Epilogue Two: The 2014 Quidditch World Cup Final
Summary:
Sixteen years later.
Notes:
The Rita Skeeter and Ginny Potter commentaries are taken from the Harry Potter wikis on the 2014 Quidditch World Cup.
Chapter Text
"Edward Remus Lupin, where are you!"
"Victoire Weasley, it is now time to be in the tent!"
Teddy and Victoire didn't hear their mothers calling. They had sneaked away from the VIP tents to explore the colorful hills of the Patagonian Desert near their site. Beyond the flat desert plains where the Quidditch World Cup Final stadium was situated stretched bands of orange, red, pink, and yellow hills and they'd flown their broomsticks out for a good look. The exotic beauty was nothing like they'd ever seen before, a landscape from another world, and they'd gaped at the huge formations as they flew. Each turn lead to another breath-taking view, the rippled colors intensifying as the sun headed for the horizon. It was brilliant.
It was Victoire who noticed how late the hour was getting, and she grabbed Teddy's coat as he peeked over the edge of a rainbow-banded hill.
"It's late – look, the sun is going down! Maman will be looking for me!"
Teddy turned around and could barely see the fifty-thousand seat stadium.
"Bugger! I didn't know it was so late! Let's get out of here!"
They turned their brooms around and realized that the wind had shifted and was blowing directly against them. It was like a gale, Teddy thought. At least forty miles an hour – a gust knocked him sidewise. No, more like sixty.
"Merlin, Dad's going to kill me!" But the wind whipped away his words and stole his breath. There was nothing to do but grit their teeth and keep the bucking brooms from crashing. A mile from camp, Victoire lost her balance. She screamed as the wind tipped her broom over, and her grasp loosened. She began to fall, but Teddy fought the shifting blasts to get to her. He pulled her from her broom to straddle behind him and she put her arms around his waist with shaking hands. Their flight was slowed by the extra weight, and twilight was fading when they finally made it back to the camp. At the entrance to the VIP area Teddy pointed the broom down, and when it landed, they tumbled off in exhaustion.
Tonks found them first and screamed for the rest of the family. In no time Remus and Tonks, Victoire and Bill, all the other Weasley parents, and even Teddy's godfather surrounded them. They yelled, shrieked, and scolded as the miscreants were separated and marched to separate tents. Teddy's legs trembled and his arms quivered with muscle strain. His eyes felt seared by the wind, and his mouth was as dry as the desert. Dust covered every bit of his clothes, his skin, his hair, and no one had given him water. He wouldn't mention any of it to his parents even if he were threatened with a Cruciatus.
After he stumbled into his tent, his mother finally let him drink something, and clean up and change clothes. When he peeked his head out of the bedroom, his mother and father stood next to each other, arms crossed, with identical scowls. Even though the moon was in the last quarter and waning, Remus' eyes were dangerously yellow, and his voice was a deep growl.
"Did you know that those hills were named "Las colinas de la muerte"?
Teddy's hair had been streaked in orange, red, and pink bands like the hills, and at his father's scowl he pulled the color back to match his father's sandy brown. It was best to be inconspicuous when his father was in a rage, and also best to answer in the fewest words possible.
"No sir."
"That means "the death hills."
"Oh."
"It's forbidden to fly a broomstick over them. Did you see the warning signs?" Remus' voice was so low and rough Teddy could barely hear him.
"No sir."
He hadn't, because he wasn't looking for any signs, he was looking at Victoire, at the way the wind pulled her neat braid into a golden-blond river, and how her blue eyes sparkled with mischief as they crept away from the camp. All he'd wanted to do was get away from the babies and cousins and be alone with her for a bit. The hills he could barely see seemed like a small adventure. He was sixteen, a sixth-year student, and she was fourteen and the other children they were shoved together with were much younger. James was nine, Albus, Rose, and his little second cousin Scorpius were seven. Lily and Hugo were five. Dominique was a bratty ten and Louis was seven. They weren't even in Hogwarts yet, and were always questioning him about it.
Teddy couldn't keep up with the rest of the Weasleys and all their progeny, but every time he went to the Burrow, there seemed to be another one. They climbed him like a tree, wanted him to wrestle, play Quidditch with them, or play-duel. Victoire often was roped into braiding hair and pestered to cast bubbles and flowers with her wand. She was constantly asked to show off the netting spells she'd created. With a flick of her wand she could send out a net to catch something – a apple from a tree, a rogue bludger, an escaping child, and drag it to her. Everyone wanted to see his Metamorphagus talents, his new faces and hair color changes. He was tired of being a spectacle all the time and having people gawk at him.
While he loved all of them, a massive cloud of children surrounded him and Victoire at family dinners and it was annoying. He knew he shouldn't say any of that.
"No sir. We were taking the brooms out to fly around the camp, and I saw them. I didn't know how far away they were. Sorry, sir."
Tonks and Remus put their heads together and murmured. Teddy wondered how they'd punish him here. At home he got extra chores, such as cleaning their magical martial arts center.
After the war, Remus and Tonks retired. Neither one had any desire to stay in the DMLE or in the Order of the Phoenix – they had had enough of chasing evil wizards.
Remus' strength had always been in his teaching, and Tonks' strength had always been in dueling, both offensive and defense.
They decided to open the "Constant Vigilance Centre," a school teaching dueling, for anyone who wanted to sharpen their skills. The world didn't stop having dark wizards when Voldemort was defeated. One major difference in their school was that it emphasized nonverbal spells and wandless spells. They also taught how to use multiple spells in a row and unleash them while moving to a safer position, and how to use the ground or an environment to their advantage.
Keeping a wand safe so they did not get disarmed was a premier goal. Remus insisted on wand holsters, and made the students experiment with various kinds. They devised thigh holsters, spelled shut; sleeve holsters with a leather thong around the wrist, and also always having an extra wand. The Prophet screeched at them, and Tonks giggled that the oldest purebloods must have taken to their fainting couches. Single wands had been the tradition of wizardry for centuries, and the belief was that it weakened the blood to do otherwise. But when Kingsley Shacklebolt, now Minister of Magic, gave his blessing, the grumbling died down. Tonks' Auror friends whispered to her that their instructors were beginning to add wand safety to their training.
Remus and Tonks had also learned Muggle martial arts from a retired Muggleborn Auror, whose Muggle sister had practiced since childhood. The Prophet ran front page articles decrying it as unbecoming, cheating, unworthy, and attacking them personally for degrading the wizarding world. It called for a boycott on their business. Enrollment boomed and they had to create a waiting list.
Younger wizards loved the center. They learned how to move – leaping, jumping, rolling, hiding. Elbow strikes (which were safer than fists, which can get broken.) Knee strikes, head butt, backwards or forwards, kicking where it would do the most good - anything to give a disarmed wizard time to escape or hide.
Remus had expanded the spells he'd taught in DADA, mostly by increasing their strength. Aguamenti became Aqua Eructo, for a jet of water. A fast wandless series of spells such as Petrificus Totalis, Incarcerous, Levicorpus, Glacius Tria, Aqua Eructo, Lumos Maximus, and Avis should result in opponent being petrified, bound with ropes, yanked into the air, surrounded in pounding ice, blinded by extremely bright light, and attacked by birds. A Finger—removing jinx would also maximize defeat. Nothing lethal, or that dangerous, singly, but in combination with shield charms for the caster, likely to succeed and draw first blood in a duel.
Their students drilled constantly on improving disillusionment charms, and constantly working on Protego and defensive spells. Tonks always grinned when she yanked students upside down and kept them bobbing, demanding they produce a shield.
They forbade and did not teach severe curses like the Entrail- expelling curse, or Fiendfyre, but did use Bombarda Maximus – explosion to remove walls, cascading Jinx for multiple opponents at once, and Confringo. Each level the students achieved won them a differently colored scarf.
It wasn't a designated pre-Auror academy, but an individual applying to the DMLE was given higher scores if they'd trained there.
The school was open six days a week, and Remus and Tonks alternated days so that they could stay with Teddy. After he was four, when he could talk well, he came to the centre with them. Several students were hired as his babysitters, and their tuition fees were reduced. Remus loved seeing his son drawing pictures, making up stories for his caretakers to write down, and learning elementary defensive skills. His young caretakers taught him how to run and hide under the little bed he napped on if an 'invader' came to the play area, and stay in place until he was told he could come out. He learned to kick and punch, and became a whirling tornado, smashing a nose or two of unprepared students.
It had been better than they could ever imagined when they retreated from the Battle, wounded in body and heart. Remus had had struggles, of course, because he was a known werewolf and had to absent himself for the full moons. But his Order of Merlin, First Class, ensured his constant access to the wolfsbane potion, which continued to be improved. Having all the food he needed, and constant exercise, his stamina was greater than it had been a decade earlier. Tonks approved and they romped together at night.
For Teddy, Constant Vigilance had been a great place to grow up; it also had plenty of opportunities for his parents to assign chores. Besides equipment to store properly, and changing rooms to clean, his mother and father had put in an inexpensive small drinks area, a few benches where students and visitors could order tea, water, pumpkin and apple juices, and butterbeer, which created even more rubbish. They employed cleaners, of course, but Teddy had been assigned extra chores to help them many times. If his parents were really angry at him, they wouldn't allow him to use magic for it. Here at the World Cup though, what could they do to him? More importantly, what could Victoire's parents do to her? Despite the retribution that would fall, it had been worth it. They'd seen unearthly beauty – could store it in Pensieves to review forever – and they'd faced danger together.
"What were you thinking? You could have been killed. Victoire could have been killed. You idiot. Do you think you're immortal? That you're made of adamantium? What on earth was so important that you had to run away without telling anyone? You're lucky we got you away from Bill. He wanted to kill you."
That was his mother. This was bad. His mother didn't usually yell at him. Tonks' hair was like his now – flat and brown and miserable-looking.
He suddenly wanted to explain himself.
"We just wanted to go somewhere by ourselves – "
"You're sixteen. I know why you want to go someplace by yourselves." Remus scowled.
"No! I haven't even thought, well, I've thought, but we haven't. She hasn't ever - ask her if you don't believe me." He sighed. Snogging Victoire – well, it was a goal, but not one he'd reached yet. He dreamed about it – she was beautiful, and sweet, and had the loveliest voice, the most beautiful hair – but he definitely wasn't doing anything with her now.
His legs unexpectedly went out from under him and he fell down on his butt, then pulled his knees to him and buried his face. This also hid his groin, which was just as well.
"We wanted to be away from the babies! They – pester me all the time, and Victoire too. They want me to – "he couldn't think of the words to explain how he hated being a constant plaything, but he tried.
"They want me to change. My hair, my face. You know. All the time. Even when I don't want to. I hate it – hate being a spectacle. All the time, Mum. All the time."
After a pause Tonks spoke with a softer voice. "Remus. I know what he means about being a spectacle. Remember how I used to change my nose and do faces? It was the first thing I ever did, so that I could get it out of the way." She touched Teddy's head briefly.
"I thought you like doing the faces. You always did them whenever we had the kids at the Order meetings – Harry, Ron, Hermione, the others." Now Remus was quieter, almost questioning.
At least she understands, Teddy thought. Maybe they'd stop thinking about punishing him.
"Remus?" Tonks asked suddenly. "Did you know that the hills where Teddy and Victoire were flying were that dangerous? Because I didn't. I heard about them, and thought they sounded beautiful. I had thought maybe we could all go look at them tomorrow before the game. Play tourist a bit."
Ugh. Please no more being tourists, please.
His mother and father had dragged him around for two days when they first landed in Argentina. He barely remembered that his Lupin grandfather had been Welsh, and certainly had never heard that any of his relatives had emigrated so far away from Wales. But they had. And being wizards themselves, here they still were, 150 years later, babbling at him.
"Did you know, in the 19th century, Welsh settlers arrived in Chubut and established the colony Y Wladfa in the valley of the Chubut river?"
"No, ma'am."
"Today, the Welsh language and Welsh tea houses are common in several towns, many of which have Welsh names. Dolavon and Trelew are examples of Welsh towns."
"Okay."
"On 28 July, there was a celebration honoring the 150th anniversary of the Welsh migrations. The First Wizard of Wales, Carwyn Jones, attended the ceremony."
"Uh-huh."
"Your family is friends with that Triwizard champion, Fleur Delacour, right?"
"She's sort of uh, my step-aunt." My girlfriend's mum.
"Well! I didn't know you were that close. Did you know the dragon she faced was the Common Welsh Dragon?"
"Uh, no, I didn't."
Kill me now, please, Teddy groaned mentally. If he had to learn one more fact about the Argentinian Welsh colony, he'd be able to pass an OWL in it. Maybe he could write a few feet for an extra credit paper.
"…this particular breed is described as not as dangerous, preferring to feed on sheep rather than humans, not like the Hungarian Horntail Harry Potter faced – you know Harry Potter, too, don't you?"
"He's my godfather," said Teddy, pulled momentarily back into the conversation. Harry was the best godfather ever.
"My goodness, you do have friends in high places, young man! Now, the common Welsh dragon isn't as dangerous as other dragons, but the nesting mothers can be, can't think what the organizers of the Tournament had in mind –"
Chopping my godfather up into parts to bring Voldemort back, but nobody believed him for another year, did you?
"Anyway, I think young Fleur didn't know that type of dragon mostly wanted to eat sheep, ha ha –"
Too bad they don't eat people – I can think of a few I'd like to volunteer. Stop now, please.
It hadn't helped that the tea houses were pretty and he liked the food, not when they had discovered that the tea houses all played Celestina Warbeck songs. Because of course the most famous (and constantly overplayed) singer of the Wizarding World would be Welsh. None of them had known, or cared about this.
"If I never hear 'Cauldron of Hot Strong Love' again it will be too soon," groaned Teddy's mother. "Remus, I hope you're satisfied, because I have done as much of the heritage circuit I can stand."
Yes!
"I think you're right. I'll say good-bye to Uncle Rhys by myself, shall I?"
"Thank you, darling."
Teddy's dad didn't see Teddy's mum roll her eyes, but he did.
"Slayer. Megadeth. That's real music, Teddy, I'm going to dig out all the metal I've got, find out some way to play vinyl, I swear. Or cassette tapes."
"CD's Mum? MP3s?"
"...sure."
It was her "sure" of nonchalance, where she pretended to know what he meant.
Muggle-magic conversions were spreading throughout the wizarding world, helped by Uncle George's new shop. The younger muggle-born witches and wizards at Hogwarts pouted loudly that they had nowhere to play their video games. When Uncle George visited them and first got his hands on a controller, he put Ron in charge of the Diagon shop and rented another one closer to Muggle London. He'd worked out the technique in a year of intense research, and now beeps, whistles, and music blatted out from screens in Hogwarts common rooms. Professors had sniffed, but finally decided to allow the ekeltronic games. Chess and gobstones fell by the wayside, which alarmed the clubs' champions. Nobody cared except a few nerds.
Other changes, however, were coming along slowly, because television's various connections and magical conversion were even more complicated than game consoles. Older wizards and witches like his parents – well – probably they didn't keep up.
"DVDs?" he said, pushing it.
"Sounds good. Can you find a DVD I can play real music on?"
"Yes, Mum. You do have to remember to rewind it though."
"You can show me again." Now that was Tonks' voice of suspicion, when she had the intuition he was winding her up but couldn't prove it.
"Can't beat Incantation Records. Witchita Banana's rather good." Remus smirked.
Teddy hadn't heard his father come back, but his mother pretended to vomit.
"Wings and Abba aren't too bad," Remus mused, pretending he didn't see Tonks continue to fake-vomit. "Or there's Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven's nice, isn't it?"
"You monster," said his mother, punching his father in the ribs.
"Quite. Can we Apparate to the stadium now?" his dad said, rubbing his chin on his mother's hair, which was now spiky and gelled green.
They'd apparated to the stadium, and then he and Victoire had endured a day and a half of elder-cousin duties. It was to escape these that Teddy had persuaded Victoire to the hill investigation trip.
His father pulled him back into the present with another growl.
"Your mother and I have talked it over. We thought about restricting you from some of the Cup events, like the opening ceremony, but we're here for what may be a unique lifetime experience, and decided against it. We also discussed the way the small children annoyed you and Victoire, and will talk to everyone about how to change that. We should have brought more sitters. I thought the parents had rotating schedules set up, but didn't realize the children were importuning you despite that."
Yes, because you have no idea what it's like to be the oldest of the post-war baby boom, do you? (He was technically a few weeks older than the end of the war, but it counted.) One of the parents is always baby-sitting, yes, but Victoire and I are stuck here too, and they always pester us.
"Fortunately, the Cup's organizers thought of everything. They have vetted babysitters they can bring in for outrageous prices – "Dad harrumphed, and Tonks jabbed him in the ribs.
"Anyway, the others can get sitters, and you and Victoire can take only a couple of hours of babysitting duty. We'll pay you the same ludicrous -"
"Remus –"
"Anyway, the same price as the sitters here. But you are both grounded from the family barbecue tonight."
"Okay." He would be sorry to miss the family barbecue. His dad and Uncle Bill had sourced the best meat, as always, and they'd have many types to try tonight. Beef was famous here, they'd said, and they'd acquired pork, lamb, fish from the local streams, and game birds.
"We'll bring back dinner, of course, but you're going to wait awhile. I have some apples and oranges in my pack," said his mother. She also would have shortbread, to which she'd developed an almost fatal attraction, raisins, scones, and whatever she'd bought from the fruit and vegetable market the Welsh relatives had shown her. There would be plenty. He wouldn't starve, he just wouldn't get the first dripping slices. Uncle Bill's barbecue was the best he'd ever tasted. His mouth watered and his stomach growled. Definitely a punishment.
After his mother and father left, Teddy waited another fifteen minutes to be sure they'd really gone, then sent a charmed paper note flying to Victoire's tent.
"Are you alone?"
"Toi idiot! Par bonne chance, oui!" her vanilla-scented note replied. She always spoke French when she was annoyed. He was getting better at it.
"Don't be mad. Do you have the mirror?" He sent another flying memo.
"Bien sur, j'ai le mirroir!"
But she hadn't sent a note, she was speaking through one of the enchanted two-way mirrors he'd acquired. His parents didn't know he had them. He'd heard how his Uncle Harry's father and his best mate Sirius Black had had a pair. (There was a little sadness in Harry's voice for some reason whenever he mentioned them.) Once Teddy knew such a thing existed, he'd spent hours scouring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade's second-hand stores, and finally found a set he could afford. He and Victoire spent many hours talking on them every night, until one of them would fall asleep.
"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks waved at Harry where he was waiting for them in the VIP boxes. He'd been in St. Mungo's recently after a nasty curse during an Auror raid on a smuggler of contaminated potions ingredients, with the skin of his left ankle hexed off for six inches square. As the Head Auror, he normally didn't lead raids, but this was a beastly affair, someone they'd tried to catch for two years who'd already landed three other Aurors in hospital. He was limping a little, but grinned as he met her.
"Wotcher Tonks! So you did the big heritage culture tour and met Remus' extended family, I hear?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, very extended. He'd never met any of them. I thought I'd nod off listening to the history lessons, not my thing. I had to keep alert for Teddy's sake, though."
"Perils of parenting, Tonks, having to be a good example. So he and Victoire – eh, that sounded a right mess."
"I didn't have any idea they'd taken off – I thought they were with their cousins. They were damn lucky not to be killed – Bill's furious about it. "
"Well, he could be furious because they were sneaking off into every dark corner to snog, which is where they were last night according to Rita Skeeter."
"Ugh! They were grounded to stay in the tents; that's why she couldn't see them anywhere. You and Hermione should have squashed her when you had the chance."
Hermione's capture of the illegal animagus after the third task in the Triwizard Tournament was legendary. The woman was a beetle, and she'd used her inconspicuous nature to spy on many conversations. Hermione had captured her and forced her to write a truthful article for the Quibbler. It had been an effective strategy for the short term, but her last article about the tournament discredited Harry and allowed the Ministry to start the smear campaign about Harry's claim that Voldemort had returned.
"Tonks! That wasn't me, it was Hermione, and that's a terrible idea."
"Wait until James turns eighteen and she's planting slander about his kissing Hugo."
"He's his first cousin!"
"Do you think that would stop her?" Tonks sneered. "I hate her articles on Remus – whenever we get another award, they always begin "Registered werewolf Remus Lupin," or if I've yelled at her recently, "Remus Lupin, Order of Merlin First Class and registered werewolf."
"She and Ginny are both doing commentary today – that should be fun. It's time for the opening ceremonies." Harry turned back to his seat. The VIP boxes were crammed with what Rita Skeeter was calling the Dumbledore Army Reunion. Harry had invited all the Weasleys, Tonks and Remus, Neville and Hannah, and Luna and Rolf. Tonks was pleased that Harry had such a huge family around him now.
Rita Skeeter did not disappoint.
Ginny announced, "The red-haired curipiras with their back-to-front feet, are tumbling, performing acrobatics, stealing hats from fans, and generally creating mayhem – the stadium is greatly enjoying their antics."
While Rita noted, "It is always enchanting to see young people enjoy the culture of other wizarding nations. Unfortunately Mr. Teddy Lupin and Ms Victoire Weasley seem far more interested in what they are saying to each other. I take that back. In what some may see as a belated show of parental authority, Mr. Bill Weasley has swapped places with his now very sulky-looking daughter, and directed her attention to the pitch."
Tonks glared at Teddy, who now sat outside her. "Rita is going to go after you and Victoire the entire afternoon. Stop embarrassing yourselves."
Teddy nodded, dutifully watching the game for a few minutes. The older reporter continued to be hostile to his family.
"All the Potter family is wearing the red for Bulgaria, except for middle child Albus, who is sporting the Brazilian green. What message is young Albus sending us all by choosing to support a team other than his father's? A team, lest we forget, that is competing against his father's ex-rival, now friend, Viktor Krum. Are we witnessing a very public, very ugly display of father-son rivalry?"
Teddy snorted. Al loved Goncalo Flores, the Brazilian Chaser, more than any other Quidditch player ever, and of course Harry didn't demand that his children follow his every preference. It was one of the best things about him. Al was only seven and did not deserve to be singled out. Therefore, it was his step-cousinly duty to distract Skeeter. He slipped over the back of his seat and, half-crouching, sneaked toward Victoire. Victoire's father was on his feet already, yelling for Bulgaria to block the Quaffle, and didn't see him.
"Vic!"
She turned around and saw him, and pointed to the other end of their row. He kept scooting along behind his clan, crouched over, while Victoire used dainty manners to excuse herself, stepping smoothly in front of them. They met up at the end, twenty seats away from Bill, and Victoire quickly pointed to the stairs a half level above. In less than a minute, they were walking around the corner to the concession stand, which had no customers. He picked out a red ice gelato for her, and a defiant green one for him, and then they sneaked back the other way. Just as they turned to go back into the stadium, he pulled her into a small alcove and kissed her cheek. She giggled.
"Let's get back to the side with your parents, so they can see we are there."
Tonks had just noticed that Teddy was missing when he showed up again, gallantly letting Victoire go ahead to sit by his mother. The two kids ate their gelatos while a few more minutes of the game passed, and then Ginny Weasley's voice soared:
"An excellent interception by Bulgarian Chaser Levski, and Bulgaria are streaking toward the goal -thrown to Vassileva – ouch! Even the Brazilians are wincing in sympathy there as a Bludger hit Vassileva hard in the throat. She drops the Quaffle, which is caught by Flores. Brazil are back in possession!"
Teddy whooped loudly for Albus' favorite, making sure the entire clan saw him where he was supposed to be. Victoire was hiding again, headed back to the concession stand.
So it went the entire afternoon. Victoire showed up near her father cheering for Bulgaria, making sure he saw her, while Teddy was on the other side yelling for Brazil, equally conspicuous. Then they would race away for a quick kiss, picking up a souvenir or concession treat as the excuse when they returned to the stands. Teddy got a green Brazil cap for Albus and pushed it down over his eyes, laughing and showing Brazilian green hair when Albus turned around; Victoire got a plush Snitch for Louis. The golden color and flapping silver wings kept him from whining, and Fleur smiled thankfully at her. They bought packages of smoking red nuts, and others of green wiggling jelly worms, and passed them out to all the other children. The parents stopped trying to keep track of Teddy and Victoire, noting only occasionally that they popped up here and there, innocently separate or helpfully together. Almost all the parents. At one point Victoire sat next to Tonks, and jumped up screaming as Ginny Potter yelled.
"Bogomil Levski breaks through the Brazilian defense and equalizes! Ten all!"
When the girl plopped back down, the souvenir pendant she'd bought started flashing red.
"You're not fooling me, you know," Tonks commented, looking straight ahead. "I can see what you and Teddy are up to."
"Mais non, we are up to nothing! We are enjoying the game, visiting everyone. Regardez, Teddy is talking to Harry."
Indeed, Teddy appeared deep in conversation with Harry, frowning seriously.
"For the last thirty seconds. You two were missing for a few minutes before that."
"Oui, buying jouets for les infants." Victoire's shoulders shook, containing laughter, as she watched the game for a moment.
"Just don't let Bill catch Teddy doing something stupid. I'll be very unhappy with you."
"Merci, Tante Tonks," said Victoire, and she was gone when Tonks turned her head.
They did manage to kiss for ten whole minutes once, and then luckily turned up at the two hour and twenty minutes mark when there was a time out. Viktor Krum had been hit in the back of the skull by Beater Rafael Santos, but it was ruled an accident, and Krum returned to play. Teddy had planned to sneak away from his parents, since he and Victoire were together on their side for once, but only a few minutes later the Snitch was sighted. The Brazilian Silva had seen the Snitch first, and rocketed straight up towards it, with Krum streaking after him, only four feet behind. Teddy started chanting, "Go Silva! Go Silva!" and waving the green cap he'd purchased. Then he clonked Victoire with it, which of course was the moment Rita Skeeter noticed them again.
"Teddy Lupin has accidentally punched his girlfriend on the nose as he gesticulates – are we about to witness a breakup, live at the Quidditch World Cup?"
Teddy's mother swore under her breath, but not quietly enough, because he and Victoire both heard her. Victoire had tears of laughter running down her cheeks in the last few minutes, and Teddy put his arms around her.
Ginny Potter: 2:43 hours. "Krum and Silva neck and neck!"
Rita Skeeter: 2:44 hours. "Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley are cuddled up together again. Don't they care about Quidditch at all? Should they be taking up valuable space in this stadium, when all eyes ought to be glued on the pitch? When so many witches and wizards would simply love to be here?"
Ginny Potter: 2:45 hours. "KRUM'S GOT THE SNITCH! BULGARIA HAVE WON!"
Teddy looked anxiously over to Albus, worried that he would be disappointed. But the little boy was clapping and didn't look sad, possibly because the Brazil Seeker was embracing Krum, in outstanding good sportsmanship.
Skeeter put it differently.
"Young Albus is applauding, doubtless at the prompting of his publicity-hungry father – my colleague Ginny Potter is approaching me, no doubt for another tedious correc – "
Ginny Potter: "Rita Skeeter has been taken unaccountably ill with what some are calling a jinx to the solar plexus. . ."
The assorted Weasleys, Potters, Lupins, Longbottoms, and Scamanders screamed with laughter, making Ginny look up at them and wave. Teddy and Victoire vanished one more time, unseen by anyone, and settled in a broom closet quickly enough that even an ex-Marauder might approve, if he weren't a responsible father now.
If Rita had seen them she might (accurately for once, and enraging both Remus and Bill) have written, "The good news is that the lanky, blue-haired, half-werewolf and the beautiful blond part-Veela seemed to have invented a method of breathing through their ears. I can think of no other reason why they have survived such a prolonged period of what, in my young day, was called snogging."
But either the gelatos had been imbued with Felix Felicis, or fate smiled on two young people who truly had helped their young relatives stay engaged and peaceable during the hectic Cup final, because their mothers found them first, quickly did cleaning charms on their faces, and tidied their hair.
"We will not tell Bill or Remus," Fleur said sternly, "but tu dois rester près de la maison, ah, you must stay near the house when you visit Victoire, Teddy, and ta mère parlera à vous deux."
"Talk to us?" said Teddy. "Mum's right here, she can talk to us now. And we weren't doing anything bad."
Tonks nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I know you're both good kids, but I still need to give you 'The Talk.'"
"The talk?" said Victoire, puzzled.
"No, Mum, no!" protested Teddy, who'd already sat through a version of the sex talk three years earlier. "Not again!"
" Tonks grinned. "Be glad I won't tell Remus to do it. He'd use diagrams. And illustrations."
Teddy considered the likelihood of his father using three-dimensional floating diagrams of detached genitals, and his hair turned completely white.
"Yes Mum."
"Oui Maman."
The young people looked at each other glumly, and then Teddy switched his hair to Victoire's sleek blond, with a matching and immaculate French braid, making everyone laugh.
Tonks straightened up after threatening the teens, feeling a slight pull in her chest muscles as she sometimes did. But her scars had not pained her in sixteen years. All was well.