The Final Return

Holding grudges was one of Victoire's spectacular gifts. Though she loved her dearly, she still refused to forgive her little sister, there was a girl in her Defence Against the Dark Arts class who she didn't talk to because she spilled hot chocolate on her pure white skirt three years ago and there was a worker at Weasley Wheezes who refused to give her discount who no longer existed to her. Yes, Victoire and grudges were an easy match. Unless it was her parents. The whole hiding the Beauxbatons letter thing did hit her hard indeed, but they were her parents- whatever they do, they do because they love you right? By New Years, they were laughing and celebrating like nothing had happened, with the suspicious punch helping heal wounds that bit more.

Next thing she knew, it was time for her to go back to Hogwarts. This day was dull. The grey sky wouldn't even let the clouds reach their white potential and fired rain bullets at the ground in an attempt to drain the scenery of colour and the wind was a bully pushing people around and forcing them to hide in the station. Normally, Victoire would grab some food and then run to the platform so she could be there first to greet her friends. But with thoughts of the upcoming challenge and facing her OWLs, she found sitting on the floor next to a coffee shop with Teddy wrapped around her much more comforting. She rested one side of her body against his, while the other side was covered with her large thick woollen royal blue jacket.

"Couldn't you just come with me?" Victoire whined,

"I'm too frightened of McGonagall for that," Teddy kissed the top of her head, "and you'll be back before we notice and then we'll be living together,"

"That's if papa lets me. He's still cautious about us having sleepovers,"

"He should be."

Attacking Victoire with tickles made her giggle and high pitched pleads for mercy echoed around the station. Tickles were accompanied by cheeky nibbles of her ear and whenever she tried to escape, she was pulled closer, and Teddy refused to back down. The tickling only ceased when Victoire kicked his precious skateboard.

"I'll miss you, Edward," Victoire snuggled into his chest and reached behind his neck for the comfort of his soft hair.

Teddy delicately placed his thumb and index finger under her chin, lifted her head up to face him and tenderly rubbed his nose against hers with his eyes closed to savour their moment. Victoire's heart went from constant sustained pedal notes to a sequence of trebles as she slowly opened her eyes to gaze up at her very own prince charming.

"Victoire, vite," Fleur beckoned as she made sure Dominique was perfectly presentable.

Grabbing his face with both hands and smooshing his cheeks together, Victoire gave him a big wet kiss before reluctantly leaving the sanctuary of is embrace and putting on her jacket.

The train ride was always centred around what Aaron's generous mother had gotten them for Christmas. Last year, they were all given a scarf with their names on in Korean; this year, they each were given personalised chopsticks. Holding hers to the light, Victoire marvelled at the metallic Ravenclaw blue of her present with flexes of different blues and silver spiralling around it and they only actively swirled when their owner held them. She became so astonished by the gift that she didn't notice Fred entering the carriage until Tonka leaped off of her leg to say hello.

"How was Christmas, Fredster?" was a question from Brea that would go ignored due to something, or rather someone much more intriguing.

Opposite Victoire, next to the window, Lucas sat upright as soon as Fred had opened the door and refused to break eye contact as he put his personalised present back into its wooden case. He scooted into the corner to make sure there was plenty of space for the VIP and Fred merrily sat in the spot and sank into Lucas instantly.

"The gift you got me was amazing, I loved it so much," Fred chirped,

"Not as amazing as you and your gift; I look at it every night," Lucas replied in an uncharacteristically smooth sweet voice.

It was as if they were alone. As they whispered about inside jokes, Lucas's hand cautiously wandered from Fred's arm to his thigh, but only moving if his new boyfriend was comfortable. Fred would occasionally release his cute little snort as he laughed and both of them stared to develop flushed cheeks.

"Do they know we're here?" chuckled Araon,

"No one told me this was a thing," Brea looked confused and amused.

Watching the two of them reminded Victore of the muggle cartoons she had taken an interest in- she could picture them surrounded by hearts with hearts in their eyes and a string quartet in the background as they talked to each other. She remembered the first year with Teddy being like that, but he would sometimes be too shy to touch her as if she was a delicate flower with petals that could easily fall off with just a touch.

As they laughed, there was a tap on the door from one of Lucas's friends, Matilde. Without hesitation, Lucas pushed Fred away as if he was a foul stenchful creature and returned to what could only be described as a heterosexual state. Victoire could only stare at him in sheer shock as he put up a façade that left Fred discarded to the side as if he meant nothing.

"Why don't ya come sit with us?" Matilde asked.

Lucas glanced back at a neglected Fred.

"You can bring your boyfriend," the girl giggled,

"He is just a friend!" Lucas's outburst silence Matilde, but left no one as surprised as Fred who simply turned away,

"We'll send him to you in a second, I just need to have a word with him," Victoire took it upon herself to cut through the tension.

Forcefully guiding the Slytherins out of the carriage, Victoire mouthed for Brea to take care of Fred while she dealt with Lucas. Her voice retained its sweetness as she said goodbye to Matilde and said hello to those she passed as she dragged Lucas into an empty carriage. With strength fuelled by anger, she threw Lucas into the window, locked the door and drew the curtains. Before any words left her mouth, she hesitated, making sure to control her volume as she took deep breaths, glaring at the person in front of her while she resisted the urge to punch him.

"How dare you?!"

Like a naughty child that had done rotten deeds, Lucas's head hung low, his hands hid in his pockets, and he slumped onto the seat with a long exhale, "Please don't," he mumbled,

"No, I will. You just acted as if my cousin meant f*cking nothing to you, like he was one of your many flings. You know how much her cares about you. I don't know what nerve or audacity you were given for Christmas, but you cannot, will not treat Freddie like this."

Crashing his head into his knees, Lucas ran his hands through his hair, revealing rarely seen red knuckles that signalled his stress and anxiety. As much as she wanted to let loose on him, Lucas was one of her best friends and she could see he was clearly distressed. She couldn't be too hard on him. She knelt in front of him and took his hands, "What's going on?"

Lucas shook his head, "What do I do?"

The normally sturdy unphased friend in front of her shook his head and his hands began to quiver. He wasn't telling her something. Something important. She tentatively said his name and squeezed his hands.

"My dad," Lucas drew a breath, "he won't... I can't be..."

"From what I recall, your father isn't the most accepting, am I right?" Victoire could take the hint and Lucas nodded, "Did you tell him?"

"I can't," Lucas stood, "how could I? I'm his only son and yeah, I'm still attracted to women, but I don't want any woman. For years now, I've only wanted Freddie, but" he let out a frustrated growl as he paced back and forth, "no one can find out. I'll be bullied and taunted, and they'll eventually tell my parents. That's not just why I pushed Fred away; if my dad finds out it's him, he'll take him away from me in such a brutal way. No. I can't let that happen, not to Fred, not to him."

Once he had expelled all the words and thoughts, Lucas took a deep breath in which tears were pushed past the gates and trickled down his cheek. He moved around as if he was in the middle of searching for a solution but had ended up completely lost and he looked at Victoire desperately for answers. She knew what it was like to keep a relationship a secret. It adds an electrical charge to anything you do because of the constant risk of being caught and the time you have becomes even more precious. Yet, more is taken away than added, as you grow to hate not being able to show everyone how much you care about that one person, and you can't be there at crucial moments in fear of people finding out. Hiding wasn't the solution. But a homophobic father made it sound like the lesser of two evils.

"You're only going to keep hurting Fred," she gently said as she got up, "and he can only take so much."

Lucas nodded.

"Just talk to him."