Dominique shut the door behind them and turned the lock with a sharp click, sinking her forehead against the frame for a moment and closing her eyes. Teddy was beside her, so close, his hand on her shoulder.

"Dom," he whispered hoarsely.

She kept her eyes stubbornly shut. The coolness of the door felt so comforting beneath her cheek, which was somehow blazing hot despite the fact that she had spent the last half hour shivering in the frigid cold, first on Lysander's doorstep and now here. All she wanted was to let herself fall asleep and forget this night had happened.

He tried again. "It's Christmas."

Dominique turned to face him, her back to the door. "Yeah. And a bloody happy Christmas to us."

She could tell he was still about as drunk as he had been at The Burrow, and though she could feel the immediate effects of her own intoxication slowly wearing off, she was dizzy and exhausted. But she knew she had to force herself to confront what she had done. "Teddy," she began. "Where's Vic?"

A pained expression twisted his face. "She's back at our place."

"But you came here?"

Teddy shrugged. "We have to deal with this, Dom. I didn't want you to be hurt. I didn't want to let it go or pretend it didn't happen."

"You said it was a mistake," she whispered, training her gaze on his chin, because it was easier at the moment than looking into those soft gray eyes, the eyes that had been her rock and comforted her through so many storms.

"No, Dom, I–" He stopped, shook his head. "You've always been special to me, you know that."

She couldn't withhold a sharp laugh at that. "'Special.' Right. That's real charming." Dominique pushed past him into the flat, hearing Teddy follow into the living room. She stopped in the middle of the room and stared blankly at the empty fireplace. No wood for a fire. Lysander had said he would bring her some more. He said he didn't want her to catch her death of cold. He wasn't going to care about that now.

It was all she could think about.

mWhat about the fireplace.

"Dom." Teddy was there again, beside her, grabbing at her waist and pulling her down beside him on the couch, pressing her close against him. "I mean it. You've been there my whole life. You're funny and charming and warm and…and kind."

"Just say I'm like a sister to you, Teddy." She rolled her eyes. "I get it. That's always been it."

"That's not what I mean." His face was serious, so near hers, hand still fixed on her waist.

She could feel Teddy staring intently at the side of her face, but she kept gazing into the fireplace, empty and dark. No wood for a fire. This was where Lysander first kissed me.

Dominique couldn't tear her eyes away from the hollow space. She thought of his piercing hazel eyes. The way his fingertips had carved a soft line up and down her arm just before his lips met hers. The softness of his tongue as he traced the outline of her lower lip before he had pulled away. He had pulled away forever, it turned out. Something had shifted in that moment. Something had broken between them.

She had kissed him again tonight to see if she could fix it somehow. For a glimmer of a moment on his doorstep, she felt like she had.

Her mind snapped back to the present moment. Teddy was there, right there on the couch next to her. Where she had always hoped he would be, saying the things she had always dreamed of.

"Dom, I felt it too. That's all I'm trying to say." He sighed heavily. "Yeah, it was fucked up and I didn't expect it and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it. But maybe I don't feel that bad."

She shook her head, unable to believe that this conversation was happening. "I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry."

"No." His arm was still around her waist. It wasn't a brotherly embrace, the comfort of an old friend. "I kissed you back, alright, Dom? You know I did. It wasn't just you." With his other hand he tugged at her chin. Then he was kissing her again, hard and fast and demanding. He pushed against her, stroking at her neck, quickly plunging his tongue into her mouth like he had just hours before in the front yard.

What is happening? Her brain tried to process it but couldn't. She had spent years waiting for this moment, hoping with all her might that it could become a reality.

So much fog in her mind.

Even as Teddy's kiss numbed her senses, she thought of her sister. Vic. Things were shattered between them. Had been that way forever. But that didn't change the fact that this was her sister's man in her arms.

And yet Teddy kept kissing her, forcing her mind to shut off, slowly pushing her back to lie on the couch and leaning to rest on top of her, hand slipping beneath the hem of her dress to stroke her thigh.

This is what I want, she told herself. No. What I wanted.

Lysander.

Her mind snapped out of the fog, assaulted by memories of the hundreds of tiny moments in which that irritating, frustrating, incomprehensible man had somehow managed to show her that he cared, to prove with actions if not with his words that he was no longer the boy who had plagued her at Hogwarts.

He had told her she was beautiful, and treated her like he meant it.

She twisted her head away, trying to break off the kiss. "What the bloody hell are we doing?"

His hand still rested on her upper thigh and his hair was mussed. "I told you. I felt it too, Dom. I mean it." He leaned back down, tried to capture her mouth once more.

But she kept him at bay with a hand to his chest. "Why are you here?" she asked him, her voice steady, though her heart was pounding.

"I told you, we had to talk about this." His lips left a trail of fire on her neck, but she pushed at him again, trying to get him to look at her.

"This isn't talking, Ted. You're trying to get as far as you can with me. And then you'll go home to my sister."

His hair shifted several colors as he stared down at her. "That's not fair."

"Maybe not. But what we're doing right now isn't either. Where does she think you are?"

Teddy didn't answer.

"Where." Dom's mouth settled into a firm line.

"She wouldn't even let me come inside," he muttered, pulling away and sitting up, rubbing the back of his neck fiercely with one hand.

Dom stared up at the ceiling, afraid to move, feeling her dress rumpled around her upper thighs. Exposed. Afraid. Not what love felt like. She could hardly even think to form the words. "Second best," she finally bit out.

"What?"

"Nothing." She turned her head and stared into the empty, dark fireplace. emNo wood for a fire/em. "You have to go. We can never talk about this again."

He bit his lip but nodded, slowly. "Okay."

"Tell Vic I love her. Tell her you love her. We'll be okay. We're family." She had to be the strong one, it seemed, though she was breaking inside.

"Bye, Dom." Teddy leaned over, kissed her forehead.

She didn't answer. She laid there on the couch as he let himself out. "Happy Christmas," she whispered, into the dark.