Ted's POV

That night, once Vic and I had returned to Hogwarts after our visit to The Burrow, we both sat quietly in the Gryffindor common room. I was sprawled out on the couch, staring into the fire, while Victoire had her favorite book, Pride & Prejudice, opened in her lap.

I looked over at her from across the couch and let my mind wander for once. She looked so peaceful with her mind lost in a book. I smiled to myself as I watched her brow crease in irritation at something she had read, then smooth out again a few moments later. She had her dirty blonde hair pulled back in a messy low braid. Instead of her usual school uniform, Victoire sported one of my old dark red T-shirts and a pair of loose gray sweatpants. We weren't even close to the same size, at least not anymore. Vic was tall for her age, but I still towered over her at 6 feet and 2 inches, so the shirt easily went over her hips and the sleeves almost touched her elbows. It used to annoy me, how she was always stealing my clothes. I remember sneaking into her room over the summer and taking back all of the clothes she had 'borrowed' during the school year. I'm not sure exactly when I stopped caring. Maybe when I realized how cute she looked in my clothes.

What? I jerked in surprise when I realized what I had just thought. Victoire looking cute? She's my best friend, what the hell is wrong with me? But I knew I was lying to myself. Victoire hadn't been just a friend in a long time. I never realized how important she had become to me, not until that prick Shrouttus had started dating her. Seeing them together had snapped me out of the daydream that I had been living in.

I guess I had always assumed that Vic and I could stay the way we were forever. I hadn't imagined how that would work. How could we stay best friends while we dated other people? It hadn't worked with my past girlfriends, and it definitely hadn't worked with Vic's past boyfriend. I couldn't imagine how it would work if we were both married two different people. We would never be able to stay up late together, watching horror movies, making our own creations in the kitchen, or falling asleep in the common room because we didn't want to leave each other. At the end of this term I would be leaving Hogwarts . . . that meant no Victoire until the holidays.

Victoire shifted in her seat and I quickly averted my gaze back to the flickering fire. Once I was sure she wasn't looking, I turned back to her. She had moved her head forward so her chin rested on her knees drawn up in front of her. She bit her lip and my face immediately flushed as I remembered how soft they had felt against mine.

STOP IT TED! I mentally scolded myself, actually smacking my forehead with my hand to punish myself.

"Uh, Teddy?" Victoire asked me.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to play it cool.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She deadpanned. I looked at her and smiled.

"Do you really want me to answer that, Vic? Prepare yourself for a long list."

She giggled and I chuckled. Then I started laughing even harder when I realized how crazy I must seem to her, slapping myself in the face like that. She took one look at my undoubtedly bright red forehead and bent over in a fit of giggles as well. It felt good to laugh; I hadn't felt this carefree in days.

Someone clearing their throat behind us interrupted our laughter. I turned around and saw the king of pricks himself, Landon Bloody Shrouttus. I wiped the smile off my face and stood up, walking around the couch so I stood between Victoire and her scum of an ex-boyfriend. I stopped when I was a few feet away, standing straight with my shoulders back so that I towered over him even more than usual. With smug satisfaction, I noticed that he still sported a black eye from my brief visit with him before the holidays. I had received multiple detentions for my actions, but the teachers didn't seem too upset to see Landon in the hospital wing for a few days.

"What do you want, Shrouttus? How did you get in here anyways?" I spat, trying to contain my anger.

"Well if you must know, Lupin," he said, emphasizing my name and ignoring my last question, "I came to speak with Victoire."

"Absolutely not!" I practically yelled.

"Why don't we let Victoire decide? This doesn't have anything to do with you, anyways," he told me.

I clenched my fists but turned to Victoire, knowing she would want her say in the matter.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Teddy," she said quietly.

"I just wanted to make it clear, that whatever you thought was going to happen that day in the corridor," Landon said, leaning towards Victoire, "would never happen. I'd rather die then waste my time with a skank like you. And to think you almost gave yourself up willingly. Of all the girl's I'd had that week, you were by far the least pleasant."

Victoire gasped in anger at his insults but stayed where she was, not saying anything.

In one swift motion, I grabbed Landon's arms and locked them behind his back, bringing my mouth up to his ear.

"If you so much as come anywhere near Victoire again," I said in a dangerously low voice, "I will personally tear you apart. Limb," I twisted his arm and he gasped in pain, "by limb. If I hear you have been spreading lies about her, I won't hesitate to rip all 10 of your fingers off, one by one until all that is left are two bloody stubs."

"I'd like to see you try," Landon retorted lamely in a small, unintimidating voice. I twisted his arm even more until he cried out.

"Be careful what you wish for," I said, twisting his arm again until I knew his bone was about to snap, and he was crying openly in pain. When I finally released him, he scurried out of the common room.

I stood where I was, trying to get my anger under control.

Victoire's POV

My arms shivered as I watched Ted twist Landon's arm. I couldn't make out what he was whispering in his ear, but the tone of his voice told me it wasn't pleasant. I had never seen Ted so angry before. His kind face and bright smile had been replaced with a stone set jaw and a fire in his eyes that made me thankful I wasn't on the other side of his wrath. It made him seem much older. He looked . . . like a man. I could only barely see the youthful twinkle in his eye.

"Careful what you wish for," He breathed into Landon's ear. I watched my ex-boyfriend's eyes go wide with terror and then squeeze shut in pain as Ted once again yanked his arm. It seems like an hour had passed before Teddy finally released him, watching him scrambled towards the door.

I slowly let out the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. Staring at Ted with wide eyes, I saw some sort of inner struggle going on in him. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists. I hated seeing him like this; it made me want to put that stupid grin back on his face.

Not knowing what else to do, I got up and walked around the couch towards him. He didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were glazed over in what looked to be anger. No, anger wasn't the right word. The look on his face screamed rage. Pure, terrifying rage, and all I wanted to make it go away.

I took one of his fists and unclenched it with my fingers, watching him slowly come back from whatever dream state he was in. His eyes lost their deadly glare, but his jaw was still set in stone. I used both of my hands to move his up to my face. First I let his fingers trail along my cheek, and when he reached my mouth I lightly kissed his fingertips one by one. I ignored the strange flutters in my stomach as I pressed my lips to the palm of his hand. He stared at his hand.

His mouth was no longer locked shut, but he still wouldn't unclench his other fist. Acting on impulse, I took both of his hands and placed them on my waist, letting them rest on my hips. The warmth of his hands seeped through my shirt and onto my skin, but I tried to forget about that.

Standing up on the tips of my toes, I was now nose to nose with Ted. His eyes remained on mine, unmoving. I rested my hands on his shoulders to keep me balanced. It would be so easy for me to close the gap between us and taste his lips once again, to be sure he had tasted as good as I thought he had. Ted would have probably thrown me off him if I tried, so I didn't. Instead, I stepped onto his feet to make me a tad bit taller. His hands tightened on my hips, holding me up and making me shiver unconsciously. I tilted his head down with my hands and kissed his forehead, erasing the angry creases he had made.

When I pulled back, Ted had his eyes closed and more peaceful look on his strong face.

I tilted my head towards his ear and whispered, "Thank you," willing him to understand that I was thanking him for everything he had done for me over the past couple weeks.

My lip twitched, longing to touch his. Before I could give in to my own desire, I slipped out of his grasp and up the staircase to the fifth year girl's dormitories.

XxXxX

Once I was safely tucked into my bed, I let myself freak out. What was that all about, Vic? You just kissed the hands of Teddy Lupin, one of the hottest boys at Hogwarts and not to mention your childhood best friend! I sighed and smacked my forehead in despair.

It's not like I had never kissed Ted before. I had kissed his cheek more times than I can count over the years. He kisses my forehead almost every time he hugs me, for merlin's sake! But for some reason this time was different. Much more intimate. Ugh what have I done? Way to screw up the one good friendship you have in this world, Victoire!

NO! Not ruined. If I just act like it was no big deal than maybe he will forget about it. He probably won't remember it in the morning, anyways. I smiled to myself; glad I had come up with a plan.

I closed my eyes to sleep but sleep wouldn't come. Instead, I lay awake replaying the scene in my mind, wondering what it would have been like to give in my desire and kiss the only boy I had ever loved.

Ted's POV

Bloody hell.

I was sitting on the couch in the common room, the same place I had been for the last three hours. It was now one o'clock in the morning, but I wasn't tired at all.

I have had girlfriends before, but none of them ever had the effect that Victoire Weasley had on me. There was no way I could act normally around her after tonight. Did she like me? Why else would she have done that? Now why would she like a loser like you, Ted, if she could have any guy in the school?

True. There was no way she liked me as anything more than her friend. All those kisses were just her way of calming me down, when in actuality it did anything but calm me down. Now I couldn't get her out of my head.

I'll see how she acts tomorrow, that will tell me if it meant anything to her or not.

With a sigh, I lied down on the couch, staring at the hand she had kissed, wondering if her skin had reacted to my touch the way mine had to hers.

A/N: YAY FOR ROMANCE… sorta. Ok so I wrote this in a coffee shop and my two friends kept distracting me, so I apologize if this makes zero sense. Please review with suggestions or tips, or just to let me know you read this chapter! LOVE YALL!