Author's note: Someone PMed me for more Teddy and Victoire content, so here you are! Keep the requests coming.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Content Warnings: NA

Holding On Tight

"Need a shot for courage?" Dora asked, her voice a whisper.

"I think I'll be alright," Remus whispered back.

"Do you want one for fun?"

"Why are you trying to get me drunk before I even get to make my speech?" Remus asked.

That was when Riley, one of Teddy's friends from Hogwarts who was acting as master of ceremony for the wedding, finished introducing him.

"Don't forget your flashcards," his wife teased him as Remus got up from his spot.

"You're not helpful," Remus said, though he did check his pocket to make sure that he had his notes ready—just in case he needed them.

The tables had been set up along the beach, on the Black family villa property in France, under a giant canopy decorated with a twinkling rainbow of lights. Remus knew he had to make his speech relatively quick, before the dance floor and coolers full of drink called everyone up to their feet. Still, he took his time when he got to the microphone to find Teddy and Victoire in the crowd, sitting together at a table and nursing flutes of champagne. Teddy smiled at him when they made eye contact, his arm lazily and comfortably wrapped around his now-wife's shoulders. Victoire offered Remus a smile too, looking absolutely radiant in what had once been her mother's wedding gown.

"I know it's been said before, but thank you to everyone for coming out to celebrate Teddy and Victoire today-whether you were here yesterday to set up tables, hem dresses, babysit, or just came at the right time to drink," Remus said. He heard a few laughs in the crowd of wedding guests and someone who sounded suspiciously like Sirius shout out that they would happily drink to that. Remus ignored him.

He turned to look behind him, at the white sheet where Riley was projecting photographs from a Muggle projector and laptop. Remus wasn't sure exactly how the latter worked, but Riley was Muggleborn and they gave Remus a thumbs up as they clicked through the pictures they had lined up. They projected an old photo of Teddy and Victoire, when they were four and five years old, sitting in a blanket fort in their living room and reading a storybook together.

"They say that a wedding is a time to welcome someone into your family, but that isn't quite true for us because Victoire has always been around," Remus said, looking up to find his now daughter-in-law in the crowd. She smiled at him and pushed a lock of blond hair behind her ear. Teddy leaned in and said something in her ear, nuzzling into her hair soon after. Merlin, they were obnoxiously adorable sometimes—especially when Margo was busy doodling on spare wedding programs with Fleur, leaving them with only each other to have and to hold and so on.

"Victoire has been around so long, or perhaps we have, that I remember talking with her grandfather on the day she was born about how her birthday had to be lucky. I remember lots of babysitting, which meant lots of scrambling to try and keep up with all the make-believe games they invented and the trouble they caused," Remus said.

He gestured to Riley, and they clicked over to another picture—this one of Teddy, age seven, carrying Victoire on his back. She had her arms and legs wrapped around Teddy and her eyes were closed because she was laughing in the picture. Teddy's hair that day had been grape purple, to match Victoire's dress.

"This is one of my favourite pictures of the two of them because when they were little, Teddy would carry around Victoire like this all the time," Remus said. "We used to call her our little koala. So yes, I do have a lot of stories to tell about my son and the wonderful woman who is now my daughter, but instead of taking up all of your time with embarrassing or adorable childhood stories I thought I would answer a question I have been getting, which is: when did you realize that they weren't just childhood best friends?"

Riley clicked forwards to another photograph, this one showing Teddy carrying Victoire on his back when they were slightly older—11 and 10, by the looks of it, standing in the shallows at Shell Cottage.

"Frankly, despite all these stories I have to tell, I was as surprised as anybody when Teddy and Victoire slowly drifted into one another and became a pair," Remus said. "It was a little odd, at first, to think of the little girl whose diapers I'd changed as the mother of my grandchild and my son's partner. But it did make sense to me, when I remembered Victoire's last Defence Against the Dark Arts class when she was in her seventh year, since she did give us a clue," Remus said.

He saw Victoire frown in the crowd at his story's turn.

"The class voted on what they would like to do, as a fun last class before taking their NEWTs, and they asked to learn how to cast Patronus charms," Remus went on. "So, we spent a class eating candy and going over the incantation and trying to summon Patronuses, but nobody got more than an incorporeal form at best-which is normal. But Victoire was determined to get it right, and she spent the entire summer after that practising and asking me for extra lessons at family gatherings. And because Victoire is clever and persistent, focused and determined, she got it."

He saw Victoire smile across the room when she realized where he was going, and Remus smiled back.

"Victoire, do you want to show people what your Patronus looks like or should I tell them?" he asked.

Victoire let go of Teddy's hand and reached into a pocket hidden in the folds of her dress and drew her wand—Remus remembered Fleur having that sewn into her wedding gown years ago, "just in case." Victoire looked much happier drawing her wand than Fleur had, back when she'd had to duel at her own wedding. She smoothed down her skirts before pointing her wand in the air.

"Expecto Patronum!" she said loudly and clearly.

The sparkling silvery koala burst from her wand and shuffled across the dance floor before climbing up one of the poles holding up the canopy. There were laughs across the room as people made the connection and as Victoire herself laughed, up until Teddy interrupted her with a kiss.

"To Teddy and Victoire, for always holding on to one another and finding new ways to hold on tight," Remus said.

"Teddy and Victoire!" The crowd toasted as they drank. Remus managed to look away from his son and his bride to find Dora in the crowd. She winked at him and he winked back.

WC: 1142