Disclaimer: I do not own JK Rowling's characters or world.

A/N: Thanks to arwenjanelilylyra and Tecumseh Dean for more reviews. Glad you liked the last chapter.

Still a bit short on the reviews though, so would be great to hear from you, even if you just give me a line to tell me if you like it or hate it.

For a time, it worked. But roses fade, and so do good intentions.

Sometimes, Victoire though perhaps that Tamsyn had been right. She and Teddy had always argued, even when they had been children. Maybe they could never really stop. But that night when everything had nearly fallen apart for good, and he had caught the pieces just in time and carefully brought them together again, had given Vic a new hope. No, not new. There had always been that hope. She liked to think of herself as a realist, not an optimist, but when it came to Teddy, that hope just refused to die.

She didn't think it was being overly optimistic to say that they had changed, even if that change wasn't immediately obvious on the outside. There were real feelings there, and they both knew it, even when the anger came spilling out again. There was something real and solid underneath it all, holding it together, where before she had always been afraid that there was nothing but terrifying, gaping emptiness, waiting for her to fall into it when everything crumbled.

Knowing that didn't make it much easier, when they argued, as they had that morning.

Victoire's job took up a lot of her time; she was well aware of that, but it was surely something he could understand? Only, apparently, it wasn't. And it made her uneasy, that he could not understand something so important to her.

That side of things was worse that it had been. Teddy had lost his job, and failed to find another one, so he was simply sitting at home most days, or else escaping to see Hagrid at Hogwarts (the old man was long retired, but still lived in his cottage in the grounds), or go and look after Hippogriffs, or whatever he did with those ridiculous friends of his. And Victoire was working overtime at the moment, because her boss was away on Maternity Leave, and her replacement was still struggling to understand how the department worked. Teddy resented the amount of time she spent at work, and she was once more frustrated by his lack of motivation.

So she had not gone home for her lunch break, as she might have done, but instead had found a rather uninspiring little cafe, sat down with a black coffee and a chicken sandwich, and pulled out the Daily Prophet. She scanned over the front page, but there was nothing interesting, and she sighed tiredly.

And then a voice beside her said:

"Victoire Weasley?"

She looked up and her heart sank. This was somebody she could easily have done without seeing again.

"Mind if I join you?" Kathryn Dimont asked.

Yes, Vic's mind said, Go away! But she was an adult now, not a child, so she pasted what she hoped looked like a genuine smile on her face.

"Of course not," she said brightly, managing to sound enthusiastic.

"It's been a long time," Kathryn commented, as she sat down, "How's life treating you?"

"Well, actually," Victoire replied, "I'm working for the Ministry. The Department for International Wizarding Relations. How about you?"

"Oh," Kathryn laughed, "Nothing as high-flying as you. That was never really my style, you know. I was never very ambitious. But I've got my own little café in the Wizarding district in Oxford. It doesn't bring in all that much, but it suits me. Are you… still with Teddy Lupin?"

Victoire fiddled with her teaspoon and wished she were anywhere but here. Kathryn was the last person she wanted to talk about Teddy to. Not when Vic couldn't even look at the other girl without remembering her and Teddy kissing... Not when she remembered that Kathryn had had him first…

"Er… yes, actually."

Kathryn looked at her, with an uncomfortably understanding look on her face, and smiled kindly.

"Don't worry, Victoire. I never blamed you for what happened with me and Teddy…"

Vic gritted her teeth. Inside her head, a voice was screaming, shut up, shut up, shut up! There was no 'you and Teddy!' You and Teddy was a stupid joke; a mistake! It was me and Teddy. Always me and Teddy!

But she said nothing, and Kathryn went on.

"I hope you know what you're doing, though, Victoire. Teddy's… not the easiest person to go out with."

Rage welled up in Victoire, but she swallowed it back.

"I've been with him for over three years, Kathryn. I think I can handle it."

"Yes…" Kathryn looked worriedly at the younger girl, "But… well, don't forget what he did to you when we were still at school. I saw it, remember? And he was still going out with me at the time. He may seem like the perfect boyfriend, but… well, they say 'once a cheater, always a cheater…'"

Victoire dropped the teaspoon into her saucer with a clatter, and stared angrily at Kathryn across the table.

"What exactly are you saying?" she demanded.

Kathryn leaned forwards.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Victoire… can I call you Vic, by the way? I'm only saying it for your sake. I mean, obviously, Teddy's nothing to me any more. But if he'd cheat on one girl, he'd cheat on another. And there are… rumours…"

Jealousy, that voice in her head insisted, She's jealous. Everyone reads too much into that kiss. It's nonsense. He cheated with me. We were meant to be together, that's why it happened. He loved me, never Kathryn Dimont. And he was seventeen.

But another part of her mind, the part that was a cool, hard-headed career woman, not a romantic girl, pushed the voice back and refused to snap out the answer she wanted to. Instead, she looked steadily at Kathryn.

"What do you mean, rumours?"

"Well," Kathryn looked uncomfortable, "I really don't want you to read too much into it, Vic. It's probably rubbish. But Chiara Benson – you remember her, she was in our year? - her boyfriend was working on that dragon repatriation project that Teddy was helping out with, you know?"

Victoire nodded stiffly, not missing Kathryn's different terms. Chiara's boyfriend had been 'working;' Teddy had been 'helping out.'

"Well… there was a girl on that… quite pretty, Chiara said, but one of those mannish girls, who likes doing outdoors stuff and things like that. Like Teddy. She was working on that project, and apparently, her and Teddy… got quite close. And then there was Bel Hardy, but that was only a drunk kiss… and it might never have happened."

Something in Victoire had tightened up, and she heard Kathryn's words as if from far away. Anger made her hands shake slightly. She was done with being polite.

"If you're only here to try and make my boyfriend into a cheating bastard, I haven't got time for it," she snapped, "I'm not interested, so I'd suggest you just go now. In fact, don't bother. I'm going myself."

And she got up and walked away, before she threw her coffee in the other girl's face. What right did Kathryn Dimont to say things like that? So, she and Teddy had been together for a while in school. Well, Teddy and Victoire had been together nearly four years. Kathryn Dimont meant nothing at all. She was jealous, because Victoire had won. Victoire had got Teddy in the end. That was all it was.

And those rumours… just rumours. Probably, Kathryn had invented them herself. Teddy might be a bastard sometimes; he might say terrible things to her, and shout at her… but he would never cheat on her.

Would he?

In the days that followed, it was as if there was a horrible, poisonous worm in her mind. She tried to ignore it; tried to push it away; tried to deny its whispers.

But she could not forget.

She wished she had simply told Teddy about the encounter with Kathryn. Wished she had been able to tell him of the horrible things his ex-girlfriend had said. Wished she could have heard him roar with laughter at the idea, and tell her that Kathryn was just a spiteful bitch.

But she hadn't, because of the tiny part of her that was terrified that he wouldn't laugh. That she might see confusion and guilt on his face. Or, perhaps even worse, anger, that she could even think such things worth repeating. He might think she was accusing him. And she was afraid that if he thought that, that would be something they could never go back from.

So she didn't. She said nothing, and the worm ate away at the back of her mind.

It could be true, it said.

No.

This girl; she sounds more Teddy's type, doesn't she?

I'm Teddy's type!

But you don't like doing the things he does. You're not interested in getting your hands dirty. You don't understand why he always wants to be outside, doing something physical. That girl; she understands.

What girl? There is no girl. Kathryn Dimont made her up.

Did she? Why would she do that?

She's jealous.

Oh, come on. She was seventeen. Surely she'd have moved on by now. She sounded more like she was… concerned for you.

No.

But just suppose… He did cheat on Kathryn, after all.

When he was seventeen.

Is that an excuse? Has he changed so much?

He cheated with me. It's different!

How?

He loves me.

Has he ever said so?

Yes.

Really? When?

He must have…

But what if he doesn't?

She could never forget. She found herself wondering where he was, when he wasn't with her. She found herself stiffening when he mentioned other girls' names. When he came in after a day's work, windswept, cheeks reddened by being out of doors, smiling at a satisfactory day, she wondered whether she had been there. And that faceless, nameless girl loomed larger and larger in her imagination.

She had to know.

That was the thought that kept coming back to her. If she could find out for certain, she could put that whispering voice to rest. But she was afraid. Afraid of what she would find out. And she hated herself for that.

"You deserve so much more," he had said, but she didn't. She couldn't even trust him. It was him who deserved more. Or did he? Not if it was true…

She find herself sitting for hours, when he wasn't around; sitting curled up in chair, as if she was in physical pain, going over and over it in her head; hating herself, and hating him, and hating Kathryn Dimont, and hating that other girl whose name she did not know. Trying to bear it. Trying to find the courage to talk to him about it. Talk to anyone about it.

She hadn't even said anything to Tamsyn. She wished she could; Tamsyn was always so down-to-earth, and sensible about things. Tamsyn would tell her she was being silly. But what if she didn't? What if she thought the stories might be true? She could not have heard the rumours, because she would have said something. But Victoire knew her friend had reservations about Teddy. What if she said, like Kathryn, 'Once a cheater, always a cheater'?

But Teddy wasn't a cheater. You couldn't call one stupid kiss as a teenager, cheating.

Could you?

There was something different about her. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it felt almost as if she had withdrawn from him in some way. He caught her looking at him with an expression he did not understand.

It scared him. What was she thinking? Could she be thinking about breaking up with him? Had they come so far to let it all go now?

He wished he had the courage to talk to her about it; to ask her. But he didn't, because he was afraid that if he brought it up, it would just make it happen more quickly.

So he said nothing, and waited for whatever was to come.

It was not long in coming

You have to know.

That was what the voice had been saying recently. And that was how she ended up on Chiara Benson's doorstep.

She had never really known Chiara. She remembered her vaguely as a pretty, dark-haired girl in Teddy's year; one of Kathryn Dimont's crowd, but one of the ones who always hung around the edges; fairly quiet and studious; not given to inventing wild stories.

And pregnant, these days, Victoire realised with a slight shock, as she answered the door. Merlin, the girl was only two years older than Vic; scary to think that that could be her. Victoire wasn't planning on having children for many years, if at all.

Chiara's face showed blank surprise at seeing Victoire, and Vic put a painful smile onto her face.

"Chiara, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," the other girl agreed, "Victoire. I… I wasn't expecting you."

Well, that was a reasonably polite way of putting it. They could hardly have exchanged two words in all their years at school.

"I'm sorry," Vic didn't have emotional energy to spare for many niceties, but she did her best, "I'm sorry to come round like this. I was actually wondering if I could talk to you about something."

"Of course," Chiara agreed readily, "Come in now, if you want. I don't really do very much at the moment," she gestured at her swollen stomach.

Victoire followed the older girl into a house that was almost painfully clean and tidy. Her hands were clammy with nerves, she realised with annoyance. Nerves weren't something she usually suffered from, but today her brain felt as though it had been hot-wired, and she was shaking too. But she couldn't go to pieces. She gathered the last of her professional cool.

"Congratulations, by the way. I didn't know," and her voice came out sounding strange in her ears.

Chiara smiled, her face lighting up.

"Thanks. We can't wait. And I'll be glad when the pregnancy's over. It's got to that awful tired, heavy stage."

Victoire smiled tightly. She had no desire to hear about Chiara Benson's pregnancy.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Chiara asked, "I was just about to put the kettle on."

Victoire wanted nothing but to get the truth and go… but then she thought maybe a cup of tea would soothe her nerves, so she accepted, although it was almost too much to bear, sitting there politely, while Chiara waddled (there was really no nice way to describe it) around, getting the tea ready.

Chiara seemed a little awkward herself, and Victoire couldn't blame her. She must be wondering what on earth this was all about.

Once she had a cup of rather weak tea in her hands, Chiara sat down with a relieved sigh, and looked expectantly at the younger girl.

"Well… it's been a long time. What do you do these days?"

"I work at the Ministry," said Vic shortly, not wanting to be sidetracked into talking about careers.

"Of course, we've seen Teddy more recently," Chiara went on, cheerfully, "My boyfriend, Barney, was working on that dragon project, you know. He brought Teddy round here one day. He seemed very well… How is he now?"

Victoire hesitated, and was horrified to feel tears prickling the backs of her eyelids.

"He… he's fine. He's… looking for a new job at the moment."

"Oh," Chiara looked a little concerned, "What sort of thing is he looking for? We were a bit surprised that he was working in a pub, to be honest. I mean… what he really seems to enjoy is working with the animals… Is he looking for something like that? Not that I'm trying to pry…"

Victoire sighed.

"It's okay. I don't really know what he wants to do. You're right, he should do something like that. But… he's not very ambitious. He prefers helping out in an unofficial way, really…" she stopped herself saying any more. Teddy preferred helping out to taking any responsibility, which was why he avoided proper jobs. He ran away from any sort of responsibility as though it burned. But she wouldn't say that to Chiara Benson.

Instead, she took a deep breath.

"Actually… it was Teddy I came here to talk about, Chiara…" She could not be polite and beat about the bush forever. She was going to have to come clean and bare her soul to this smiling girl, with her perfect house and perfect life and her baby on the way.

"I saw Kathryn Dimont the other day."

"Oh," it was only a small word, but something about the way Chiara spoke it, told Victoire that perhaps what she had to say next might not come as such a surprise.

"She was talking about Teddy." Victoire was finding it hard to remember to breathe, she was concentrating so hard on the other girl. Was it her imagination, or had a closed expression come into Chiara's face?

"She said… it was something you'd told her…"

"Oh, Merlin," the walls came down suddenly, and Chiara slumped down in her chair, "Oh, Victoire, I'm so, so sorry… I never thought she'd… Oh, Merlin, Kathy, what have you done?" she looked anxiously at Victoire, "What did she say, exactly?"

"That girl," Victoire said quietly, "The girl on the dragon project. Who is she? What happened?"

Chiara took a deep breath.

"Victoire, I don't know what Kathy told you… but… I shouldn't say this, because she's my friend, but she's always been inclined to exaggerate. She likes telling stories…"

"Who is she?"

"Her name's Zoë Lester. You might remember her. She was the year above you. Hufflepuff. But…"

"Please tell me the truth, Chiara. Did anything happen between her and Teddy? What did you tell Kathryn?"

Chiara looked deeply unhappy.

"Victoire, please believe me, I never meant it to come to this… I didn't mean you to get hurt. But the truth is… I don't really know."

Victoire turned away, the tension in her shoulders giving way to a despairing slump. Still no answers…

"It was Barney who suggested it to me," Chiara went on miserably, "He had no idea about you and Teddy. It was right at the start of the project. Barney was a few years ahead of us at Hogwarts, you know. He never really knew Teddy, before the project. But he knew that I'd known him; that we were in the same year. And… he said, one day, that he thought there might be something happening between Teddy and Zoë. He thought… he thought it was just a piece of fun gossip, you know. And I… well, I didn't even know if you were still going out, and I assumed when Barney said that, that you weren't.

"Until I mentioned it to Kathy, and she told me that you two were still together. But by that time, the project was nearly over, and Barney hasn't seen Teddy since. Neither have I…"

"But he came here," Victoire said, intensely, "When he came round here, didn't you say anything to him? Didn't you ask him…?"

"Well… no, not really. I mean, I was never that close to Teddy. We were just classmates, you know? It was nice to see him, but… I didn't like to ask him anything like that. Barney… did say something about Zoë at one point, and Teddy… well, I'm sorry, Victoire, but he did go a bit red and looked embarrassed. But it might not have meant anything. Honestly, that's all I know. It's nothing, really. I'm sure it's nothing. I don't think Teddy would cheat on someone, no matter what Kathy says. I know Kathy, and like I say, she exaggerates. I'm sure it didn't mean anything. Oh Merlin, I'm sorry, Victoire, honestly I am. I'm going to kill Kathy!"

Somehow, Victoire got away from Chiara, who seemed determined to apologise as profusely as possible. Somehow, she got out onto the street, and took a few deep breaths, trying to keep the nausea at bay.

Well, that was that over. She still had no answers, really. Just rumours and suggestions and second-hand reports.

But Kathryn Dimont had not simply made the mysterious girl up. Victoire had a name.

Zoë Lester.