Teddy Remus Lupin was a confused young man. Arguably the most beautiful girl he had ever met—Victoire Weasley—was snogging him on the Hogwarts Express. He had come to drop off his cousins and to return a book he'd borrowed from Vic—she, in turn, took his appearance to mean something much different.

She had been at it all summer—Quidditch cups, broom closets, pulling Teddy aside and stealing kisses. To her, it was a game: how far could she go before Teddy would finally admit that he just wasn't all that interested in girls? Victoire wasn't an idiot—she knew how boys stared at her. Part of the reason she and Teddy were such good friends was because he didn't. He treated her like a real, honest person and not something to be ogled at. Teddy claimed this was because he was a kind and honest man who wasn't interested in lusting after people. Vic knew this wasn't true: Teddy was anything but honest, and he had no problem with lust—he just couldn't bring himself to lust after her.

She had first caught on when he was fifteen—she had barely started Hogwarts, but she was smart enough to realize that Teddy looked at boys the same way that she did. First was at a Quidditch match, when she caught the boy spending an awfully long time staring at a pair of calves.

"They're strong, that's all," he had remarked off-handedly. "I'd be interested in his workout routine."

Next was when she saw his room at his Gran's for the first time: some teenage boys had posters of hot witches plastered on their walls. Teddy, who slept in his mother's old room, claimed he couldn't get her posters of male rock stars off.

"Probably the same charm that kept cousin Sirius' posters on the walls of his room, Vic," he had explained. The young girl had not been convinced.

Then, of course, Victoire caught Teddy staring at her crush: Alex Wood, Gryffindor's Keeper. She had been jealous for a minute, but clever as she was, Victoire had an inkling that Alex wouldn't be all that into her.

"We're friends, Vic," Teddy had told her last week. "We meet up to discuss Quidditch—that's it, really," the boy insisted. Victoire was unconvinced that a Gryffindor would share Quidditch secrets with a former beater from Hufflepuff, but she pretended to buy it. Days before, she had caught Teddy ogling a letter Alex had sent him. Teddy didn't really have a retort planned, so he grumbled and muttered something under his breath.

Victoire was about to go off to school, and she knew this would be her last chance for a while to get Teddy to see 'straight.' When Teddy had come to deliver her book, she planted one on. Teddy was shocked but she could have sworn he rolled his eyes, as he had been getting used to this.

"TEDDY!"

Victoire nearly yelped, but Teddy managed to move first. He broke off the kiss and stared at a rather shocked looking James.

"James, I can explain—"

"You've come to see her off! You're in love!" he grinned. Teddy sighed, and Victoire knew that this time she might have messed up. Teddy gave her a pained expression.

"Yes, James, fine, I went to go see her off," he muttered. "Now can you go away?"

"But Teddy—"

"Vanish," he said curtly. James, eager as ever, ran off the train—likely to go back and tell his parents what he saw. Teddy just sort of stood there for a moment, and Victoire couldn't tell what he was feeling. Teddy's chair changed based on his emotions, which were generally either happy, mischievous, or agitated. This time, there was nothing. Victoire hadn't seen this emotion before, and frankly neither had Teddy.

"Teddy…" she trailed off, looking around to see all sorts of faces staring. They were pretty famous, as far as children went, and made a scene most places they went (which only added to it all). Teddy felt their glares and suddenly shifted his expression. He enjoyed people gossiping about him, but it had to be on his own terms. He also had a reputation to protect—Marauder's son, prankster, happy-go-lucky kid—most of the time. Looking glum on a train wouldn't do, so the boy grinned.

"Well, better be off! Have fun at school, Vic," he cooed, backing away from her. Victoire didn't smile. She knew what he was doing—he very rarely talked his feelings or anything real with her—that was reserved for Harry and James.

"Teddy, wait," she said at last. "We have to talk—"

"Later, my love!" he exclaimed happily. But while he smiled and looked cheerful, his eyes were a steely amber, causing Victoire to gulp. Teddy was using all his strength not to look angry with her. The metamorphagus dashed off the train and over to his godparents, who looked at him shocked and amazed, giving him hugs and patting him on the back. Suddenly, Victoire felt horrible. Teddy was going to have to explain to the family—the whole family, no doubt—and she wouldn't be able to be there for him. What was he going to say, anyway? Victoire took her seat in her compartment and imagined a couple of great conversation snippets.

"I don't actually like Victoire, Fleur. She's not my type."

"No, Harry, I just kissed her for fun. It's no big deal."

"Gran, I'm not dating anyone. It was just a joke."

"Bill, quit yelling at me! I didn't hurt her!"

It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about the lies he would have to tell just to keep his secret safe—or, conversely, maybe he would finally tell everyone. While Victoire wanted the boy to feel comfortable and honest with himself, she couldn't stand the fact that her actions may have caused him to have to reveal his feelings to the whole family. The Weasley-Potter clan was incredibly…overbearing. It would be a terrible way to come out. No, Victoire had just wanted Teddy to come to his senses. But the fact that he was so angry with her meant that he already had, and she had just been making things worse.

Vic's pouting in the corner was eventually cut off by a knock on the glass compartment door. She quickly tried to bat some of the tears forming in her eyes but couldn't contain her shock when she the strong Keeper for the Quidditch team looking at her. He looked his father very much, she had been told—dark brown hair, brown eyes, bit of a lilt when he spoke—and Quidditch was everything to him. Victoire knew nothing about the sport, so why would he be coming in to see her?

"Victoire, could I come in?"

Snapping out of her trance, Victoire nodded. Alex walked in slowly and took a seat across from the beautiful girl. A year ago, Victoire would have been overjoyed that Alex wanted to talk to her. As it stood, all she felt was regret.

"What's up, Alex?" She asked innocently.

"Er…How do I put this…" Alex sighed. He clearly didn't know where to start. "Are you and Teddy…dating?" He asked. And there it was, Victoire thought: the unmistakable pang of jealousy. Victoire shook her head vigorously.

"No, Alex, I…I shouldn't have kissed him. It was a joke," she explained. Alex looked confused, but relieved.

"Why would you mess with him like that?" He asked. It wasn't meant to sound like an accusation, but Victoire could feel the bitterness in the boy's voice. He didn't want her hurting Teddy—something she wasn't a big fan of either. The train began to leave the station, and Victoire glanced back once more at her family and Teddy waving to the train.

"Because I thought he needed it—look, Alex, I shouldn't be telling you—"

"Teddy and I...were together, for a time. In May," Alex said plainly and quietly—you never knew who was listening. "We tried seeing each other, but he wouldn't come out to his family. I offered to give him time, but he said he would never date me publicly, so I ended things—I don't want to be some secret fling. I'm fine with who I am. It's not my fault that he isn't."

That was certainly not what Victoire had been expecting to hear. Alex gave her a soft smile.

"I think I get what you were trying to do—at first I was jealous," he admitted. "Objectively you are the most beautiful girl in the school, and I thought Teddy wanted you—"

"I'm not his type—clearly," Victoire completed, feeling a bit better. Alex wasn't mad. If anything, he had been trying to do the same thing as her. But if they had ended things early in the summer, that meant…Victoire's eyes grew wide.

"What is it?" Alex asked, looking a bit concerned. "Is it about Teddy?" He asked. Victoire shook her head.

"No, it's about what I've been doing to him all summer. I've been a horrible friend."

As the Hogwarts Express rolled away, Teddy felt a pang of sadness. He had wanted to see Alex—and now the boy probably thought Teddy was two-timing him or something.

No, not two-timing. You have to be together to that that, he thought bitterly.

Teddy knew he was gay—he wasn't an idiot, he was just a good liar. Snogs with Victoire had been the least enjoyable part of his summer. Now, the whole school would be talking about them and Teddy would never get the chance to come out to his friends and family. Not that he wanted to, anyway. He wasn't sure how he would react.

Teddy knew what his family would say—Harry and Ginny would be proud, Al and Lily supportive, James a bit git-like but ultimately more concerned with the happiness of his Keeper. Gran wouldn't mind one bit and his grandpa would be just fine with it all. But Teddy didn't do 'real,' which was his coping mechanism for not having to deal with the myriad of emotions that fluttered inside of him on any given day. The boy was incredibly conflicted. He adored Alex, and it wasn't that he didn't want to be with him…it was that he couldn't imagine Alex wanting to be with him. Teddy was a ticking time bomb, trying his best to keep everything he felt under wraps—of course, around the full moon, his temper went to extremes: a sort of lingering effect of having a werewolf for a father. Despite easing sentiments and the entrance of the wizarding world into the 21st century, Teddy was still, even by wizarding standards, a freak, and he would never be able to go anywhere without getting some sorts of stares—the connections people made to his parents, his absurdly famous godfather, his changing hair, the giant pack of red-heads... It was a lot to bring someone into who wasn't used to it. The irony of this was not lost on Teddy—he viewed himself as mildly dangerous, a bit too old for Alex (three years his senior: a big deal when you're younger), and a bit too…much. It reeked of 'too old, too poor, too dangerous' and he knew it. But if he kept being gay under wraps, he could keep Alex away from it all. And it was worth denying that part of himself for the safety of someone he cared for.

"You're awfully quiet for someone who just got caught snogging my niece," Ginny smirked at Teddy. "You're never quiet—what's going on?"

"It's…complicated," he admitted. Complicated, he thought to himself. That's one word for it.