Quidditch League

Round 11: This Seems Familiar

Chaser 2: Never Have I Ever

Prompts: 1. (setting) Quidditch Pitch, 2.(dialogue) "You're the worst" / "But you love me anyway), 13. (character) Teddy Lupin

Word Count: 1205

That One Time in the Sky

The sun was just beginning to set over the snow-tipped mountains, casting a glare off the golden quidditch hoops. As Teddy turned into the sun, the glisten on his brow became even more noticeable. A long and arduous quidditch practice session was coming to an end. The action of throwing the quaffle in a myriad of different formations had caused his floppy hair to clump together over his eyes. Teddy looked out over the pitch, to his chasers and keeper working on attack versus defence drills and to his beaters studying the mechanics of the Bludger Backbeat on the surface of the pitch. He also couldn't help but notice the platinum blonde hair of Victoire Weasley watching from the stands with a group of friends. He wiped his brow, making sure to expertly tousle his hair at the same time and puffed out, before pulling his broomstick towards the ground.

"Great session, everyone! Gather round!" Teddy shouted to the rest of his teammates, trying to amplify his voice. He pointed to his seeker, "James, whatever it is you're planning don't even think about it." The first-year scowled and walked shiftily towards where the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was huddled. "That was really great today. I think we have a great chance at beating Ravenclaw on Saturday, now get some rest! We'll have a final tactical discussion tomorrow."

He watched with pride as his team packed up their bats, wrestled the bludgers into their casing and walked towards the changing rooms. They really had improved over the previous months and his doubts over James Potter had completely disappeared; he was a natural with the snitch, just like his dad.

Broomstick in hand, Teddy slowly followed the rest of his team to the changing room, his mind on the conversation he would be having with his players tomorrow when a voice called him back to reality.

"Teddy, hey Teddy, wait up!" Teddy recognised that voice immediately as the blonde-haired beauty he had seen from his vantage point earlier. His hand immediately went to fluff up his long fringe.

"Victoire, hi!" He said as he turned around. She was slightly pink in the cheeks from catching up with him and Teddy couldn't help but notice the sparkle of her blue eyes in the light of the setting sun. She really was beautiful. He was just waiting for the right moment to try and make her his, however, no moment seemed good enough. Or maybe he was just trying to justify not asking her for the fear of rejection.

"Teddy, you ok?" She waved her hands in front of his eyes, pulling him out of his daydream.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine, just tired," he lamely replied back.

"Oh, that's a shame. I was going to see if you wanted to hang out at the pitch for a little longer, it's such a pretty sunset."

"Sure."

"But I thought you said you were tired?" Victoire pursed her lips slightly as she looked puzzled.

"Oh, well. I'm not that tired." He really was making a poor excuse for a conversation. "Anyways, er shall we?" He gestured back towards the pitch and she fell in line with him.

"I watched you practice today," Victoire said as they walked across the field towards the stands.

"I watched you too!" Teddy blurted out in response. Victoire furrowed her eyebrows and frowned at him slightly. "I mean… I saw you in the stands with your friends. I wasn't watching you… I swear."

She laughed, "Ok, whatever you say, weirdo. You're a really good flyer, you know. I don't know how you can stay up there so long, the idea of it freaks me out."

"You mean you've never flown?" Teddy said aghast - flying was one of the most exhilarating experiences he could think of, to think someone he knew had never flown properly.

"Apart from what we had to do in first year flying lessons, no."

"Now that has to change. Come ride passenger with me, you'll love it, I promise."

"Oh, I don't know, Teddy. I'm just not confident on a broom."

"I'll hold onto you, trust me. The sunset looks even nicer from up in the sky," he added as an extra incentive for her, not that she really needed it. She was nodding after the first sentence.

Teddy took Victoire's hand and showed her how best to mount the broom. Once he was certain that she was comfortable he took his seat behind her and kicked off. Her hands gripped the broom so hard her knuckles were turning pale, but Teddy could tell from her slight gasps that she loved the feeling of flying, of being able to view the world from such a different perspective.

After a few minutes of flying around the Hogwarts grounds at a fairly low height Victoire softened, and her body melted into Teddy's, she sighed as she said, "You're right, this is magical. Why would you ever want to come down? Look! You can see the giant squid! That is so cool!"

Teddy smiled as she looked around with the excitement and innocence of a child, and he gently steered the broomstick towards the Black lake so she could see more of the giant squid which inhabited its murky depths.

"Can we go higher?" Victoire asked, turning back to face Teddy with a huge smile on her face. Her smile was irresistible and he started taking the broom higher, almost within line of the smaller mountains surrounding Hogwarts.

"I have an idea. Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Hold on tight!" She grabbed the handle again and Teddy dived downwards into a loop-the-loop. He whooped as she screamed, and then as he pulled out of the maneuver he could see her eyes locked onto something in the distance.

"You're the worst!" she screamed.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," Teddy responded with a teasing tone, but he lowered the altitude of the broomstick anyway.

Victoire grunted in response and carried on looking out over the lands below them. With the dazzling sunset glinting off her platinum hair, and a slight breathlessness Teddy knew that now was the time. It had all been leading up to this.

"So, you'd never flown before? But do you know what I've never done before?" he asked cautiously.

"What?" she replied with genuine intrigue in her voice as she turned to face him.

"I've never kissed anyone whilst on a broom before." With that, he leant in to take her lips on his. He noted the sweet taste of strawberry on her lips, somewhat briefly before the feeling of pure joy kicked in. He smiled into the kiss and could feel her doing the same. He had no idea how long they were there for, suspended in their own little reality above the Black lake. All he knew was he never wanted it to end.

Eventually, Victoire pulled away. She smiled up at him and said, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to do that?" She let go of the broom, ran her fingers through his hair and leant in to kiss him again. Just before their lips met she whispered, "a really long time."