Chapter 18

- Vows -

"Unbreakable vow. You sure that's what Snape said?" Ron asked for the third time. The three boys sat huddled in the small train compartment. Teddy rested his head on the window, his legs spread out across the long seat.

"Positive." Harry responded. "Why?"

Ron leaned forward in his seat. "It's just, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow."

Teddy let out a small snort and Harry too gave a humorous smile. "Yeah, I think we got all that from the name."

"You don't understand." Ron said seriously and the compartment went quiet. Teddy listened to the rhythmic engine chugging its way along the tracks. "Oh bloody hell." Ron sat up, staring at the compartment door. Lavender was standing on the other side, breathing over the cold glass forming a sort of foggy effect. Then with one short finger she began to trace something on the murky glass.

The process seemed to take forever and Ron put on an unconvincing smile. Harry had begun to pick a hole in his jeans as well as play with the seats. Teddy was still staring at Lavender, looking both both confused and extremely disturbed with one eyebrow raised and his mouth half open in a creeped out fashion.

Finally, Lavender was done and breathed once more on the glass revealing the outline of a large heart with a arrow going through one end and coming out the other. 'R + L' was written inside the heart.

"I miss you." She whispered, her hands held over her heart and she skipped off.

"Lovely." Harry stated awkwardly.

Ron slowly turned back to face the others. Teddy was still staring at the drawing with the same expression. "Ron, I don't know if you've realized, but that ain't normal."

"Oh, really?" Ron said. "Arkie hasn't even done that before?"

Teddy didn't seem to register his sarcasm. "No, and if she did I would be really... REALLY concerned."

Ron rolled his eyes but looked incredibly nervous. "All she wants to do is snog me. My lips are getting chapped, look." He leaned forward to show Harry his chapped lips.

"I'll take your word for it." He said.

Teddy smiled cunningly. "Can't wait for Mrs Weasley to find out." Ron shot him a glare.

"You wouldn't dare!" Teddy leaned his head once more on the glass, staring out the window at the endless snow and bare trees rushing past.

"I think you should be more worried about whether Ginny tells her than me. I won't be joining you till Christmas."

"Right, you're spending Christmas Eve with Arkie and her new parents." Ron finally relaxed slightly, but Harry was staring off, deep in thought. "Nervous?"

"You have no idea." He replied, fiddled with his shoe laces. "What if they hate Werewolves? I mean, we haven't got a good reputation at the moment."

"Who cares? It doesn't matter if they like you or not. Is your dad meeting them too?"

"No. He and Tonks are doing something for the Order."

"Talking about vows, do you recon they'll be saying some, some time soon?" Harry finally joined in.

Teddy gave an uncomfortable glance at him. "No... well, maybe. I think they're still a couple... You know what? This is the last thing I need to have on my mind right now!"

Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to the door where Hermione and Arkie were about to come inside, when Hermione caught sight of Lav's drawing. She ran off and Arkie followed behind empathetically. Ron sighed, the two hadn't talked for weeks and it'd left an awkward gap in their friendship circle.

"So what happens to you?" Harry asked, changing subject. "If you break an Unbreakable Vow?"

Ron shifted in his seat. "You die."

"How's Hermione?"

"Distraught if you ask me." Arkie and Teddy carried their stuff down the busy train station, Arkie was looking through the crowd for her parents. "Honestly, boys can be so blind. No offense." She added.

"I'm not offended, only because I agree."

"Ah, there they are!" She waved to a couple standing at the very edge of the platform. The couple waved back. Both Mr and Mrs Edwards looked very different compared to Arkie. They both had dark complexion, curly midnight hair and brown eyes. They could've been mistaken as brother and sister they were that similar. The only difference was height, while Mrs Edwards was small, Mr Edwards was taller than Teddy.

"Arkie," he said, slowing down a bit. "What if they... don't like me?" He asked. Arkie looked at him understandingly.

"This is about your lycanthropy isn't it? You have nothing to worry about. Dad fights for half-breed rights, it's his job actually."

Finally, they reached them, setting down their luggage.

"How was your term, Arkie?" Mrs Edwards asked. "And the dress that I sent you, did it fit?"

"Term was fine, Mum, and so was the dress." She said with a bright smile. Teddy was happy to see that she already thought of the couple as her family.

He put down his suitcase beside Arkie's. "And she looked stunning in it. You have good taste, Mrs Edwards."

Mr Edward's gaze shifted to Teddy. Teddy tried hiding his worry as the man looked him up and down with a cautious eye. "You must be Tesdon Lupin." He held out his hand which Teddy shook politely.

"Yep, just call me Teddy. It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Please, call me Colin." He said, his expression suddenly brightening. "Arkie told us all about you in her letters over the past few weeks. Is that how long you've been dating?"

Arkie tensed beside him, yet Teddy couldn't fathom why. "Ugh, actually we've been dating for at least two years now."

"Really?" Mr Edwards looked surprised and suddenly Teddy remembered why. Arkie had told him on their way to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year. He specifically remembered her saying, 'I haven't even told them I have a boyfriend'. "Well, I can understand why she didn't tell us sooner." Mr Edwards shrugged, bending down to pick up Teddy's bag. "It's nice to meet you, Teddy."