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

A/N: Ok, sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've now finished my degree! Which ought to mean I have loads of time for writing, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. I'm going off to Italy for the summer in a couple of weeks, so there's a lot to sort out! I don't know how much access to the internet I'm going to have while I'm over there, so I will try VERY hard to get this finished for you before I go.

Thanks to arwenjanelilylyra (as always), Camo Spesh Owl, anavihs and ms. wolf for your lovely reviews, I'm glad that more people are now enjoying this story!

This is a short chapter, so sorry for that, but it had to end where it does really.

The little thing was perfect.

Well, okay, it was pretty ugly really, but still… perfect.

He watched it wobble a few steps and then fall to its knees. Its mother nuzzled gently at it, and it raised its head and gazed adoringly at her. Then it shook itself, ruffling the downy feathers on its head, and began to make another attempt to stand.

The mother looked up at him, and made a crooning noise, contentment in her eyes. Teddy laughed softly.

"I know, girl. He's beautiful."

The baby hippogriff tottered sideways, and snapped playfully at a leaf blowing past, its horse's tail swishing from side to side. Teddy couldn't stop a delighted grin from breaking out on his face. This was a privilege not many people got to see; Hippogriffs were fiercely protective mothers, and they didn't let many people close. But this one knew Teddy well, and he was a welcome audience.

The little thing had emerged from its egg wet and spiky, but its mother had lovingly cleaned it up, and now its down fluffed out around its head, and the biscuit-coloured fur on its flanks was as soft as any new-born foal's. Its eyes were too big, and its talons too long, it's beak large on its face, and its wings endearingly tiny, but to Teddy, it was perfect.

In the innocence of babyhood, it approached him, eyes curious. He looked up at its mother for permission, and the female hippogriff inclined her head graciously. With a smile, Teddy extended a dirty hand, and felt the small soft beak nip at his fingers. Moving carefully so as not to frighten it, he moved his hand round, and stroked the baby feathers, fingers calloused but gentle.

It was at moments like this that he almost felt he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Could there be anything more perfect than this?

He came home to find her there before him, which was a surprise. Usually, she worked overtime these days.

But all was not right. She was sitting on the floor, in front of the fireplace, a blank expression on her face, staring at nothing in particular. She did not even look up as he came. Alarmed, he hurried over to her.

"Victoire? Are you okay? Are you ill?"

Her head turned slowly towards him, and his hand stopped in its movement towards her shoulder, as he moved backwards instinctively. In all the years he'd known her, in all their arguments, he didn't think he'd ever seen fury like that in her eyes.

"What…?" he began, but she cut him off.

"Get out."

Her voice was low and cold and only just under control. His eyes widened.

"Victoire… what's the matter?"

"Just go, Teddy. Go before I do something stupid. Get out of this house, and don't come back."

He stared at her, his insides turning to ice as her words sank in. Was this it? Was this what he had been waiting for? But what did the fury in her eyes mean? What had brought it on? He was damned if he was leaving it like this.

"Victoire, what's happened?" he said quietly, "What have I done? I don't understand…"

"I said, get out. This is my house; I'm the only one paying any rent, anyway. And I'm telling you to leave." But her voice shook at the end, and he knew she wasn't as calm as she was pretending.

He shook his head.

"No, Vic, I'm not leaving like that. What the fuck is this about? Talk to me, Victoire!"

"Oh, you want to talk?" her control was breaking down, and although he was apprehensive about what might happen when she snapped, he knew that the truth would spill out soon.

"You want to talk. Great. So… what shall we talk about, Teddy? I don't know… how about Zoë Lester? Should we talk about her? That seems like a good place to start. But I don't really know enough to talk about her. So why don't you start?"

For a moment, Teddy stood very still, forgetting to breathe.

Zoë Lester.

That was a name he had never expected to hear from Victoire's lips. A name he had hoped he would never hear from Victoire's lips. A name, in fact, that he had tried to forget.

"What… what do you want to know?" he asked, eventually, his throat constricting so that the words came out croaky.

For a moment, there was silence, as Victoire appeared to fight for control; whether over her temper, or over tears, he could not tell.

"The truth," she said at last, her voice hard and tiny, but perfectly clear, "For once, just tell me the truth. It's all been a lie, hasn't it? Everything between us… a lie… and I'm sick of it. So if you want to talk, just tell me the truth. And then go."

She was kneeling, sideways on to the fireplace and sideways on to him, her feet tucked neatly under her, her back straight and her hands in her lap, in the way that always made him think of a cat. Only today, he got the impression that one wrong move would turn the quiet animal into a spitting, scratching spitfire.

Panic washing through him, and he bought himself a moment to think by sitting down in front her, his back to the fire, so that he was now sideways on to her. She did not flicker, but continued to stare past him, her eyes stormy.

"Vic, who's been talking to you?"

"Don't you dare call me that," she spat, her eyes flashing towards him for a moment, before looking away again.

There was silence again for a moment, then eventually, she said tightly:

"More than one person, actually. I met your lovely ex-girlfriend a couple of weeks ago."

"Kathy?" Teddy said incredulously, "Merlin, Vic…toire, she knows nothing about me! I haven't seen her for years! What the hell did she…?"

"Don't, Theodore," her voice had not unfrozen in the least, and his heart sank. He had never heard Victoire use his full name before; she had occasionally called him by his surname, back in school, when she had been angry with him. But she had never called him Theodore.

"Don't try to lie," she went on furiously, "You know you never could lie to my face. If there was nothing true about what she said, you wouldn't have reacted the way you did when I said her name. Anyway, I talked to other people."

"Who?" he asked, after a pause.

"Does it matter?"

"Well… yes…"

"Teddy, are you trying to work out what I've been told, so you can decide which bits of the rest to tell me? Because I am fucking sick of lies… Oh Merlin, why am I even bothering? Just… just go, Teddy."

"Victoire," he said desperately, "I've never told you a lie in my life! I swear it…"

"There's more than one kind of lie! Just because you've never… never said words that are untrue doesn't mean you've never lied! This whole relationship's been a lie, Teddy. Cheating is lying!

"Every time you've kissed me… Every time we've had sex… Every time we've sat and talked and… and laughed, and had a good time together… It's all been a lie, Teddy! You've been living the fucking lie, and I can't… can't take it any more! You can live your bloody lies if you want, but I can't… I won't… I won't live them with you…!"

Her voice had risen and cracked as her control broke down, and at the end, the tears came, and he wanted to touch her; to put his arms around her and ease the tears away, but he knew that that would be the worst thing he could do right now.

"All right," he said, trying to keep his own voice calm now, "You want the truth; well you can have it.

"Victoire, I swear to you, there's nobody who means as much to me as you do. Zoë Lester… okay, I'll come clean. I should have told you ages ago. So much for being a Gryffindor. I'm a fucking coward, Vic. I didn't tell you because I was scared. But it was nothing! I swear it. It was just… a bit of flirting. She was nice, and funny, and… well, it just happened. I didn't mean it too, but it did. But… but it didn't mean anything! Nothing at all! You're the only one, I swear…

I'm not making excuses for myself. I know you'll probably still never want to see me again. I know… I know I'm a bastard," his voice broke in a sob, "I… I regretted it as soon as it had happened, Victoire. I came to my senses in about a week, and I couldn't believe what I'd done.

"I'm sorry, Vic. Oh Merlin, I'm so, so sorry… I should have told you… I should have admitted it… But everything was so bad anyway, I was scared it would be the last straw. Scared that that would be the end. And I wanted so much to hold it together with you.

"But I've regretted it ever since. And if this is the end, I… I'll regret it for the rest of my life… I'll regret it so much you wouldn't believe it. Because I love you, Victoire Weasley, and I could never love anybody else…"

He was crying himself now, and didn't bother to hide it. He looked beseechingly at her from the golden brown eyes that were like his father's. She met his gaze with a look that was dead inside.

"You're a bit late, Teddy," she said flatly, the tears still on her cheeks, although she was no longer crying, and her tone was bitter, but calm again, "I went to see Chiara Benson yesterday. She's pregnant; did you know that? It was her who told me about Zoë Lester. She didn't tell me everything though. Maybe she didn't know.

"Because today, you know, I went and found Zoë Lester. That's the good thing of having gone to school with everyone, isn't it? It wasn't that hard to find out where she lived. Only she wasn't there. Or maybe she was, but she hid inside. Her sister was there, though.

"She wasn't that polite, the sister. Shouted at me, and told me I could go and tell my precious boyfriend where to stick it. Or rather, where not to stick it. She also said you'd better be going to go and sort things out with Zoë. She said some other things, but I don't really appreciate being used as go-between for the two of you.

"Were you ever going to tell me, Theodore?," she went on, the bitterness in her voice increasing, and the tears threatening again, "Or were you going to keep it as your dirty little secret…?"

He was staring at her, open-mouthed.

"Victoire, what are you talking about? I don't get it… there's nothing to sort out between me and Zoë… We've already sorted it out. I told her… told her I had a girlfriend. I told her I loved you, and that I couldn't see her again… she was… well, she was quite nice about it. I don't know what her sister was…"

"Oh Merlin!" Victoire gave a shriek of entirely mirthless laughter that was almost hysterical, and stared at him for a moment, then laughed again, only this time it was more of a sob.

"You don't know, do you? You really don't know. She didn't even tell you. Well, Teddy, I've got some fucking news for you. Chiara Benson's not the only one who's pregnant, you know.

"So telling me you love me… Like I say, it's a bit late, isn't it? Love? If you loved me, you wouldn't have shagged Zoë Lester. If you loved me, she wouldn't be pregnant with your child."