Coral Port: The romance is building! ;)

On the first of September, Teddy was surrounded by his god-family as they pushed his trolley through the wall to Platform 9 3/4. He felt such a mix of emotions, like a potion made of 5 cloves of excitement, a pinch of loneliness and a whole boatload of nerves. He'd just gotten used to living at the Potters full time, and he was going to miss every one of them so much, as was Lily him- the baby was shrieking with distress as he tried to kiss her goodbye, making him want to cry as well. The large crowd around him, as every member of the clan had wanted to see off the first member of the next generation heading to school, would have been attention grabbing enough were they nobodies, but people were beginning to whisper as they pointed at the celebrities, and he saw a single blinding flash. Harry moved in front of him, bending down to block the camera off and told him in a small voice for none of them, him alone, "these are going to be some of your best years Ted. I was an orphan when I went to Hogwarts- and I didn't have the support network you do so don't you dare neglect us now," he teased. "-But I know you'll meet some of the best people you'll ever know. You'll grow so much as a wizard and a person. And Hogwarts will become another home, but you'll always have ours too." He reached out for a hug, and Teddy happily obliged. He had to run through his other goodbyes rather quicker as the big clock on the platform ticked on, but he deliberately saved time for the last one. People were boarding the train, but he stopped in front of Victoire, her eyes were hard and her expression stoic, but he could see that it was because she was trying not to cry.

"It's only a couple of months," he said, his voice a little hoarse. "I'll be back at Christmas." She snorted, a very un-Victoire like sound, and then a painful sounding noise as a breath caught in her throat, and she blinked several times, sniffing and looking up at the mosaic ceiling with eyes dusted with tears she couldn't kept away. "Then in a year, you can come too," he told her, despite that twelve months ago, he never would have thought saying goodbye to her would mean anything at all. She'd been Little Vicky then- he'd had no issue with her, but they weren't any closer than he was with any of the other Weasleys. How now, did she seem to understand him better than anyone else? Why was the prospect of leaving her here like casting a cruciatus curse on himself?

She jerked forwards with a sudden movement, clasping his hand, and he glanced down at it, then back up to her bright eyes. "Write to me," She ordered. "Everyday. Even ones where you're eating never ending feasts with your new, better friends, or learning how to pet a unicorn togeth-"

"No new person could be better than you," he told her genuinely, and pulled her into a crushing hug, but she pushed his fist shut first, before resting her head on his shoulder.

"All aboard!" Yelled a conductor waving a flag, and he saw that Harry and Ron had lifted his things up onto the train already.

Victoire pushed him away, wiping at her eyes, now clear and dignified again. "If you miss this train and that goodbye was all for nothing Teddy Lupin, I swear to Godric-" he nodded, and with a cheeky salute, hopped up onto the train with his godfather's help, waving them goodbye through the little window in the door as the Express began to pull out of the station, Victoire running along beside it as though a village girl through a field of wheat, until she reached the end of the platform, and for one fearful moment his breath caught and he panicked she would jump off it to follow the track, but instead she opened and closed her fist repeatedly, pointing into it and mouthing something. One palm was against the window, but the other was still clenched shut as she'd pushed it. Teddy stepped back and unfurled it to find a grinning silvery blonde figurine on a broom waving at him, her eyes glittering with life just as Victoire's did. With a smile, he slipped it into his pocket, and moved on down the train.

Of course, by this point most of the compartments were full. But when they saw him, one crowd quickly moved up to make space, as a girl who looked a couple of years older than him burst into action and pulled open the door. "Teddy Lupin?" She didn't wait for his reply. "Rowena's Ribbles! I thought you were just a myth! You're such an inspiration! Would you sit with us and tell us a little about your tragic life?" She asked him as though she were a reporter preparing to take notes. In fact, a few of her friends were pulling quills out of their overhead bags.

He forced a smile at her. "Thank you for the offer, I, uh, look forward to seeing you around school." He moved on, to a crowd of groans, one of the boys using intense sarcasm to berate the girl who'd spoken to him.

"Nice job Mad-eleine! Now he thinks we're too crazy to ever even consider talking to!"

"I wish I was two years younger!" Another lamented as the door shut and he moved on.

It took him a couple of tries, but eventually he found a compartment of mostly muggleborns, none of whom seemed to know who he was, or at least they were doing a good job pretending. He got along quite well with them, even the one Pureblood Abigail Flint- whose father had apparently been Teddy's cousin Draco's Quidditch team captain. He was pretty amiable, and honestly could get along- at a bare minimum- with most people, but his hand kept going to his pocket to stroke the little statue nonetheless.

Hogwarts was just as incredible as everyone had promised it would be. Victoire would love the hundreds of talking portraits- she always told him about the amusing characters in her grand-mère's house and lamented the fact that her home had none. She'd also be a fan of the weather reflecting ceiling in the Great Hall. Just last weekend they'd sat by the window watching the thunderous clouds and summer lightning zip through the sky. She didn't like being in bad weather, but she adored watching it. She hadn't wanted to talk much about Hogwarts, instead pretending it would never happen and he wouldn't actually leave, but when he'd been around her house in the summer, her seven year old sister Dominique had engaged him non stop with theories about how he could be sorted. Victoire had been so annoyed, pushing Dom away despite his polite attempts to engage with her, so the younger sister had started chanting about how Victoire was just upset because she lurvvved him. His best friend had blushed like a rose- she could never be a beetroot, no, that had been him! Then she'd pushed Dom onto the floor and fixed her with a Medusa glare.

None of Dom's theories had been right anyway, Victoire would be glad to know. It wasn't a multiple choice quiz, or a quest, or four large statues that called out if they wanted you- he had no idea where she'd gotten that last one! Instead it was a rather raggedy looking old hat, which proceeded to burst into song, making all the eleven year olds jump out of their skin! The headmistress, a stern looking Scottish woman, called out each of their names in alphabetical order and directed them to sit on a stool. When it was his turn for the hat to be placed on his head, the whole room seemed to go impossibly silent with anticipation and curiosity. Some of them had sat there a while, others only seconds, but the hat hadn't even brushed Teddy's hair when it cried out "HUFFLEPUFF!" To a cacophony of cheers and moans.

"Order!" McGonagall called, and everyone fell quiet again while he went to go sit with Abigail.

Dear Vic,

Teddy wrote on the eve of his first night at Hogwarts, despite the fact that he was drained of energy and his eyes were shutting, ignorant of his best intentions.

It's everything and more. You're going to love it here. You can have practically whatever you like to eat- just name it, it'll magically appear! The stairs are a little tricky to manage- they move around like crazy to try and trick you, and your feet can get stuck in them like glue- plus there's this poltergeist called Peeves flying about trying to cause mischief. I'd better not say anything about the sorting or Harry will have me trampled by a hippogriff for not keeping the secrets, but tell Dom it's good. I got put in Hufflepuff like my mum. Our common room's down by the kitchens, and it's sort of like the badger's sett we're named for, although it's yellow and black like a bumblebee. It's as if the room is alive, it's so filled with cacti and other plants dancing, laughing and waving at us like friends! And it was sunny- even though it was dark by the time we entered- I guess that means it's somehow always bright!

Despite all that, I miss you Vic. It's not perfect without you here,

Teddy xox

The owl they'd bought together in Diagon Alley swooped down to her window, and Victoire leapt up from her homework, snatching the letter. A little nip made her pull out crumble up a chocolate biscuit in her hands for it- the bird food was downstairs and she didn't have time to run down! The owl seemed satisfied anyway, leaving her alone to open her letter. The words were more than enough, but along with them, out tumbled a chocolate frog card; of her French witch actress grand-mère. Sge felt a tear drip down her cheek, but she was smiling too.