Year 4: Listen To Your Heart

Chapter 38: April 2015

"Truth or dare?"

It was the night before the Easter holidays were scheduled to begin and Victoire, Kara and Brianna had elected to stay up late in the common room as it was the last time they would be altogether until term resumed.

"Truth," Victoire chose.

"Hmm," Brianna mused. "Ooh, I've got a good one! Does Teddy have any tattoos?"

"Hey!" Victoire cried indignantly. "That's not fair, it can't be a truth about other people. It's supposed to be a question about me."

"Well you're dating Teddy now," Brianna said. "Which means he has officially become part of the category of questions I like to call fair game."

"Kara?" Victoire asked, looking imploringly at her other friend.

Kara shrugged. "Don't look at me," she said. "I don't know the rules, I just play."

"Come on Victoire, answer the question," Brianna insisted.

"I can't," Victoire replied.

"You have to," Brianna said. "Those are the rules of the game. Whatever I ask, you have to answer honestly."

"No," Victoire shook her head. "I mean I honestly can't answer the question. I don't know."

"You don't know?" Brianna asked in surprise. "How is that possible? You've been dating for three and a half months!"

"Uh, that's exactly why I don't know," Victoire said. "We've only been dating for three and a half months."

"So all you've ever done is kiss?" Brianna asked incredulously.

"Yes," Victoire replied. "And I'm perfectly happy with that."

"Victoire, he's a sixth year," Brianna stressed. "Don't you think you ought to have done more than kiss by now? At the very least you should be able to tell us whether he has any tattoos on his torso."

"He might be a sixth year," Victoire agreed. "But that doesn't mean anything. Neither of us is ready to go there yet. And when we are ready, and we do go there, it certainly won't be any of your business."

"Oh sweet Victoire," Brianna said patronizingly. "You may not be ready to go there, but I assure you, he is. You're fooling yourself if you think this has been a mutual decision."

"New topic please?" Victoire requested, desperate to talk about anything but this. "Kara, truth or dare?"

"Wait!" Brianna stopped her. "You never really did your own truth."

"I think Victoire's shared plenty for one truth," Kara interceded. "I chose dare."

"Thank you Kara," Victoire said. "And I dare you to do a cartwheel right here in the middle of the common room for everyone to see."

"But you know I can't do a cartwheel," Kara protested.

"Exactly," Victoire smirked.

Shaking her head, Kara did as she was instructed and performed a very half-hearted cartwheel in the middle of the room. Victoire and Brianna couldn't stop laughing when halfway through she toppled over on herself, limbs flying everywhere.

"Alright, laugh all you want," Kara said, sitting back down. "But I'd like to see one of you try that."

"You'll have to dare us first," Victoire sang, still laughing.

They continued to play well into the evening, but eventually Brianna had to turn in and get some sleep. She was going home for the Easter holidays – her father was getting out of prison – and she needed to at least have gotten some sleep before morning.

VvVvVvVvVvV

The next day, after Brianna had left and Kara went to the library to return some books she'd checked out for a Muggle Studies assignment, Victoire headed to the greenhouse to check on her Spiky Bush.

"Victoire," Professor Longbottom said in surprise when she entered the glass room. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"You are?" Victoire frowned in confusion. Wasn't she supposed to be here, because of the project?

"Well you haven't been down to check on your plant in three days," Professor Longbottom pointed out. "I was starting to wonder if you'd forgotten about your poor Spiky Bush."

"Oh," Victoire said in surprise, not having realized it had been three whole days. "Well I've been busy. I'm sure my plant is fine."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Professor Longbottom warned. "Victoire, I'm concerned. You were doing so well. What happened?"

"I don't know," Victoire shrugged. "I guess I just have a lot on my plate. This isn't the only class I'm taking after all."

Professor Longbottom nodded sadly. "Well I hope you make this project a priority again," he said. "Because you have a lot of potential and I'd hate to see it squandered."

"Right…" Victoire agreed uncomfortably as her Professor crossed into the adjacent greenhouse.

Victoire approached her station and considered her plant. It didn't look too bad. It was slightly discolored and it looked like some of the leaves were withering. She'd left it without water just a tad too long. No matter, Victoire thought to herself. I'll just give it four times as much water today to make up for the days I wasn't here.

Victoire sloppily measured out twelve tablespoons of water into a bucket and then poured the water onto the plant. Instead of absorbing straight up, instead the water floated above the soil. It'll be fine, Victoire assured herself. It'll absorb eventually.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Later that night, Victoire found herself laying on the couch with her head resting on Teddy's chest. He was practicing his non-verbal protection spell on himself and Victoire while Victoire read a chapter in her transfiguration textbook.

"Hey Teddy?" Victoire asked suddenly, closing her book and pulling herself up so that she was facing him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything," Teddy said, turning his attention to his girlfriend.

Victoire glanced around the common room self-consciously, making sure nobody was listening before continuing.

"I was just wondering… are you happy? You know, with where we are?" she asked.

Teddy frowned. "Of course," he said, unsure what Victoire was trying to get at. "Why? What do you mean exactly?"

"Well it's just, I was talking to Brianna and I guess it just got me thinking about things. And well… you know..." Victoire trailed off uncomfortably.

"Victoire you're gonna have to give me a little more to work with here," Teddy urged her. "I have no idea where you're going with this."

Victoire took a deep breath and plunged right into the deep end. "All we've done so far is kiss," she said in a rush. "And while I'm happy going at this pace and I'm not really ready to go any further right now, Brianna says that you are. I mean you are older than me and you have a lot more experience than me and you probably want to do more."

Teddy reached over and took Victoire's hand. "Okay, first of all, I'm definitely so happy with where we are. Just because I'm older doesn't mean I necessarily want to do more right away. I don't want to rush things any more than you do," he said. "And as for my experience level, I think you're giving me too much credit. I only ever had one girlfriend before you, and honestly? We didn't get very far before we broke up. Things never felt right with her."

"But Brianna says – "

"Okay, you seriously need to stop listening to everything Brianna says," Teddy interjected. "Brianna does not know everything. I know she presents herself to you and Kara as some kind of expert on boys or relationships or whatever, but I guarantee you, she does not know everything. And she knows absolutely nothing about our relationship."

"So…" Victoire hesitated. "So you're good with where we are?"

"Yes," Teddy said emphatically. "Victoire I have you. That's more than I could ever have hoped for."

Without thinking, Teddy leaned forward and broke their unspoken rule about kissing in the middle of the common room. Victoire didn't care though. She kissed back with equal passion and then settled back into his arms, her head resting on his chest once more.

"Hey Teddy?" she asked, another thought popping into her head. "Do you have any tattoos?"

"No," Teddy replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Victoire smiled to herself. "Just curious."

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey Teddy," Billy asked one afternoon while he, Teddy, Kara, and Victoire were studying together in the library. "Do you think if I became an Animagus, your grandmother would let me skip the exam?"

"Billy, do you realize how difficult it is to become an Animagus?" Teddy asked.

"Sure," Billy allowed. "But I could put all the energy that I put into studying into becoming an Animagus, since I wouldn't have to write the exam."

"Why would you –? Billy, becoming an Animagus is going to be ten times harder than sitting a sixth year transfiguration exam," Teddy rolled his eyes.

"But I'm pretty good at human transformation. It's conjuring I can't get a hold of," Billy explained.

"Billy you're not going to become an Animagus in the next two months!" Teddy cried in exasperation. "I guarantee you have a better chance learning to conjure than learning to turn yourself into an animal at will."

"But I – "

"Seriously Billy, it takes years for people to become Animagi," Teddy cut his friend off. "This is not a realistic expectation for yourself."

"But just say I could become an Animagus in two months," Billy suggested.

Teddy sighed. "No Billy," he declared. "I do not think my grandmother would exempt you from the exams. She might give you extra credit, but even that's a pretty slim chance."

"Frogspawn," Billy cursed to himself.

"Sorry," Teddy said, shaking his head and exchanging an exasperated look with Victoire. "Looks like you're going to have to learn to conjure."

Victoire chuckled as Billy started trying to conjure a needle. The more he tried, the redder his face got, until finally Victoire laughed out loud.

"Sorry," Victoire apologized immediately. "You just looked so funny, trying so hard."

Billy grumbled unhappily. "I'd like to see you try," he challenged.

"We haven't even covered vanishing yet," Victoire protested. "There's no way I could do a conjuring spell."

"So you admit that it's difficult?" Billy demanded.

"I never said it wasn't," Victoire replied. "Only that you looked funny. And you did."

"She's right," Kara agreed. "You did look funny."

Billy harrumphed. "Well I'm sure you look funny when you're trying to do a spell you can't do."

"Never like that," Victoire shook her head.

"Actually…" Teddy said hesitantly.

"Excuse me?" Victoire demanded.

"Nothing," Teddy said immediately. "Just sometimes… when you're trying really hard to get a spell working… well you hold your breath and your face turns a little blue."

Billy burst out laughing and Victoire felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"It does not!" Victoire exclaimed, affronted. "Take it back!"

"I can't take it back," Teddy exclaimed. "It's true!"

"I can't believe you would say that!" Victoire cried, pushing her chair back and standing up. "Thanks a lot, Teddy."

She ran towards the back of the library and into an empty aisle to escape the laughter. It was one thing to laugh about Billy, who had done the funny thing right in front of them all. It was another thing for her boyfriend to announce to her friends that she also looked ridiculous when performing spells.

Moments later, Teddy rounded the corner and walked over to Victoire. Not caring to hear his apology, she crossed her arms across her chest and turned her back to him.

"Oh come on Victoire, don't be like that," Teddy said.

"Just go back to your studying," Victoire ordered. "There's nothing you can say here to make things better."

"Look, you're overreacting," Teddy said.

"Oh am I?" Victoire demanded, spinning around angrily. "It's an overreaction to be upset when my boyfriend tells me I'm ridiculous?"

"Okay, I never said you were ridiculous," Teddy said slowly.

"You told everyone that when I can't get a spell right I go blue in the face!" Victoire cried.

"Well you do," Teddy said honestly.

Victoire turned her back on Teddy as her face heated up once again. "Stop saying that," Victoire insisted.

"Victoire look, it's not a bad thing," Teddy said, reaching forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's just a thing that happens. Actually, I think it's quite cute when you concentrate that hard on a spell."

"You do?" Victoire asked, turning around so she was facing Teddy again.

"Yeah," Teddy admitted.

Victoire felt herself soften. "Well when you say it like that…" she trailed off, a smile forcing its way onto her face. She leaned forward and kissed Teddy, softly at first and then deeper, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her.

"Oh!" a voice startled them, causing them to spring apart.

"Dominique?" Victoire cried in surprise.

"Victoire!" Dominique said uncomfortably. "I was just… you know, passing by."

"Dominique, we should talk about this," Victoire said. She couldn't have her little sister blabbing to maman and papa about this. She wasn't ready just yet for them to know anything. Let alone the rest of the family.

"I don't think there's anything to talk about really," Dominique said, desperate to get away. "Obviously you're just looking for a book in the library. There's nothing strange about that."

"Dominique come on," Victoire insisted. "We all know what you saw, so let's just have an adult conversation about it."

"I'm twelve," Dominique frowned. "And you're fourteen. The only adult here is Teddy, and he's barely an adult at that."

"I'm practically fifteen thank you very much," Victoire said. "And you're practically thirteen, which makes you practically a teenager, which makes you old enough to have this conversation."

Dominique sighed. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about what you just saw," Victoire said.

"I told you," Dominique repeated. "I didn't see anything."

"Okay," Victoire said, shaking her head to clear her jumbled thoughts. "Obviously you're in shock, so maybe we just need to take a minute for you to process – "

"I'm not in shock," Dominique interjected. "Look, if you're going to make me talk about it… I already know."

Victoire frowned. "You already know what?" she asked.

"I already know about you and Teddy," Dominique shrugged.

"You already know what about me and Teddy?" Victoire asked, needing to hear Dominique say it.

"I know you're together or whatever," Dominique finally said. "I mean, I don't know much obviously, but I saw you kissing in the corridor back in February."

"And you didn't say anything?" Victoire demanded. How could her sister have known all this time without her knowing about it?

Dominique shrugged. "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."

Victoire nodded. "So you're not… freaked out?"

"I was at first," Dominique admitted. "But I've had a lot of time to think about it. If you guys are happy, then that's what's important, right?"

"Thank you Dominique, that's very mature of you," Teddy said, speaking for the first time since Dominique's appearance.

"Have you told anyone?" Victoire asked.

"If you mean from the family, then no," Dominique shook her head. "But I told Brooke and Tom and Miles."

"Do you think they would tell anyone?" Victoire asked nervously.

"I doubt it," Dominique shook her head. "The other second years don't want to hear gossip about random fourth and sixth years. They want to talk about people they actually know."

"Okay," Victoire said. "Well can we just keep it quiet for now, please? We aren't ready for the family to know yet."

"Sure," Dominique shrugged. "But you are going to tell them eventually, right?"

"Of course," Victoire assured her. "Just not until we're ready to field all their questions. I mean, maman and papa will be bad enough, but we're going to have to deal with Uncle George making jokes, and Uncle Percy's probably going to be all disapproving. And Merlin only knows what Uncle Harry's going to say. He's practically Teddy's father."

"My lips are sealed," Dominque assured them both, miming zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

"Thanks Domi," Victoire said.

Once Dominique had moved on, Victoire felt herself deflating and she reached her hand out to steady herself as she started to sway.

"I can't believe that just happened," she said, still in shock herself.

"It was bound to happen eventually," Teddy said. "It's not like we're exactly hiding our relationship."

Victoire frowned. "Would you have preferred that we'd been more discreet?" she asked.

"Not at all!" Teddy said in a rush. "Victoire, I would have no problem telling the world that we're together. I would love nothing more than to have everyone at Hogwarts know. But I also have no problem keeping things quiet until you're ready to tell your parents."

"I'm not ashamed or embarrassed or anything," Victoire said, suddenly feeling bad for being the one who didn't want people knowing. "I'm just not ready for all the questions and comments."

"I completely understand," Teddy said, wrapping Victoire in a hug. "Look, whenever you're ready, I'll be ready. I'm in no rush, but when the time comes, I will happily look every member of our family in the eye and tell them the truth."

"And what's that?" Victoire asked.

"That you're amazing," Teddy replied. "And that we care about each other. And that I want to be with you no matter what anyone might think."

VvVvVvVvVvV

Soon, the Easter holidays came to a close and Brianna returned to school.

"Good to see you," Victoire greeted her when she joined the group in the Great Hall for the end-of-holiday feast.

"You too," Brianna said.

"Did you have a good holiday?" Victoire asked. She didn't want to ask about Brianna's dad outright, because they were in the middle of the Great Hall.

"Yeah," Brianna smiled as she loaded her plate with more food than Victoire had ever seen her eat. "It was a really good holiday."

"I'm glad," Victoire said.

"We're really happy for you and your family," Kara added.

"Thanks," Brianna said. "And listen, if I've been mean or rude these past months…"

"Don't even worry about it," Kara waved the comment away.

"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "It's all in the past now anyway."

"You guys are the best," Brianna said happily, digging into her dinner with gusto.