Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. I'm not going to dawdle, 'cause I'm sure excited for this chapter. And I don't want the evil squirrels to come and steal the cookies.
Disclaimer: Goodness knows I'm not as smart as JKR.
Chapter 10
Battle Scars and Hidden Trophies- PART DEUX
"You're 'D'," Teddy said.
"Alright. Um… doxy," I replied.
"Erumpent."
"Flobberworm."
"Glumbumble."
"Hippogriff."
"Uh… imp."
"Jobberknoll."
"Kelpie."
The horrendous list went on.
Teddy and I hadn't made any progress in the planning of our escape. Of course, it wasn't so much an escape as a departure. A much needed departure. Merlin, staying in there was draining me of energy and patience. We decided to distract ourselves with a game of ABC Creatures. We eventually realized it was bloody boring and just talked.
I sighed. "Je m'ennuie," I muttered. I was talking to myself, but Teddy heard me.
"What?" He didn't act totally puzzled. He was used to me speaking to myself in French. It was a habit that I picked up from my mother. She tended to do it when she was either worried or flipping out over something. I did it when I was mumbling to myself.
"I'm bored," I explained. "After we get out of here, we need to celebrate. Hogsmeade is tomorrow," I explained.
He confused me when he groaned. "You mean, if we get out of here."
I rolled my eyes. "Stop being so pessimistic, Teddy. It's not like we're stranded. There are people all around us; they just… don't know we're up here. Or they're sleeping. Or they're having a really fun Friday night. Without us." I frowned. "I think I just made myself feel worse."
Teddy laughed a humorless laugh. "Man, I'm hungry." We both were. It had been only an hour since we finished the Bertie Bott's. I kept turning the box upside down again and again, hoping that some beans would miraculously fall out. They didn't.
"Yeah, the dust is starting to look like Droobles from Honeydukes…" I trailed off.
"What I wouldn't give for a sugar quill. This is aggravating!" Teddy pulled on a loose string of his sweatshirt.
Then I laughed loudly. "Look at us, Ted. We're acting like we haven't eaten in weeks. Lunch was probably only seven or eight hours ago!"
"Still. I'm starving."
We fell into silence. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward at all, more relaxing. It let us go to our own thoughts. Even growing up, we would have times like this. The family could be at his house, or the other way around, and I would just walk into his room. Sometimes he would wave or sometimes he wouldn't acknowledge me at all. I would bring a novel or a sketchbook and just stay with him.
I always felt comfortable with Teddy, and being in his presence was reassuring to me, even if we weren't talking. I suppose that was why our week fighting had been so upsetting for me. I lost my security, my comfort zone. It was just gone completely. I might have been able to deal with the silence, but I couldn't handle being away from my best friend for so long.
I was looking down at my shoes but I was well aware of Teddy's gaze on my face. I pretended I didn't notice. We were still sitting on the blankets, not too far away from each other. He was sitting next to me with his legs crossed over one another. The blanket was only so big and the floor was cold. The mounds of pillows made it a little softer though. It was so comfortable; I felt my eyes droop a little.
Finally, Teddy spoke up. "Hey, Vic?"
"Hmm?"
"Maybe you should try to catch some sleep. You look pretty beat," he suggested.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm fine."
He pretended he didn't hear me. "I would wake you up if something happens. You know, on the off chance that someone actually comes to save us…"
"I'm really not that tired," I said, ignoring his pessimism.
"Humor me." He laid down in his spot and put his hands behind his head. "But if you don't want to sleep, fine. I guess we can stay up and do ABC Creatures again- because we all know how much fun that is." He gave me a sideways glance.
I huffed. "Fine! I guess I can shut my eyes for a few minutes." I set up a couple pillows and pulled the dusty blanket over me. "But you'll wake me if someone comes?"
"Of course," Teddy replied.
"This is ridiculous. I'm not even tired."
He turned his head towards me. "Really, Victoire, I'll feel better once you have a few hours of sleep in you. You haven't been sleeping well." It wasn't a question.
I felt my face fall. I didn't want to be reminded of the week's horrible nights. "Did James talk to you?" I accused. "I knew I should have just let him drool on his books."
"Get some sleep. Please," Teddy said quietly.
I was about to retort again, but he did something that completely threw me off. His hand came to my face, and brushed his fingertips lightly over my cheek. I felt a tingle from the contact. I lost any thought of what I was going to say before. Teddy's eyebrows were furrowed together and his hair had darkened to a midnight blue, the way it did only when he was concentrating really hard. His hand lingered on my cheek for a moment longer, to cup my face, and then he brought his hand back, and let it drop beside him.
He looked into my eyes and said, "Go to sleep." He gave me a smile.
I wanted to return the smile, to tell Teddy something, anything. But I was frozen. I had a flash of me talking with Lucy a year ago, rambling about the date she had just had. She told me that she got that feeling in her stomach. The feeling you got when you were so nervous and so happy at the same time. Just like butterflies, but different. "You know that feeling, Vic?" she had asked me. I lied and said I knew exactly what she was talking about. But now, with Teddy, I thought I might finally know what the fuss was about.
So with my heart hammering inside my chest, I whispered goodnight. "Bonne nuit."
And then I fell asleep.
Teddy POV
She fell asleep. The first thing that came to mind was that this might have been the first time she ever listened to me. It was true what I had said earlier that night, that she was too stubborn for her own good. But thinking back to it, I wished I could erase the words from my memory. And her memory too. Because none of it had been worth it when she cried. I had wanted to reach out and wipe the tears away, but I knew it would just make it worse for the both of us.
She had been pissed enough already, I didn't need her to punch me in the face. As slight as Victoire is, her punch is deadly. Believe me, I would know. But it would make it worse for me because I didn't want to feel her push me away.
But just then, she didn't push me away. She didn't mind that I touched her; she was almost as surprised as I was. My fingers burned where they touched her face, where they traced the freckles on her cheek. It was weird, my stomach muscles clenched up the same way they had on the quidditch pitch. My stomach had never clenched up when I went on dates before, and I couldn't figure out why it was happening now. Wood had said how he always felt kind of sick when Lucy was around. At the time, I couldn't wait for him to shut up about it. I guess I knew where he came from now.
I stayed lying down next to her, afraid that if I moved, she would wake up. Victoire looked different when he was sleeping. She looked calmer, more peaceful than she ever was awake. The little crease in between her eyebrows was gone, along with the tension in her shoulders. Her hair was splayed all around her head, the ends tucked under the blanket.
I wondered to myself why this felt so different to me. This was definitely not the first time I had slept near Victoire. I had stayed at her house for days at a time, just hanging out. I even had slept over there once or twice. I have seen her asleep before, too. But it seemed like this was the first time I ever really looked. I thought back to my memories of times I had stayed with Vic, the times I watched her draw, the times we would listen to music and hang out in our rooms.
Eventually, the memories turned into dreams and I drifted off.
Vic POV
I woke up warm. Surprisingly warm, too, because I remembered the tower being cold and drafty when I fell asleep. I didn't open my eyes, hoping that maybe I could grasp sleep again. I could feel the itchy, makeshift pillow on my arms and the soft fabric of my pillow. But I was startled into opening them when I realized my pillow was moving. Up and down. I peeked out from under my eyelids. That's when I figured it out.
My pillow was not, in fact, a pillow, but the soft fabric of Teddy's gray t-shirt. His sweatshirt was lying on top of my blanket, acting as extra warmth. My head was leaning on his shoulder and my arm was draped across his chest. I tried shifting a bit, but soon became aware that Teddy had his arms wrapped tightly around me. Though I felt my face heat up, I smiled and pressed my face into his shoulder. He smelled like soap and nighttime. It nighttime has a smell, I don't know, but he smelled like it. It was a wonderful smell and it reminded me of his house and Andromeda, two more things that brought me comfort.
Though I could have stayed there forever, I shifted again and said, softly, "Teddy. Wake up, please."
He gave a little intake of breath like he did when he always woke up. His eyes fluttered open. He seemed to be functioning a little bit, taking in his surroundings, when he noticed me looking up at him from his shoulder. His hands immediately left my waist. He had a faint blush in his cheeks.
I was disappointed, but I picked up my head and drew my arm back. He didn't meet my eyes when he said, "Sorry."
I wanted to tell him that I didn't care- at all- and it was okay, but I couldn't find words. I nodded stiffly and stood up, walking over to one of the tower windows. I noticed how cold it was all of a sudden, despite the rays of sunlight coming from outside. For about five minutes, I looked out over the uneven grounds and focused my attention on an owl that was flying across the horizon.
He called over to me. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" His voice was impassive.
I looked out the window, examining the grounds. "Well there's no one out there yet and Hagrid hasn't started a fire. It must be pretty early. I'd guess about six or seven."
"Oh." I couldn't help but look back to where we had been sleeping. Other that sitting up, it didn't look like Teddy had moved at all. His clothes were wrinkled and his again turquoise hair was all messy on one side. I had the greatest urge to touch his hair, flatten it back to normal. But instead, I clenched my hands into loose fists. I walked back over to our pile of blankets and pillows and stood next to where Teddy was sitting.
I waited for him to respond until, slowly, he stood up in front of me. He met my eyes cautiously. "So…" he said.
"So," I finished for him, "what's the plan? We can't possibly stay here all weekend."
"No, you're right. But I'm sure someone will come soon." He sounded more positive than he had yesterday, but not by too much. "Eventually someone will have noticed we're gone. I mean I know you told Lucy to not worry and Wood is a little dim sometimes but at some point he ought to-"
"I'm sorry!" I blurted.
Teddy looked taken aback. "Wait, what are you sorry for? I mean, if this is about- about this morning, I wasn't exactly mad about it-"
"No, no," I interrupted, though I was somewhat flushed at what he had been saying. "I mean for the past week. I never meant to make you mad, much less not talk to me for a week…"
"I wanted to though!" he insisted. "I was just afraid that you were still mad at me and I didn't want you to… I don't know, hit me or something."
"I wouldn't have hit you," I lied.
"Vic."
"Okay, maybe I would have."
"The point is," he said, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said any of the things I did. I just didn't want you to think badly of what had… happened."
I shivered, thinking back to the quidditch pitch.
"Are you cold?" Teddy asked me. He rubbed one of his hands up and down the top of my arm, which coincidently just gave me more goosebumps. My breath hitched when his hand moved up all the way to the side of my neck, and then up to cup my face.
I looked up at Teddy, my heart racing inside my chest, and took a tiny step forward. It hit me how much taller he was that me. For the second time since school started, I saw his gaze drop to my lips. He leaned down until his face was inches from mine and stopped. He seemed to be making sure it was okay. But I lost my patience and closed the gap.
If I had ever imagined kissing a boy, it was definitely not like this. This was much, much better. As soon as I felt his lips on mine, my eyes fluttered closed and I was lost. I felt Teddy put his other hand to my waist while one still cupped my face gently. My arms went up around his neck and twisted into his turquoise hair. His lips were firm, but gentle on mine and I was sure I was going to melt. He turned his head to deepen the kiss and I quickly surrendered. My head was spinning, I realized, because I needed to take a breath.
I pulled back reluctantly and searched Teddy's eyes. His breathing was heavy and staggered, matching my own. His eyes were cautious and careful. He gave a half smile and leaned down again. Our lips just barely touched when we heard the bang of wood.
The trap door was opening.
Teddy and I jumped apart. "Ted? Vic? Are you in here?" Someone was emerging from the trap door. I craned my neck to look around a trophy case. It was Lucy! And coming from the hole in the ground behind her was Wood.
"Uh, yeah. Over here," Teddy answered. He was looking over at me again, studying my eyes.
"Victoire! Thank Goodness!" Lucy rushed over to give me a great hug. "I was so worried! I know you said not to wait up for you last night so I went to bed but then I woke up and you still weren't there! We went to see Neville and he told us where your detentions were. You must be so hungry…" Lucy rambled on and on. Barely listening, I looked over to Teddy who was apparently getting the run down from Wood. But he was looking this way. He had a sparkle in his eyes that made me feel so wonderful…
"Vic, aren't you listening to me? I said that we have to go downstairs. Neville wants to make sure you're alright." I was snapped back to reality.
"Oh, um. Yeah okay."
The four of us started to walk to the trap door when something caught my eye. "Hey Lucy, you and Wood go on. I need to talk to Teddy for a second."
Teddy looked surprised but Lucy nodded and headed down the ladder. I walked over to a trophy case I had just explored the day before.
"Victoire, is something wrong?" Teddy asked me.
I didn't answer him. I walked up to the case and picked up the trophy for "Impressive Work in Defense Against the Dark Arts". I turned to face Teddy.
"I saw this yesterday. I guess it belongs to you now, right?" I handed him his father's trophy.
He took it in his hands and studied the nameplate. He ran his fingers over it, just like I had. His voice came out in a whisper. "It's my… dad's. Maybe I shouldn't have this…"
"It's rightfully yours, Teddy. Take it."
He nodded, looking up at me. He stepped toward me and kissed my forehead so tenderly it made my heart swell up. Then he placed one kiss on my temple and one on my nose before lightly kissing my lips. "Thank you," he said.
Then he climbed down the ladder and left the tower.
YAY! A KISS AT LAST!!!!! I had so much fun writing this chapter.
PLEASE READ!!!!
So, how much would you guys love me if I told you that I'm WRITING ANOTHER FANFICTION?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Well, I'm pretty stoked. Anyway, it is a SKY HIGH Warren/OC Fanfiction. If you're not interested in that kinda fanfic then cool. But I'd love to get some of you guys to read it. It's still in the works but so far I have SEVEN PAGES as my first chapter. Pretty extreme, no? It's going to be called Don't You Fake It. But I haven't posted it yet. Get ready.
Reviews please. I love feedback, especially after I just wrote my first kissing scene!
