Summer 2019

"Stop it!" Victoire giggled as she swat at Teddy's left hand, which had been resting on his laptop keyboard.

"Hey!" Teddy laughed as he squinted at the laptop screen. "Weasdee," he read.

"What?" Victoire asked, peering over to look at his screen.

"Weasdee," Teddy repeated. "When you hit me and the keyboard, that's what you wrote."

"I didn't hit you," Victoire said, grinning. "Don't be dramatic."

"Weasdee. That's a weird way to write your last name," Teddy continued. "But I like it."

That earned him a light punch on the shoulder.

"Ok, now I hit you," Victoire said.

Teddy winced in mock pain. "Oww."

"Serves you right for poking your elbow against mine and causing my ink to smear," Victoire said, holding her parchment in front of Teddy's face so that he could see the damage. "These are patient charts!"

"Good thing you're a talented healer and can fix anything!"

Victoire rolled her eyes as she pulled out her wand to remove the smeared ink.

The pair settled back into a productive silence, the only sounds filling the room were the clacking of his keyboard and the scratching of her parchment.

But only a few minutes passed before Victoire started tapping the side of Teddy's foot with hers. "Has the orphanage dining table always been this small or are you sliding closer to me?"

"No," Teddy said as he continued to type furiously on his laptop. "The only thing I'm trying to do is finish this thesis so that I can graduate on time."

Victoire looked at Teddy suspiciously before smiling sweetly. "Then nothing will happen if I just do this-" she said, before lightly flicking the side of his laptop. The laptop easily slid across the table in a way that it normally shouldn't, and would have fallen off had Teddy not hastily gotten up and held out a hand to catch its fall.

"You are sliding closer to me," Victoire declared triumphantly. "How'd you make the bottom of your laptop thingy so slippery?"

"Guilty," Teddy shrugged as he placed his laptop back on the table. "Some new wizard wheezes product that George gave me the other day when I was in Diagon Alley."

Victoire raised an eyebrow. "That's a Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product? I know all of George's new offerings, and the only thing that has those slippery properties are…" Victoire suddenly started snickering.

"George gave it to me for free," Teddy shrugged, " I wasn't prowling around the store's adult section or anything like that."

"Oookay," Victoire whistled. "That lubricant has been flying off the shelves! Apparently gives the most amazing sensation during sex. Yet the only thing you could think to do with it was a middling prank to slowly inch your laptop to bump me off the edge of the table?" Victoire laughed.

Teddy glared at Victoire, but the edges of his mouth were tugging upwards. "How'd you know what it was? George has tons of slippery things in his store."

"You said it was new," Victoire said. "Besides, you gave it away by saying you weren't prowling in the adult section even though I hadn't definitively guessed."

"Ugh, me and my big mouth," Teddy groaned.

"Now scooch back over," Victoire said, placing a hand on Teddy's shoulder and giving him a light shove.

"Handsy as ever, I see," Olivia joked as she walked into the room. "Don't mind me, I'm just here to get some juice."

Victoire quickly removed her hand from Teddy's shoulder.

"Don't make fun of her for being so handsy," Teddy said with obvious mock sternness as he looked at Olivia, who was pouring orange juice into a glass cup. "If you keep taking the mickey out of her she'll stop doing it, and I quite like it."

Olivia burst out laughing. "He knows what he wants, this one," she said, sipping her drink as she walked out the door. "Don't have too much fun, you're needed at the reception in an hour!"

Victoire glared at the two of them while she carefully made sure her hands were visible for all to see and decidedly away from any part of Teddy's body.

"By the way, that quill is cute," Olivia added as she peered through the open door, gesturing at Victoire. "You'll have to teach me how to write with one one day."

In the year since Teddy got engaged and then broke off the engagement with Sienna, Teddy and Victoire have slowly rekindled their friendship to the point where things felt like they were back in Hogwarts. They were even studying like old times, bickering and distracting each other so that neither actually managed to get any work done.

But things weren't entirely back to the way they once were. There was still a barrier between them, one that Victoire had erected a year ago after Teddy and Sienna called off their engagement.

Teddy had gone back to his apartment after he and Sienna amicably separated. But instead of going to his flat, he'd walked past his front door to the one next door and knocked. He wasn't quite sure why he did that.

"Teddy?" Victoire said as she opened the door. "If you're here to talk about what happened at the restaurant, I'm not in the mood-"

"I, uh-" Teddy began.

Victoire looked at him expectantly, eyebrows raised.

"I have some news," Teddy said. "Sienna and I have called off our engagement."

Victoire looked stunned at the news.

"We mutually agreed that it was a good thing," Teddy continued after Victoire didn't say anything. "We weren't a good fit, and she agreed that we were rushing things."

"Oh," Victoire said. "I-I'm sorry to hear that."

"No," Teddy said, waving his hand. "It's for the best."

"Still," Victoire said. "You two were together for a while so breaking up must still hurt. Are you okay? When did this happen?"

"Umm, just now actually."

"Just now? Like after you heard everything I just said at the restaurant?"

Teddy nodded.

"Oh Teddy," Victoire said. "I'm sorry if what I said…I didn't mean to…Sienna must be furious, let me go talk to her…"

"It's okay Victoire," Teddy said, placing both hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "I'm fine, really. We're both fine. This breakup has been a while coming," Teddy sighed. "Sienna proposed to me in a desperate bid to keep us together but it didn't work."

"Are you sure," Victoire asked skeptically. "Because all of those things I said-"

"-did not affect anything," Teddy said firmly. "My relationship with Sienna was on the way out already."

Victoire nodded in relief, but her mood quickly changed and she looked at Teddy pensively. "Teddy, why did you come here immediately after breaking up with Sienna?"

"Huh?"

"A normal person would probably want to go home and cry or be by themselves for a while after cutting off an engagement. Why'd you come straight to me?"

"Are you calling me not normal?" Teddy joked.

"I'm being serious, Teddy."

"I dunno," Teddy shrugged. "I was planning on going straight home, but you lived right next door and, well, you're my best friend, so I wanted to update you on my life."

Victoire bit her lower lip and looked deep in thought. "Is that it?"

Teddy scanned Victoire's face and tried to look for clues as to what she was thinking, because he was thoroughly perplexed. "Yeah," he said.

"Okay," Victoire said with a hint of sadness. "Thanks for stopping by. I'm really sorry to hear about what happened, and let me know if I can do anything to support you as your friend."

"About that," Teddy said, steeling his nerves. "Victoire…what you said at the restaurant…"

"No," Victoire interrupted him. "Stop."

"If I knew that you still felt that way I would never have agreed to marry Sienna."

"That's not the point," Victoire said. "Please, let's not-"

"Because I feel the same way. I've regretted that day at Shell Cottage ever since…"

"Please don't say that," Victoire whispered. "It's too late now."

"If we both still have feelings for each other, then it's not too late. We can work things out!"

"Ever since I started crushing on you years and years ago," Victoire said, determinedly avoiding Teddy's eyes, "This is the first time where the only thing I want is to be your best friend. Nothing more."

"Why are you saying these things?" Teddy asked. "I know if we decide to give this another go, we'll face some challenges, but-"

"I've lost you once before," Victoire said. "Losing you wasn't just losing a boyfriend, it was losing my best friend in the whole world. I don't want to go through that again."

"I went through the same thing too," Teddy responded. "I also lost my best friend, do you think that didn't hurt me?"

Victoire looked up at Teddy and met his eyes for the first time. He could see tears starting to well up in the corner of her eyes. He reached out to cup her face in his hands, but Victoire quickly reached up to wipe away her tears before looking away again.

"I guess I'm not like you," Teddy said as he retracted his hand. "I can't separate my feelings for you and box it up and hide it away, pretending it doesn't exist."

"I'm sorry Teddy," Victoire whispered. "Please just…as my best friend, please understand."

Teddy nodded before sighing sadly. "Okay, I'll try to."

"That's all I'm asking for," Victoire said. "Thank you Teddy."

Even though it pained him to do what Victoire asked him to do, Teddy respected her wishes. Victoire was his best friend first and foremost, and if that was all Victoire wanted then he would comply.

It took no time at all for the pair to settle back into a comfortable friendship. Even though they'd been apart for a whole year, things mostly resumed as if nothing had changed - at least, when they had the chance to see each other. But Victoire's duties as a first year resident at St. Mungo's took up most of her time and Teddy didn't see her most weeks apart from a few chance encounters in the hallway.

It was fine for the most part, since Teddy had his final year at uni to care about, and a thesis paper to write.

But every time Teddy and Victoire were able to find time in their busy schedules to meet, Teddy could feel his feelings for her bubbling to the surface again. When they were apart, he was able to mostly concentrate on his work, but when they were together, things were so perfect that Teddy knew that their arrangement couldn't possibly last.

The worst thing was when, a few months later, Teddy began flirting with Victoire, she never pushed back. Sometimes she even joined in and acted like she enjoyed it. It was all very maddening. But thankfully, they were both very busy so Teddy didn't get much of a chance to dwell on it.

Before he knew it, a year had passed by and it was time for the latest crop of kids at Small Miracles to graduate. That's how Teddy and Victoire ended up at the orphanage's dining table that morning, furiously trying to get some last minute work done before the graduation reception.

Teddy had gone back to Ipswich for the weekend to help his grandma with setting up the small event. Victoire finally started getting some free time now that her first year was almost done and offered to tag along and help out. Besides, she hadn't seen Olivia in months - since she had moved back from London to work at the orphanage - and wanted to catch up.

But Olivia wouldn't stop teasing her about how she kept on making googly eyes with Teddy or some other nonsense, like just now when she insinuated that the two of them might be having too much fun in the dining room. Victoire rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I think I've hit a brick wall with this thesis. I think I'm going to head out and help grandma set up the tables or bring out the food or whatever else she needs," Teddy said as he shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes.

"Sounds good," Victoire said as she diligently worked on her patient charts. "I'm just gonna finish this up first, I'll see you in a bit?"

Teddy nodded, "see you!"

The graduation reception went as it always had: a small ceremony followed by a simple lunch. It was nothing special, but Teddy and Victoire had attended it together for as long as they could remember, so restarting the tradition after missing two years was a shared, special feeling.

Olivia, who started working at the orphanage as Andromeda's assistant half a year ago, was obviously also there. Vince had also popped in to support her; the pair going strong now that they had come back from London and away from the stressors of the big city that had been tearing them apart.

Tom and Mia tagged along, the pair having finally officially put a label on their relationship a few months ago and Tom was eager to show Mia around where he'd grown up.

The six of them spent hours that afternoon, sharing stories and catching up.

"That was the most fun I've had in ages," Victoire said as she sat down on the grass behind the orphanage. "We have to remember to meet more often, all of us."

Teddy nodded in agreement.

"We must've talked for hours! The sun is already starting to set," Victoire observed. Teddy sat down next to Victoire and leaned back, putting his hands behind him.

Teddy felt a feeling of nostalgia wash through him as the bedsheets that Olivia had hung out to dry that morning billowed in the wind, the setting sun casting a gorgeous orange hue that made Victoire's hair shine. Teddy couldn't take his eyes off her.

Victoire smiled as she looked ahead at the view of the billowing hills behind the orphanage. "You know, Teddy, if you take a picture it'll last longer."

Teddy grinned as he peeled his eyes off her and gazed off into the distance where Victoire was looking. "I don't need to, I expect to have you around me as long as I can." He scooched closer to where Victoire was sitting and wrapped an arm around her back.

"I've been thinking about this arrangement we have," Teddy sighed.

"I know," Victoire said, leaning into Teddy's shoulder. "I've been thinking too. And it dawned on me how lucky I am to have you in my life Teddy."

Teddy blinked in surprise.

"This is not fair to you. And I'm torturing myself as well for no good reason. I'm done being scared. I'm done running away from my problems. If you'll still have me, Teddy, then I want to do this with you. Properly, I mean." Victoire took in a deep breath, and looked at Teddy hopefully.

She'd finally stopped running.

Teddy smiled and reached out to envelop her in a warm embrace. "I've been waiting a year for you to say that."

"I'm sorry for making you wait," Victoire said. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have found someone like you, willing to put up with my nonsense, and wait a whole year, and I knew that if I waited any longer I'd lose you again," Victoire began, speaking faster and faster.

Teddy placed a hand under her chin and lifted her head so that the pair were staring into each other's eyes.

"You'll never lose me again Twa, I promise," Teddy said.

"Even when we are apart, one way or another we always find our way back together," Victoire smiled.

Teddy leaned in to kiss Victoire, he heard someone squeal behind him and what sounded like Tom saying, "hush, Olivia." But all those distractions flew out of his mind when his lips met hers and he felt her smile into the kiss.


A/N: Story is finally done! I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you've made it all the way to the end, thank you so much and please leave a review!