One Year Later

Summer 2018

Victoire's mind blanked.

She was standing frozen in the hallway in front of her new flat, clutching a moving box in her hands as she stared, wide eyed, at the man standing in front of her.

Victoire saw him first as he stepped out of the unit adjacent to hers, his back facing her as he checked the doorknob to make sure it was locked.

It had been a year since she last saw Teddy, and she didn't know what to do. It wasn't that she didn't miss Teddy and didn't want to see him again (she did), but the way that she ended things was so awkward and unreal, and despite cordially exchanging gifts before he left for California, they hadn't really spoken at all in the past year.

Before Victoire could process what was happening, Teddy turned around and saw her standing in the hallway.

"Victoire," Teddy exclaimed. He looked just as surprised as she was. "It's been...a while," he added awkwardly.

Victoire managed a small nod in his direction. She felt a pang in her chest hearing him call her by her full name. It felt strange to hear her full name coming out of his mouth since he'd usually called her by another name.

"I didn't expect to see you here, are you … visiting someone?" Teddy asked.

Victoire shook her head. "No, I'm moving in today," she mumbled, jerking her head towards her door.

Victoire suddenly recalled a conversation from two years ago, where she learned that Teddy was moving into a flat managed by Mia's mum.

"Of course," Victoire said with dawning realization. "Our friends are such meddlers."

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked.

"Mia," Victoire said simply. "I ran into her at the Ministry the other day, when I was there to drop off my Healer training paperwork, and she said that her folks had a place available to rent. I had forgotten that you also lived here," Victoire trailed off.

"Right," Teddy nodded. "I heard you made it into the Healer training program, I never got a chance to congratulate you," he smiled.

Victoire returned his smile. "Thank you," she said softly.

"And your Hogwarts graduation! I'm sorry I couldn't make it, I…I was still in California…"

"It's okay," Victoire interjected. "I understand." An awkward moment of silence fell between them as Victoire's brain worked overdrive to try and think of something to say.

"Wow, so we're neighbors now," Teddy said, avoiding her eyes and fidgeting nervously.

"Yeah," Victoire said awkwardly.

"Well, you're welcome to stop by anytime and say hi, since we're neighbors. I still live with Tom - he'll be happy to see you. And Sienna swings by frequently, you remember Sienna…"

Victoire felt her body go numb. Of course she remembered Sienna. She heard from her family that Teddy had gotten together with Sienna when they were studying in San Francisco, and things between them seemed to be progressing well.

"I remember her," Victoire began. She forced a small grin and looked at Teddy, "I heard the good news. Congratulations, you two make a great couple."

She hoped she sounded sincere.

Teddy visibly relaxed as he said, "Thanks Victoire." He swung his keys a few times around his index finger before saying, "I gotta run, but it was really great to see you again."

Victoire nodded. "Same here."

Teddy turned to walk towards the stairwell as Victoire quickly entered her flat and shut the door. She leaned with her back against the door and slid down until she was crouching on the ground. She wasn't sure she could manage all the emotions swirling inside of her right now. She was confused and happy and sad and angry all at once.

Confused at herself and these feelings that she still had for Teddy. Happy that Teddy didn't seem to hold her past actions against her and seemed willing to be friends with her again. Sad that Teddy had gotten together with someone else. Angry at Mia for setting this all up and not warning her beforehand.

When Mia found out that she was still looking for a place, she immediately told Victoire that her parents could offer an unbeatable "friend discount," just for her.

Later that evening, Mia owled her, saying that her parents had a 2-bedroom flat in the "perfect" location. True to her word, the rent was unbeatable.

So Victoire had owled Stacy, her roommate at Hogwarts, and the two of them jumped at the opportunity for such a good deal.

It wasn't until she was standing outside the building after signing the lease that she realized she recognized the building. She recalled a faint memory from two years ago, of helping Teddy move his things into the same building.

Victoire reasoned to herself that Teddy might have moved out since then, or at least, his unit was on a different floor and they were unlikely to bump into each other.

Victoire thumped the back of her head against the door. Now she knew why Mia thought the place was in a "perfect" location.

She hadn't counted on running into Teddy so soon after his return to England. He couldn't have been back for more than a few days.

She certainly didn't count on the fact that they'd be neighbors.

She should've known. People were always trying to push her and Teddy together. She had listened to them once, but that relationship failed spectacularly and she had lost her best friend in the process.

Although, now that she and Teddy were neighbors, they'd have more chances to interact and maybe they could at least mend their friendship. After all, the conversation they just had was cordial enough.

After Victoire broke up with Teddy last summer, her seventh year at Hogwarts was a blur. She'd spent most of the time studying hard for her NEWTs, and with no Teddy to distract her, she probably spent the entire year holed up in the library. So her final year at Hogwarts ended up being quite uneventful, although she did end up with Os in all of her core subjects to show for it.

Teddy did write to her at first, he sent a postcard that she received shortly after he left informing her that he'd arrived safely.

Victoire responded, but her letter had either gotten lost in the mail or Teddy had nothing to say in response because she never heard back. After all, all she wrote was "Thanks for letting me know, hope you have a good time," which Victoire now admitted was probably interpreted as a conversation ender.

After that, they said nothing to each other during the course of the past year, and what bits of news she heard about him came through her family or from Tom or Olivia.

Teddy did fly back to England during the American Thanksgiving holidays, but Victoire was still at Hogwarts and wasn't able to see him. When Victoire was home during the Christmas holidays, Harry had informed her that Teddy couldn't come back because they were on the verge of a major breakthrough, and he wanted to be there to see it.

Victoire found out from her family then that Teddy was now in a relationship with Sienna. As much as it hurt her to hear that news, she was happy that Teddy found someone who was at a similar point in life as he was.

Even after a year spent apart, Victoire still steadfastly believed that breaking things off with Teddy was the right call.

Being in a relationship with Teddy not only cost her her boyfriend, it had cost her her best friend and the person who mattered more to her than anyone else in the world. She could mend that friendship, but she knew she could never do anything again that would jeopardize her friendship with Teddy.

She picked up the cardboard box she'd been carrying and opened it up, pulling out the wooden jewelry box that Teddy gave her for her birthday last year. She stopped to examine it for a moment - it was a really pretty box with simple but elegant hand carved patterns along the sides - but she wondered what the three numbers stamped on the bottom meant.

Back at Hogwarts, Victoire sat the box on her dresser and used it to store some of her jewelry. Victoire suddenly recalled the moment when Stacy first noticed the box and commented on how pretty it was. Victoire had handed the box over to Stacy for her to examine. She twirled it around in her hands and caught a glance of the numbers stamped on the bottom, before suddenly looking up at Victoire with an odd expression on her face.

"Was this a gift from Teddy?" Stacy asked, looking at Victoire inquisitively.

"How did you know?" Victoire asked. "Teddy gave it to me just before he left, it was a birthday present."

"Didn't you two already break up then?" Stacy asked.

Victoire nodded slowly. "Yes…but what does that have to do with anything?"

Stacy shrugged. "Nothing really, just glad that the two of you are still close enough to exchange gifts after breaking up," she said as she handed the box back to Victoire.

Victoire was jerked out of her memory by the sound of the door opening and closing. She looked up and saw Stacy walking in, pulling a large trunk behind her.

"Hey Victoire," Stacy said, waving her hands. "I think I did something wrong with the feather-light charm," she said. "I had to drag this up the last flight of stairs after the charm wore off and nothing I tried would make it lightweight again. I had to give up when I heard muggles climbing up the stairs."

"Why didn't you take the lift?" Victoire asked.

"Muggles have lifts?" Stacy asked questioningly. "I thought only the Ministry had those."

"Muggles have them too," Victoire said. "It's those large metal doors by the entrance I showed you earlier. You just press the button and they come and get you."

Stacy was a half-blood but grew up entirely in the wizarding world. The side of her family that lived in Scotland was magical - her aunt had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts alongside Victoire's family - but the Muggle side of her family all resided in China so she was never really exposed to Muggle stuff before, hence the confusion.

"I'll have to check out those lifts next time," Stacy said, tugging at her suitcase and dragging it further into the living room. "But I also need to figure out what I did to my trunk, it'll be bloody inconvenient if I can't use the feather-light charm on it again in the future."

"I'm sure whatever you did to it will wear off after a while," Victoire said reassuringly. "Anyway, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember this?" Victoire said, holding up the wooden jewelry box.

Stacy nodded. "Yeah, it's the jewelry box that Teddy gave you."

"Do you remember what Teddy inscribed on the bottom? Five-two-zero? Last time you saw it, it was almost like you knew what it meant."

Stacy scratched the back of her head anxiously. "I think I do, but if I'm right, I don't think it's my place to tell you-"

"Please," Victoire pleaded. "I thought it might be just some kind of identification number for his homework or something, but if you have an idea of what it might mean, I really want to know."

"I think it might be a secret message in Chinese," Stacy said slowly.

"Chinese? Why would Teddy leave a message in Chinese?"

"Maybe he wanted to tell you something but he wasn't ready to say it out loud yet," Stacy shrugged. "Again, I'm not sure that I have it right, it's just that a lot of things would make sense if my guess is right."

"What does that even mean? What would make sense?" Victoire asked urgently.

"My cousins in China told me about this ages ago but I remembered it because I thought it was cute," Stacy said. "Five-two-zero is slang for 'I love you' in Chinese."

Victoire's eyes went wide. "Teddy loves me?" She asked quickly.

Stacy was quick to wave her hands frantically in front of her Victoire. "It's just a guess, maybe it's all a big coincidence or misunderstanding."

"Yeah, you're probably right. What person would tell someone they love them right after the other person broke up with them?" Victoire said.

"Someone who is way too clingy," Stacy agreed.

Well Teddy wasn't clingy, but that sort of small and subdued gesture was typical of Teddy, Victoire thought silently as she placed the wooden box down.

"I'm going to continue unpacking my room," Victoire said, picking up her things.

"Alright," Stacy responded as she pulled out her wand again. "I'm going to fiddle around with this trunk for a bit to see if I can fix it."


Victoire looked down at her phone and quickened her pace as she walked through the streets of Muggle London.

Tom was ecstatic when he found out that Victoire had found a doctor job in London (doctor-in-training, Victoire had emphasized, but Tom waved her off) and, coupled with Teddy's return as well as Olivia and Vince's move to London, put it upon himself to organize a reunion dinner.

"The four of us haven't been living in the same place since Teddy and Victoire went off to their posh boarding school," Tom had texted the group, along with the address of a pub somewhere in London.

Victoire still wasn't super used to using a phone and was scratching her head as she stared at the map on the screen in front of her. She glanced around at her surroundings, before finally spotting the pub across the street.

She went in and saw Teddy sitting at an empty table with his back facing her and rocking his legs nervously, although no one else had arrived yet.

"Hi Teddy," Victoire yelled over the loud music, walking up to the table and pulling out a chair across from where he was seated.

Teddy looked up from his phone. "Hi Victoire, good to see you," he said, looking a bit relieved.

"Still don't like being the first one to show up and waiting for everyone else by yourself?" Victoire asked casually.

"Still don't like it," Teddy acknowledged. "And I specifically came late too, don't know where everyone is."

"Have you been here before?" Victoire asked.

Teddy nodded his head. "A few times. Tom really likes this place and tries to get me to come every chance he gets, but you know me, this isn't usually my scene."

"You always did prefer good food over drinks, and a quieter ambience over loud places," Victoire agreed. "How is the food here then?"

"The fish and chips aren't bad," Teddy said. "But I could get better and cheaper nearer our flat. I just come to humor Tom every once in a while."

"I think I'll have the fish and chips then, and a beer," Victoire said, glancing over at the bar. A server just then appeared from the kitchen carrying a steaming plate with a small pot pie on it.

"I've been meaning to try their pies," Teddy said, following where Victoire was looking. "Tom said that they were quite good last time he had them."

"That does smell pretty good," Victoire said as the server walked past their table.

"We could split it, you take half my pie and I'll take half your fish and chips."

Victoire raised an eyebrow. "Are you using my fish as an insurance policy in case your pie ends up tasting nasty?"

Teddy grinned. "That's not it, I promise. It's just more fun to split food with someone so that you can try more variety."

"You should probably split it with your girlfriend then," Victoire said, nodding towards the entrance where Sienna just walked in and was glancing around the room. Teddy turned around and gave Sienna a wave.

"Hi babe," Sienna said, giving Teddy a peck on the lips.

"You're late," Teddy muttered.

"Sorry, I got held up at work earlier." She then turned to look at Victoire and reached out her arms to give Victoire a quick embrace. "Victoire! It's good to see you!"

"Likewise," she smiled brightly. "It's been a long time!"

"It certainly has," Sienna said as she sat down in the seat next to Teddy.

"Where do you work?" Victoire asked. "I thought you were still in school?"

"Oh, it's just a summer internship. My dad owns a construction tools company, and he thought it'd be helpful for my resume to have some job experience," Sienna said.

"How was San Francisco? I never got a chance to properly ask the two of you."

"It was nice," Sienna said. "Although Teddy here went on some special fancy track that Watson personally recommended him for. He was out doing his own thing half the time."

"San Francisco is colder than I thought it'd be," Teddy added. "It was foggy and cold all the time, particularly in the summer. I thought California would be sunnier, but we ended up getting London weather, just without the rain."

Sienna laughed. "Yeah you totally did not pack properly for the weather. Watson told us to bring jackets and heavy sweaters."

"It's not my fault the whole world has been indoctrinated by images of sunny California," Teddy retorted.

"So California is cold and Teddy got the professor's recommendation to do special research, got it," Victoire said, smirking.

"Well not all of California is like that," Sienna said. "Just San Francisco."

Victoire suddenly started waving her hand. "Oh look, Olivia and Vince are here!"

"Hey everyone!" Olivia screamed as she ran over to give everyone hugs. "Victoire," she said as she gave Victoire a tight hug. "It's been too long!"

"Yeah, it really has," Victoire said. "But I'm going to be in London permanently now, and by the looks of it, so will you!" Victoire turned to look at Vince. "Hi Vince, how are you?"

"Hi Victoire," Vince waved.

"So what's the story?" Teddy asked the new arrivals. "Why the move to London all of a sudden?"

"My family decided to open a branch of their steak restaurant in London," Vince said. "All the outsiders who come by Ipswich say they love our beef, so my parents and uncles and aunts all thought it'd be worth a shot to give the London market a try."

"Vince had to practically beg everyone for us to come," Olivia said, giving Vince a playful nudge in the side. "His parents had already figured out all the staffing, but they finally agreed to let us come observe the construction and menu design and everything. And once the restaurant opens, we'll be helping out in the kitchen and front of the house."

"It's so great that we're all going to live in the same city again," Teddy said.

"I originally didn't want to come," Olivia sighed. "I'm more of a small town girl, as you all know, playing with the cows and stuff. But Vince here convinced me that all of my friends were here anyway, and that living in the big city will be a great experience."

"She was easier to convince than my parents though," Vince grinned. "Thank goodness the two of you and Tom were here, otherwise I don't think anything I said would've gotten Olivia to budge."

"Yeah, you lot better stick around, otherwise I might have to drag Vince back to Ipswich with me," Olivia said.

"I beg you both to stick around," Vince pleaded.

"Tom!" Teddy interrupted with a yell. Victoire turned to look at the door and saw Tom waving enthusiastically back at the group.

"You organized this whole shin-dig, and yet you're the last one to show up," Teddy said good naturedly as Tom sat down on the remaining empty seat.

"Sorry, I got held up earlier," Tom said vaguely. "The first round of drinks is one me!" Everyone cheered.

As Tom went to the bar to order the drinks, Sienna started striking up a conversation with Victoire. She kept asking her questions about Teddy, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I could never figure out," Sienna began, glancing at Teddy. Teddy was busy animatedly discussing restaurant details with Olivia and Vince and wasn't paying attention to the two of them, so Sienna continued. "Do you know why Teddy doesn't like being the first one at a get-together? I mean, no one likes to awkwardly wait around by themselves, I get it, but he gets particularly annoyed by it. He even goes to things late just to avoid the risk of being there first. But if I show up late to things-" she shook her head.

"Yeah, that's a bit of an annoying quirk of his," Victoire agreed. "But I just think of it this way. Both of us were lucky enough to have our parents around while growing up. But Teddy's an orphan. And although he doesn't show it, the absence of his parents has affected him in many ways. One of those is that he doesn't like the feeling of being alone or abandoned."

Sienna nodded slowly. "Even though he knows we're just running late, not actually abandoning him?"

Victoire shrugged. "He may know that, but he can't help how he feels sometimes. As long as he doesn't yell or scream at you or do anything inappropriate because you're late to something, I would just let it go. Any annoyance he may feel evaporates pretty quickly," Victoire said, gesturing at Teddy, who was now in deep conversation with Vince and Olivia and looked very happy.

"I suppose," Sienna said. "I'll try to keep that in mind, thanks."

Victoire nodded. "Anytime."

Tom came back with a round of drinks for everyone and a basket of fish and chips for Teddy.

"Oh, this is actually for Victoire," Teddy said, pushing the basket over to her. "She said she wanted to try some."

Victoire saw Sienna raise an eyebrow.

"You recommended it," Victoire said. "But then you went off and said you wanted to try the pot pie instead."

Tom laughed. "Pot pie? You didn't tell me that, lemme go place the order."

"It's alright, I'll do it," Teddy said as he stood up. "Does anyone want anything else?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alright, be back in a second."

"How's the restaurant opening coming along?" Victoire asked Vince as she took a small bite out of the fried fish. It wasn't bad.

"Pretty good," Vince said. "I was just telling Teddy, but we think it's going to be ready to open in a few weeks. We wanted to get some people in to try out the menu and everything before we open to the public, and we were hoping you lot could come."

"Of course!" Tom said. "I'm always down for free food."

Vince chuckled. "Bold of you to assume it would be free."

"Of course it was going to be free," Tom said. "We're doing you a favor."

"Yeah, it's free," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "We'll let you guys know the details when the date gets closer."


After healer training started, Victoire quickly saw what remained of her social life evaporating. Although she and Teddy were friendly when they greeted each other in the hallway of their shared building, neither had sought each other out and the two hadn't had a real conversation since that dinner at the pub.

Several weeks after that get together, Victoire received an invitation from Vince for everyone to come beta test their restaurant's menu. The timing worked out in that it landed on the only evening of the week that Victoire was free of St. Mungo's. Victoire showed up at the steakhouse first, which was located in a prominent corner location with busy pedestrian traffic.

"This is a great location," Victoire exclaimed as Olivia greeted her. "It must've cost a fortune to rent this place out."

"Yeah," Olivia said, nodding. "Vince's family spent a ton to snag this place. They said that they needed to get the word of mouth out and a prominent storefront was the way to do so. Still, I think it's a big financial risk. Anyway, enough about that, welcome to our steakhouse! Follow me, we set up a table specially for you!"

Victoire followed Olivia into the restaurant, and pulled out a chair at the table that Olivia led her to.

She was the first one to arrive this time. The table was set for four guests, which when including herself, Teddy, and Tom, meant that the fourth guest was probably Sienna.

"Thank you," Victoire said pleasantly.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Olivia asked.

"Just water for now," Victoire said.

"Alright, I'll be right back!"

As Olivia rushed off to the kitchen, Victoire saw Teddy step into the steakhouse. Victoire was surprised to see that Sienna wasn't with him.

"Teddy, over here!" Victoire waved at him.

Teddy caught Victoire's eye and started walking towards her.

"Hi Victoire," Teddy said. "Looks like it's just the two of us again," he grinned. "I specifically came late too but it seems that everyone else is even later than I am."

"Was Tom always this late to things?" Victoire asked.

"Yeah," Teddy scoffed. "We never knew back when we were younger since we were all already at the orphanage anyway. But out here in the real world, I've found that Tom runs on a completely different time zone than the rest of us."

Victoire and Teddy both laughed.

"Where's Sienna?" Victoire asked hesitantly.

"Oh, she's not coming today," Teddy said. "She couldn't get out of work. But I'm surprised you managed to find time, seeing as your training schedule is so busy."

"Olivia told me that my presence was required, so she was able to work around my training schedule," Victoire said. "But yeah, Healer training is insane."

"Just like you said it would be," Teddy said. "I've hardly seen you all summer and we're neighbors."

"I barely get enough sleep nowadays, much less find time to see you all," Victoire said tiredly.

"I get it," Teddy said. "You gotta put in your dues at the beginning. But after you get through it all, things get better."

"Hopefully," Victoire said.

"Who's the fourth plate for?" Teddy asked, pointing at the table setup.

Victoire shrugged. "I thought it was for Sienna. Maybe they just set the table up for four so that there wasn't an empty seat."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Olivia said, walking up to the table with another young woman. "Here are your waters," she said, passing out four cups of water. "Sorry for the delay, we were still trying to figure out some hiccups in the kitchen."

"No worries," Victoire and Teddy said at the same time.

The young woman standing next to Olivia then greeted the two of them. "Hello, my name is Madison, and I'll be your server for the evening."

"I gotta head back to the kitchen, talk to you two later," Olivia smiled and gave a small wave as she turned around to leave

"Have you had a chance to look at our menu yet?" Madison asked.

"Uhh," Teddy said. "No, I didn't see the menus there," he said, reaching for the stack of menus piled at the center of the table. Victoire also hadn't noticed them.

"That's okay," Madison said. "We have a bit of a reduced menu right now since we're just testing it out to a limited number of people, but I'd like to recommend this sirloin steak for two," Madison pointed her pen at a particular item on the menu. "It also pairs really well with our house cabernet; perfect for a romantic evening."

"Oh, we're not -" Victoire uttered.

"We're just -" Teddy said at the same time as Victoire.

The two of them briefly looked at each other before looking back at Madison.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Madison said, glancing around the table. "This table is set for four, I shouldn't have made assumptions."

"It's ok," Teddy said as Victoire said "no worries."

"I'll give you two a moment to look at the menu and see what you want. I'll also wait for the rest of your party to arrive," Madison said as she turned to leave. "Sorry again for the mix-up earlier."

Victoire scanned the limited menu for a bit, but honestly she didn't know what to pick. They were all steaks and she didn't really know enough about the different kinds of steak to make an informed decision.

"Do you know what any of this means?" Teddy asked, showing Victoire his menu and pointing at the different types of steaks.

Victoire shook her head.

"I think I'll just go with that sirloin they recommended," he continued. "And the cabernet I suppose."

"Trying to make it a romantic evening?" Victoire teased.

Teddy grinned. "Sorry m'lady, but I'm already taken."

Victoire smiled back and nodded. She didn't know why she teased him in the first place, she knew that he had a girlfriend and that his response would probably be something along those lines, leaving her with nothing to say in response.

Thankfully, Tom chose that moment to come into the restaurant, followed by … Mia?

"Tom! And Mia!" Victoire said in surprise and Teddy turned around in his seat to see what Victoire was looking at.

"Mia?" Teddy said, "What are you doing here?"

"Tom, erm, invited me," Mia said, with a slight blush on her cheeks. "He asked me to be his date tonight."

Victoire and Teddy's eyes both widened.

"Do you mind sitting next to Victoire?" Tom asked Ted, gesturing at his seat. "So that Mia and I can take these two seats?"

"Sure," Teddy said, mouth still agape. He stood up and pulled out the chair next to Victoire.

"Since when did you two…you know," Victoire asked. "I didn't see this coming at all!"

Teddy shook his head but a large grin started growing on his face. "How long have you two been keeping this a secret?"

"Not long," Mia said quickly. "Tom confessed to me a week ago, and we've only been on one date since then. We wanted to tell everyone in person and all at once, which is why Tom invited me here."

"When we first met, Mia was just the annoying landlady's daughter, always badgering me about when I would turn in my rent," Tom joked. "But then we got to know each other a bit and she's turned out to be a really fun gal to be around. She makes my life more interesting."

Tom smiled and draped an arm around Mia's shoulder. "We've been hanging around a lot all summer, I'm surprised you didn't notice, Ted."

"I noticed," Teddy said. "But I didn't think-"

"You're just blind to these sorts of things," Victoire grinned.

Madison appeared at the table again and asked if everyone had made a decision.

"I'll have the sirloin and cabernet you recommended earlier, "Teddy said.

"I'll have the same," Victoire grinned.

"I haven't had a chance to look at the menu yet," Tom said, quickly scanning through the menu.

"I'll have what they're having," Mia said to Madison, pointing a thumb in Teddy and Victoire's direction. "You recommended it so it must be good right?"

Madison nodded. "They had us taste test everything on the menu, and I think that the way they make the sirloin is excellent."

Tom nodded, "fine, I'll have that too."

"And how would each of you like your steak cooked?"

"Can the two of us have it cooked rare please?" Teddy asked, gesturing between himself and Victoire.

"That's disgusting," Tom joked, mimicking a gagging sound. "I like my meat cooked, thank you. Medium please."

"I'll have medium rare too," Mia added.

Madison nodded and jotted everything down. "It'll be right out!"

"It's nice to have steak with you again Teddy," Victoire said. "I could never enjoy it with anyone besides you because everyone found my taste in steak doneness to be disgusting."

Teddy and Victoire both had a bit of werewolf blood running through them, and as a side effect, they both had a preference for rarer meat, just like Victoire's dad.

Victoire devoured her meal shortly after it was served. The steak was juicy and tender and cooked just the way she liked it, which was rare because few people outside her dad, siblings, and Teddy understood how she liked her meat.

Teddy heartily agreed with her assessment of the steak's doneness and the two of them held a united front against Tom and Mia, who both insisted that their preference for undercooked meat was off-putting.

Olivia swung by a few times, during which Victoire and Teddy would both profusely compliment her and the chef on the quality of the cooking. Olivia, having already known Victoire and Teddy's steak preferences, emphasized this to the chef, who said that he completely understood how they wanted it cooked.

After they were done eating, the focus of the conversation changed to the topic of Tom and Mia's relationship, with Tom regaling everyone with his account of how he began to see Mia in a different light the more he hung out her, with much eye rolling during Tom's more exaggerated tales.

As far as Victoire knew, Mia would be Tom's first girlfriend and she found the pairing to be unbearably adorable. She hadn't thought about it before today's dinner, but Tom and Mia were a very good match. Both were very sociable, although Tom was more boisterous and animated and loved talking to everyone while Mia was more of an observant type who was able to hone in on a person's interests and connect with people on a more personal level.

Victoire felt that the two personalities complimented each other quite well.

About an hour later, Tom said that he and Mia had plans to see a comedy improv show later that evening, and Teddy said that he had promised Harry that he would babysit his kids. Vince and Olivia had come out as everyone bid their farewells, although before Victoire could think about how she wanted to spend the remainder of her evening, Olivia grabbed her arm and asked if she was free to chat.

"I haven't had a chance to catch up with you in a while and wanted to see how things were going," Olivia said as she glanced at Vince, wordlessly telling him that she wanted to speak with Victoire privately.

Vince nodded at Olivia and gave Victoire a quick smile before excusing himself, saying that he had to go tend to the kitchen.

"Let's go on a quick walk around the block," Olivia said, tugging on Victoire's arm and she led her out into the cool London evening. The pair walked in silence for a while, and Victoire had a feeling that Olivia wanted to say something to her but was trying to figure out how to say it.

After a long period of silence Victoire was about to straight out ask Olivia what she wanted to talk about when Olivia blurted out, "I'm thinking of breaking things off with Vince."

"What?" Victoire exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know it sounds like this is coming out of the blue, but things just haven't been the same since we've come to London. I Vince feels that way too."

Victoire hummed in acknowledgement and waited for Olivia to continue talking.

"Well…things might have been a bit rocky even before we came to London. It really started around the time his family wanted to open a branch of their restaurant here in the city. He begged me to come with him, even though I knew he liked it in Ipswich." Olivia sighed. "Things are expensive here so we're always worried about money, and I feel like he's been so busy with the restaurant that he barely has time to spend it with me."

"It's exhausting," Olivia added dejectedly.

The pair had stopped walking and were standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Olivia stepped towards Victoire and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said. "I know I shouldn't be putting all my problems on your shoulders when you have your own things to deal with, but I don't have any friends in London besides you, Teddy, and Tom, and you're the only girl here I feel comfortable talking about these things with…"

"It's okay," Victoire said. "I always felt that the way Vince convinced you to come to London with him was a bit too pushy. He shouldn't have done that."

"No, he shouldn't have," Olivia agreed. "At the same time though, I know that getting out of Ipswich had always been a dream of his. He always dreamed bigger than I did, and I think it's unfair of me to hold him back like I would."

"Olivia…"

"No, it's true," Olivia said. "Growing up, even now, I never really had any goals or motivations beyond settling down in a nice cottage in the countryside and living a simple life tending to farm animals. I love London, but only to visit. I don't think I'm suited for the big city, you know."

Victoire nodded. "Sounds like the two of you are going down divergent life paths."

"That's the thing though, I think that despite everything Vince has been saying about wanting to come to London, ever since he's arrived I've gotten the feeling that he doesn't fit in well here either. He's been stressed all the time - and at first I thought it was just the stress of the restaurant opening - but he hasn't really made any friends here and he's having trouble adjusting to the fast paced rhythm of city life."

Olivia shook her head.

"But the thing is, when I gently try to prod him about what he thinks of London, he says that everything is great and that he loves it here. I know him too well though, I can tell that he's lying. But he's too proud to say otherwise."

Victoire pondered on this for a moment. "It must be difficult to have to deal with Vince being stubborn like that."

"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just projecting my own insecurities onto him. But then times like tonight…earlier he lost his temper at me for a tiny mistake…I dunno, I just don't think the stresses of this restaurant business or London jives well with his personality," Olivia said, letting out a huge sigh.

"So you're thinking that the best solution now is to just break up with him and return to Ipswich?"

"I don't know," Olivia said. "Our social circle in Ipswich has a large overlap and, looking at how things are going, I'm almost certain that he's going to return at some point. And when he does and I'm also living there, it would be awkward and I don't want that. But at the same time, I don't want to hang around and watch him suffer here."

"If he's not treating you well, you need to talk to him and let him know that what he is doing is inappropriate. At the very least, he should not be taking his frustrations out on you," Victoire said.

"I agree with you, and I'm planning on talking about this with him tonight. But I told him about his temper before, which he never had back home, but he always has excuses. He hasn't hit me or hurt me or anything, but when he raises his voice or criticizes me nonstop, it's just not a nice feeling."

Olivia looked at Victoire with red eyes. She took a few gasps of air and suddenly, tears started flowing down her face. "I thought I was in love with him, Victoire. I don't know what to do…"

Victoire pulled Olivia into a hug and placed a hand on her back.

"Come sleep over at my place tonight. We're overdue for a girl's night anyway, and I can tell you all about how I got over Teddy. Maybe it will help you."

"You've gotten over Teddy?" Olivia looked at Victoire skeptically. "Didn't seem like it the way you kept looking at him at dinner tonight."

"I-I did not!" Victoire said. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw what I saw," Olivia shrugged. "But I'd like to hear how you 'got over' Teddy. I'm sure it'll be enlightening."

Victoire gave Olivia a playful shove. "Shove off," she said.

"Teddy seemed pretty into you tonight as well," Olivia laughed. "I know he's supposedly taken or whatever, but whatever your method of 'getting over' Teddy seems to have improved your relationship with him anyhow, so I'd love to get some pointers."

Victoire narrowed her eyes and shot Olivia a glare, but she just laughed again.

"Thanks for helping me forget my problems for a moment," Olivia said.

"That's what me and my love life are here for," Victoire quipped sardonically. "Come on, let's get you back to the restaurant before they start to wonder if I kidnapped you."


Victoire stood outside a café in central London as she observed what appeared to be office workers streaming outside of the nearby tube station exit across the street. She glanced at her watch. The person she was meeting was running late.

A few days earlier, Victoire unexpectedly received a phone call from Sienna. Victoire's dad had been teaching her how to safely remove the belladonna that had infested the insides of the Shell Cottage's plumbing, so she had missed the call because the magic they'd been performing had probably caused her phone to temporarily malfunction.

When Victoire called her back later in the evening, Sienna asked if she was free to meet her for coffee, which is why she was now standing here, wondering what in the world Sienna had to say that she needed to meet Victoire in person.

"Victoire!"

Victoire spun around and saw Sienna quickly walking up to her.

"Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time this morning. My cat knocked my toast off the table today and I had to clean up the smashed plate from the floor and keep him from getting himself hurt. Leo never does that," she said, referring to her cat. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

"It's okay, I didn't wait long," Victoire said with a smile. "Cats love to get into all sorts of trouble don't they? Let's head in?"

Sienna nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The pair ordered their coffees and settled into chairs facing each other. Victoire looked at Sienna inquisitively but didn't say anything, instead lightly blowing at her coffee to cool it down before taking a small sip.

Sienna rocked her legs nervously for a moment before asking, "I have a favor to ask of you Victoire, if it's okay."

Victoire cocked her head. "What is it?"

"I'll cut to the chase then. It's about Teddy… I … want to propose to him."

Victoire's eyes grew wide. "Wow, thats- I mean… I don't know what to say."

She really didn't know what to say. Victoire felt like this news was coming completely out of left field. She hadn't realized that Teddy's relationship with Sienna had become this serious.

"How about a congrats?" Sienna suggested with a small smile.

"Congrats!" Victoire repeated, returning the smile.

"Thanks," Sienna said, leaning towards Victoire. "That's where the favor comes in. I want your help in executing it."

"My help?" Victoire asked. "Why would you need my help?"

"It's just that, you're one of Teddy's oldest and closest friends. I want you to be there when the proposal happens."

She left a lot of words unsaid, but Victoire fully understood her implication. Sienna wanted Victoire to be there so that Teddy knew that Victoire fully supported Sienna proposing to him. Sienna didn't want Teddy to hesitate on account of his ex-girlfriend.

"What do you want me to do?" Victoire asked.

"I was planning on doing it in the bell tower on campus. There's an amazing view and it's kinda 'our spot' since we spend a lot of time up there," Sienna looked away and blushed.

Victoire took a deep breath but nodded intently, silently urging Sienna to continue.

"Anyways, I want you to help me lead him up there. I'll be waiting there with a ring, but I don't want him to suspect what's going on. I want it to be a surprise, so if you lead him up there, he wouldn't guess a thing."

"How am I supposed to lead him up the bell tower out of the blue-"

"I've got a plan," Sienna interrupted. "You wanna hear it?"

"You're sure you want to do this?" Victoire asked. Sienna and Teddy were both so young, and marriage is a huge step. Had Sienna discussed this with Teddy already? She really fell behind on the Teddy news in the year they were apart…

"One hundred and ten percent," Sienna said. "I wouldn't be asking you if I wasn't sure."

Victoire hesitated for a moment. This was all so sudden, and she felt weird being part of all of this. But Victoire was just Teddy's friend, nothing more, so she was in no position to voice any objection.

"Then I'll help you."