Submission for Round Eight of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

Team: Cannons

Position: Seeker

Prompt: Write about an important milestone in someone's life. Must use a Next-gen character.

Word Count: 1226

"Harry!"

Teddy practically rolled out of the fireplace at Grimmauld Place in his hurry, collecting patches of soot all over his robes. His godfather entered the room as he was picking himself up off the floor and smiled in amusement.

"Yes, Teddy?"

"I'm just – I wanted to ask, um –"

Now that the moment had come, Teddy had trouble getting the words out. His godfather's expression shifted to concern.

"How'd you ask out Aunt Ginny?" Teddy blurted out all at once, and he saw Harry pause as he parsed out the individual words.

"She's not here, you know. You can just call her Ginny," Harry said, moving to take a seat on the sofa.

"It's the principle of the thing," Teddy insisted, flopping back onto the cushion next to him. He had always called her Aunt, and although when she had first told him to just call her Ginny he'd simply had trouble dropping the habit, now he did it to be cheeky.

But Teddy wasn't here to discuss how he addressed his aunt, and he fixed Harry with a no-nonsense look.

Harry sighed. "I didn't ask her."

"You didn't?" Teddy asked, confused. "Oh, she asked you, then? That kinda makes sense."

"Hey, now," Harry said, "what are you implying?"

"Nothing," Teddy grinned slyly. "Why, what'd you think I was implying?"

Harry glared at him, but it didn't have any heat behind it. "Alright, yeah," he said, "she asked me, but we'd had a bit of a thing going on before the war, and I only broke it off because I didn't want Voldemort to target her, so really, we were just getting back together."

"Okay, then how'd you ask her out before?"

Harry looked a bit awkward. "Er, we sort of just kissed after a Quidditch match she'd won."

"She'd won?" Teddy was confused. He was pretty sure Harry had been Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"I was in detention," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Detention that made you miss Quidditch?!" Teddy cried, hardly able to believe it. "What did you do?"

Harry winced. "Something that deserved it, I assure you."

Teddy opened his mouth to ask, but Harry cut him off. "Really, Teddy, you don't want to know."

Teddy pouted for a moment or two, and then he returned to their previous conversation.

"So, what you're saying is you never asked Aunt Ginny out."

"What!" Harry sputtered. "No, I told you I kissed her –"

"That's cheating," Teddy told him. "I want to do it properly. What did Aunt Ginny do when she asked you?"

"Well, we were back at Hogwarts the summer after the war, helping with the reconstruction," Harry said, with a distant gaze. "We went for a broom ride over the Black Lake at sunset to relax after a long day…"

"And?" Teddy prompted him, when it seemed like Harry was lost in his thoughts.

"And she asked me while we were up there," Harry said, as if it was really just as easy as that.

"What did she say, exactly?"

"I can't recall," his godfather shrugged. "Didn't really matter, anyway. I wouldn't have turned her down, no matter what she said."

"You're no help at all," Teddy moaned. "I should've asked Uncle Ron."

"Oi!" Harry protested. "He wasn't any better than I was!"

Teddy groaned. At this rate he'd never get Victoire to go on a date with him. He knew Victoire, had practically grown up with her, and she always wanted things to be perfect — he'd watched her throw out three Potions essays in a row once because she'd made spelling mistakes — so Teddy needed everything to be perfect, otherwise she wouldn't say yes. Teddy didn't know what he'd do if she turned him down. He'd never loved anyone else in his entire fifteen years like he did Victoire, and he was pretty sure he'd just waste away into nothing without her and become old and crotchety and mean and lose his magic and —

"Teddy," Harry's voice broke into his spiraling thoughts, "Teddy, hey, snap out of it."

Teddy realized his hair had turned long and black, covering his face, and he promptly turned it back to his usual favorite — short and baby blue.

"Sorry," he said quickly, embarrassed by his display of emotion, but Harry just laughed.

"S'alright," his godfather said, patting his shoulder, "it's completely normal. Merlin knows if I'd been a Metamorphmagus, I'd have had the exact same problem."

"Really?" Teddy wasn't sure he believed it. Harry always seemed calm and steady.

Harry nodded. "I had quite a temper as a teenager. And Ginny dated a lot of boys before me, which I didn't handle very well."

"Aunt Ginny dated people other than you?" Teddy was aghast. Harry had been with Aunt Ginny since before he could even remember, and he simply couldn't imagine them apart.

"I dated other people, too, you know." Harry chuckled at the expression on Teddy's face. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Victoire only has eyes for you."

Teddy was shocked. "How'd you know I fancy Victoire?"

"I'm your godfather," Harry said. "It's my job."

"Do you really think she likes me?" Teddy asked uncertainly, feeling his hair turn pink with nervousness.

"I'm so sure of it, I'd swear an Unbreakable Vow."

Harry looked entirely serious, but despite his assuredness, Teddy still felt doubtful, and he was pretty sure he would right up until Victoire gave him an answer herself.

"Alright, c'mon, stop worrying about it," Harry patted his shoulder. "Now, are you staying here tonight?"

Teddy made a face. "Grandma's having wine night with her friends," he said. It was the whole reason he'd Flooed to Harry's — he'd ventured into the kitchen for a late night snack and had been suddenly confronted with half a dozen grandmotherly ladies hounding him about when he was going to meet a nice girl and did he have his eye on anyone yet?

"Well, you know where your room is," Harry said, "and there might even be some dessert left in the kitchen."

"Thanks, Harry!" Teddy chirped, mood immediately brightening at the mention of food. He scrambled off the sofa and eagerly made a beeline for the kitchen.

There was, luckily, a little bit of bread pudding leftovers, and Teddy dug into it as soon as he had located a fork in the silverware drawer. He ate it straight from the pan, and sat on the worktop to eat it, thankful that Aunt Ginny had put on a warming charm.

Teddy was specifically trying not to think about his conversation with his godfather, but somewhere in the middle of his pudding he couldn't help himself. He was nearly convinced that Harry was right and Victoire did really like him, and despite his lingering uncertainty, he knew there was nothing for it but to just ask her.

"Tomorrow," he said aloud, testing his resolution. They were all going to Diagon tomorrow for Hogwarts supplies, and all the Potters and Weasleys would be there. Teddy was certain that at some point while the youngest were getting their robes fitted or something, he and Victoire could go off somewhere together — Fortescue's, perhaps? — and then he'd put his whole heart on the line.

Teddy took a deep breath, and nodded to himself firmly. "I'll do it tomorrow."