~Teddy's POV~
A month had passed since Vic had forgiven me, but I was still being extra nice to compensate for my previous rudeness.
Classes were harder than ever, but having my best mate with me made them almost bearable. Victoire was still dating that bloke, Shrouttus. I liked to call him pug face, because he often scrunched up his nose when he was confused and it made him look like a dog. Every time I saw the kid all I wanted to do was go knock some sense into him, preferable with one of my fists, until he promised to treat Vic with the respect and to stop staring at other girls. But I didn't, because (like I said) I was trying to be good.
I knew that Victoire wasn't happy about her relationship with Landon, but she never said much about it to me. I didn't blame her, the boy spent his whole time either snogging Vic or ignoring her for his friends. There wasn't much to say. Shrouttus had even ditched her at the first trip to Hogsmeade for his stupid Hufflepuff friends, saying he'd catch her later. Which he never did, for the record. I guess Hufflepuff loyalty doesn't extend beyond fellow house members.
For the most part, I tried to ignore their relationship. I told myself that it wasn't my place place to interfere, and I HAD promised Vic that I would lay low. But she always worried about how she looked around Shrouttus, which of course drove me mad, and I couldn't come up with any valid reason to not interfere besides her explicit wishes.
One night, we were wandering around the basement a little while after dinner, and Vic asked me a rather startling question.
"Ted, have you ever… been with a woman?" she looked at me carefully as she said this.
I pretended I didn't quite understand, "I'm here with you right now, aren't I?"
"You know what I mean!" she replied in a no-nonsense tone.
"You mean like physically?" She nodded. "No," I replied.
"No?" She looked surprised.
"Never," I said with a straight face despite my discomfort.
"But… you've had girlfriends and they were very beautiful…"
"It's not that I don't want to, but…" I blushed and scratched the back of my head. "First of all, I was fifteen the last time I had a girlfriend, and second, well . . . ever since Harry told me how my dad had waited to have sex before marriage, I decided to follow in his footsteps. Until I find that one girl that's right for me, and marry her, I will remain sexually inactive. I want to wait for her. I just hope she waits for me…" I said.
Victoire was silent for a few minutes. I wasn't sure how she would respond, but I wasn't ashamed of what I told her.
Finally, she said, "That's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard."
I blushed slightly. "You think so? You're the first person to know."
"Teddy, it's beautiful that you want to wait. I admire that about you."
"Well, thanks. Why did you ask me that anyways?" I asked, curious.
Victoire suddenly became very interested in her shoes. I stopped walking and tilted Vic's head up with my hand so that she was forced to look at me.
"Victoire, you are going to have to tell me eventually. You can't keep a secret from me if your life depended on it."
She knew this was true and decided to give up without a fight.
"Well, things with Landon have just moved so fast … and I'm just not comfortable with everything. I mean the kissing is alright, but I'm afraid he will expect more soon. I mean he's my boyfriend!" My heart stopped and my mind went reeling. I honestly did not think I could stop myself from tearing the kid to shreds the next time I saw him.
"Vic! Are you joking with me? You bloody well can and will say no! You're barely sixteen, for Merlin's sake!" I screamed in her face.
"I understand that, Teddy! And honestly, even kissing him makes me feel dirty. It just moved so fast, you know? My first kiss was him, and it wasn't even a nice innocent peck like I'd imagined it," Victoire explained, "He full out snogged me and stole my first kiss!"
"Victoire, why are you dating this scum bag?" I asked incredulously. "He treats you like trash, and you know it!"
"He can be sweet sometimes, …" she stammered.
"Name one sweet thing he has done for you since you guys started dating."
"Well… erm…"
"Exactly," I pointed out. "Victoire, if you don't want to break up with him, I'd be more than happy to do it for you…"
"NO!" she protested, "It's fine; I'd rather have Landon leave this relationship peacefully, not at wand point." I was still boiling with anger, and couldn't say that I agreed, so I said nothing at all.
~Victoire's POV~
After a day or two of mustering up the strength to break up with Landon, I set out to find him and end it for good. I spotted him at his usual seat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall as I walked in for dinner.
Tapping on my boyfriend's shoulder, I asked him if I could talk to him for a minute, privately. His friends hooted and hollered at us as we walked out into the hallway. I rolled my eyes. They were clearly clueless to the fact that Landon was about to be dumped.
I led him into a secluded hallway that was usually empty during dinner, and turned to break the news to him. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by Landon crushing his lips against mine. He grabbed my neck and deepened the kiss, causing me to gasp in surprise, which he took the wrong way and wrapped his other arm around my waist, pulling me close to him. I tried to push him away, but he was too strong. Landon kept kissing me, hard. So hard that I knew for sure my lips would be bruised for weeks. My back and neck hurt from his grasp on them.
"Landon," I tried to say, but his lips were locked so forcefully onto mine that I feared they might bleed.
Then I remembered something that Aunt Hermione had taught me one summer, a self-defense class move that she swore would come in handy one day. Groin, foot, chin, I heard her telling me.
I swiftly pulled my knee up in between Landon's legs, hard. He lurched over and clenched his teeth, smacking his forehead against mine and biting my lip in the process. I cringed but remembered to immediately smack my heel down on his foot. Landon couldn't even retaliate before I had whipped my fist up, prepared to punch him in the face with it. But before I could, he suddenly snatched my wrists and held them together against my chest.
"WHAT THE HELL, WEASLEY?" Landon yelled.
"Landon, you were hurting me!" I argued.
"Who the hell cares?" He responded, much to my surprise. I knew he wasn't a perfect gentleman, but I had never known him to be so cruel.
"You should!" I screamed, trying to wiggle my hands free of his grasp. "I'm your girlfriend!"
"Well, Vic, you sure don't act like it! Merlin, we were only kissing! Sometimes you can be such a prude."
I gasped in surprise and rage. With renewed strength, I yanked my hands free and promptly slapped him hard across the face. Landon's head snapped to the side and he let out a low growl when he turned back to face me. Before I could run away, he shoved me against the stone wall behind me. My head smacked loudly on the stone, leaving me dizzy. He put both of his hands over my wrists again and held them roughly above me.
He kissed me, shoving his tongue into my mouth. I could not stop the tears that trailed down my face. No matter how hard I tried to break free, he was too strong. How could he be in Hufflepuff? I thought in terror. Aren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be nice?
His mouth left mine and started moving down my neck. I was full out crying by now, but I could not find my breath to scream. The only noise I made was a sort of wail when Landon pulled my shirt up and placed his hands on my bare back.
"Stop," I rasped, trying to catch my breath and stifle my sobs. "Stop, please!"
Landon finally let go but only so that he could cover my mouth with his hand. "Tell anyone about this and I'll make your life a living hell." He whispered into my ear. I pushed him away and then could only fall to the ground as he walked away.
I felt my stomach churning and leaned over to vomit on the floor. I felt defeated. My lip was bleeding into my mouth where Landon had bit me; the thick coppery taste was a reminder of my weakness.
Picking myself up off of the cold floor, I sprinted to the Gryffindor tower. I had already decided that my room would be the worst place to go. I knew that two of my roommates had stayed back from dinner, and they would bombard me with questions if I walked in with a bloodied lip and disheveled clothes. By pure instinct I ran directly to Teddy's room and threw myself onto his bed, not caring that it was covered in his clothes.
After spending a few minutes crying into his pillow, I got up and quickly changed into one of Ted's old muggle band t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. They were both too big for me, but I didn't care, because they smelled like Teddy. They smelled like one of the only people that ever made me feel completely safe. I tucked myself into his bed and fell asleep to the soft sound of rain pattering against the roof of Hogwarts.
~Teddy' POV~
Seeing Victoire wearing my clothes and sleeping in my bed made me smile. I was pushing back the hair on her face to kiss her forehead when I noticed her bloody and swollen lip. I stared at her sleeping form and silently cursed the boy that had done that to her. Dark spots clouded my vision as I became filled with a rage so strong I thought I might punch a wall. I clenched my fist in frustration and started to imagine the things I would do to Shrouttus
I stormed out of my room, swearing that I would teach that kid to never lay a finger on Vic again.
An hour later, I returned with a broken nose and a bloodied fist. Pulling out my wand, I charmed my skin to hide the wounds. I quickly changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants almost identical to the ones that Vic wore. Looking down at her, I noticed that she was thrashing about and moaning in her sleep.
Gently shaking her, I whispered, "Vic? Vic, are you okay?" She opened her eyes.
"Teddy?" she replied somewhat anxiously.
"Yes, it's me."
"I was having the worst nightmares," tears gathered in her eyes as she said this.
"Shh, Little one. It's okay," I assured her. I lay down next to her on the bed, pulling her close to me. Vic curled up against my frame and fell asleep in an instant. I, too, was worn out from the day's events and drifted to sleep within seconds.
