interrupt, but Kingsley raised his hand, and he fell silent. "However, you also showed creative and innovative thinking, demonstrated the ability to react well to pressure, and showed great perseverance, dedication, and skill in practical defence. And I was part of the Auror department long enough to know, that these qualities are exactly the kind that we need in new recruits."

"What we're trying to say," Harry said, "is that we are very grateful to you, not to mention, impressed by your skills. And because of this, we would like to offer you a place on the Auror training programme, starting this September."

"What?" Teddy hardly dared believe it.

"You will have to get the required NEWT results of course, and pass the aptitude tests. We can't just let you walk on in, obviously. But I have no doubts that you will meet our requirements, and prove to be a worthy member of the department."

"This is... insane."

"I know. As you know we only offer three places each year," Harry said. "However, this has been under much discussion, with boards higher than myself. The decision is unanimous, and, as I said before, based solely on your performance. I can promise you that our relationship has had no influence on the decision."

"I... I don't know what to say..."

Kingsley smiled one of his rare smiles. "Harry will need your answer by Monday, so there is no need to say anything just-"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'll take it! Are you serious?"

Harry laughed. "Absolutely."

"Yes. My answer is yes, I'd be thrilled. I can't... wait until Grandma hears this!"

Kingsley stood up. "I dare say that will be very soon, she's waiting outside to visit you. Harry, I have to get going, Ministry business and all. Mr Lupin, I look forward to seeing you become part of our programme in September." He left, along with the other Auror.

"Thank you, Harry," Teddy said.

"It had very little to do with me. I didn't even come up with the idea. But I'm so proud of you, Teddy. Your... mum and dad would be too."

Harry gave him a massive hug, before taking his leave, sending Andromeda in.

It took all of five minutes to fill her in on what had just happened, and to recieve her heartfelt congratulations.

"I'm so proud of you, my darling," She said, squeezing his hand.

After a little while they went quiet. The Andromeda spoke again.

"You be careful out there. When I found out that you were hurt... I haven't been that scared in a long time. It reminded me... reminded me of when I lost your parents. I just can't lose you too."

"I was on my way back Grandma, I promise."

"I know, I know. Harry told me everything while you were... sleeping. And don't ever let me stop you from living your life, of course I don't want that. But... do be careful."

"Harry will look after me."

"I know he will. I know."

That night Teddy lay awake, hardly able to relax. He was going to be an Auror. Just like his mum.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Hehey, a wild plot twist appeared! Well, it's not really as exciting as a twist, but something vaguely original, which is a start.

Once again, I'm so sorry for how long it has taken me. These apologies are getting repetitive, I hear you say. Sorry. Again.

I've been having a bit of a loss confidence recently, but actually, writing this, I remembered what I enjoyed about it, and that even if it isn't Game of Thrones level of complexity, you, my lovely readers, enjoy reading it (I hope!) and make it worth writing.

And now that exams are looming, I might not be able to update for a while. But I expect that there might not be much left to this story, so I will try and get it finished before (if all goes to plan) I leave for university in the Autumn.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and chapter views. Let's face it, I'd probably have given up without you.

Love you all forever

xxxx