A/N: Heya, dudes and dudettes! I finally finished this chapter yeah! Please enjoy…

Chapter Six

You Did What Now?

Victoire wasn't quite sure if she was married. The priest said she was and so did Teddy, but the ceremony had been interrupted so many times for so many different reasons Victoire didn't really believe that she was married.

First there was the spreading of the rumor that Kira and James had been snogging before the wedding. She blamed that entirely on Uncle Ron. For Merlin's sake, he could have waited until after the wedding to tell Aunt Ginny that her son had finally gotten his head out of his arse and kissed his best mate. To her credit Aunt Ginny did pulled her son inside to tell him off for snogging in the loo, but when Grand Molly heard about it she absolutely lost it. She wasn't mad, goodness no one was mad! She was thrilled. Her grandson was going to marry a proper red headed girl that everyone adored. It was cause for celebration.

After that no one would shut up about it. Poor Kira had to sit red faced in the middle of a crowd of people who all wanted to know if she had enjoyed herself.

Once the priest finally got everyone's attention back to the ceremony Teddy was so upset that his hair had changed from the sandy blond it had been to bright red. Victoire knew him well enough to know that that meant he was mad and she tried to calm him down by whispering to him. Not the best idea with Uncle George in the audience. She didn't notice that half the audience was listening in on their private conversation until her father started sputtering. She'd just promised to "do that thing you like so much, Teddy, just settle down."

Of course her father would take that as something sexual, when in fact all she planned on doing for Teddy was rub his back. It was an intimate moment between the two of them and she didn't relish the idea of the priest knowing what she was going to do for her new husband.

Damn Uncle George and his Extendable Ears!

After that all hell broke loose. Victoire actually went so far as to threaten the priest into finishing the ceremony even though no one was paying attention. So, then were married, but no one really knew. The whole family was still arguing. Her father was arguing with her mother about what they'd over heard. Apparently she thought it was no big deal and he disagreed.

Aunt Luna was chastising Uncle George for pulling out the Extendable Ears in the first place. Uncle George was defending himself by saying he was hard of hearing. An ear joke that no one was laughing at.

Aunt Hermione was yelling at Uncle Ron for threatening to castrate Stephen Wood. The poor bloke had been trying to stand up for Kira and Uncle Ron assumed that meant he had feelings for the girl. Stephen was trying to correct Uncle Ron, but only succeed in giving the red head more reasons to hate him. Rose got in on the fight soon after, screaming about how Uncle Ron was paying her cousins to ruin her life.

Most of the rest of the family was butting in on other people's fights.

In fact the only people paying attention were her Uncle Harry and Grand Andromeda. They clapped politely when the priest finished the ceremony and wondered off as soon as possible, surely trying to get away from the arguing going on all around them.

Victoire grabbed Teddy's hand and pull him away from the people who had ruined their wedding.

"I knew we should have just run off to get married," she muttered once they were out of range of the Extendable Ears.

Teddy sighed and fought his way out of his dress robes. He laid the robes on the ground and pulled Victoire down next to him. "There was no way we could have gotten away with it after I asked your father for your hand," he said.

"Well, you shouldn't have done that!" she insisted. "Honestly, Teddy. We'd been dating for three years, living together for two. If you had to ask anyone for my hand it should have been me."

"Your father freaked out because you offered to give me a back rub during our wedding and you think that I should have agreed to a run away marriage?" he grumbled. "Damn it, woman! He would have hunted me down and you have been a widow long before we got a chance to consummate the marriage."

Victoire rolled her eyes and began to rub her husband's shoulders. There was no use arguing. What was done, was done, there was nothing they could do about it now. "Let's just agree to disagree," she said.

"Fine." Teddy sighed happily and relaxed enough to enjoy the back rub. "Come to think of it, my parents were married in secret. Of course, that was because they got married in the middle of a war."

"They were perfectly happy, though," Victoire said, wrapping her arms around his middle. "Weren't they?"

Teddy twisted his head around to kiss her. "They were happy."

"So, you agree with me, then?" she asked. "We should have gotten married in secret?"

"I'm saying that it might have been more peaceful during the wedding and we certainly would have been happier." Victoire grinned in triumph. "But your family would have been upset about missing it and we would've never heard the end of it."

Victoire kissed the side of Teddy's neck and laid back on his robes. "I guess you're right," she conceded. Teddy stretched out next to her and threw his arm over her waist to pull her closer. "I just wanted a regular wedding. Not a perfect, because Merlin knows nothing ever is perfect when my family is involved. But… just nice, you know? I just wanted it to be nice. Was that too much to ask for? Was it too much to ask that my family act like sane human beings for one hour? Once bloody hour for me?!"

"Of course it's not too much to ask…" Teddy said. "But you have to look at the bright side."

"What bright side? My family ruined my wedding."

"The wedding wasn't 'perfect' or even 'regular,' but it was us, you know? If we had a perfect wedding, I'd be inclined to think there was something horribly wrong with your family."

Victoire laughed.

"I guess you're right…"

They lay in silence for a while listening to the serene sounds of nature intermingled with the random screams of her family. It was actually nice. She was finally on the outside of her family looking in and thankfully they looked just as crazy from the outside as they did from the inside. She was a Lupin now and that made things so much easier.

"What I don't understand is why anyone was surprised about James and Kira," Victoire said after a while. "I mean Uncle George and my Dad were betting on when they'd get together."

Teddy snorted.

"What?" Victoire pushed a lock of pitch black hair out of Teddy's eyes.

She always had had a pretty good idea of what he was feeling based on the color of his hair. When he was younger the change seemed almost unconscious. Nowadays he was far more aware, but every once and a while Victoire got the feeling that this hair color was revealing something the rest of his body refused to recognize.

Red meant he was mad.

Blue meant that he was calm.

Any neon color meant he was excited.

Any dull color meant that he was sad.

But black was Victoire's favorite color on him, because it meant that he was feeling randy.

"What I don't understand is why anyone believes that they got together at all," Teddy said. It was so like him to ignore the fact that they both knew he was horny.

"What d'you mean?"

Victoire tried not to take too many deep breaths. She was interested in what he had to say and distracting him with her breasts wouldn't help. His eyes flicked from her eyes to her chest then back again. Victoire smiled. She tried to make it a simply happy smile. A seductive smile would have put an end to the conversation.

"I got a letter from Albus a few months ago. He said that James had figured out he was mad about Kira but somehow got it in his head that the best way to deal with it was to ignore his feelings and hope they go away. We both know that James is too dense to listen to any advice I gave him," Teddy said.

"What did you tell him to do?"

"I merely reminded him that he is a Gryffindor and as such he should act like it."

"That's very good advice, if a bit vague."

"It's perfectly understandable!" he insisted. "It's the same thing that Harry told me when I was avoiding my feelings for you. And look at us now! We're married."

"Well, Teddy, you're not half as thick as James. You need to spell it out for the poor boy because damn it, if they weren't actually snogging their friendship is in serious jeopardy."

"James has never been very good with delicate situations," Teddy mused. "I guess I should help him out," he sighed.

"You sound so enthusiastic," Victoire laughed.

"We just got married and we're spending out reception hiding from your family and talking about a couple of stupid fifteen year olds."

"What would you rather be doing?" Her voice was low and husky.

"You can't tell me you didn't notice, Victoire. You always notice."

"Notice what?" she asked, the picture of innocence. She was teasing him now and having loads of fun doing it.

Teddy growled deep in his chest and slanted his mouth over hers.

---

James didn't know why he'd done it. Merlin, he'd been hoping to ignore his feelings for Kira, but now everything was so damned complicated. His stupid family was making it even worse, as usual. But come to think of it, if he'd just kept his trap shut in the first place Kira wouldn't be avoiding him quite so much.

She wasn't being overtly obvious about it, the way James knew he would've been. Her avoidance was subtle, delicate. She wouldn't look him in the eyes, even when talking to him. She wouldn't strike up a conversation, even though James knew she was bored out of her mind. She just sat there and blushed every once and awhile.

James sighed unhappily. He really didn't know why he'd bothered. Damn it, Rose was crying in the loo because of something Wood had said or done, he deserved a good chewing out by Uncle Ron…

But Wood was his friend. James knew what it was like to be misunderstood by a girl and then have to spend what seems like forever apologizing or dealing with random sobbing. That was one of the major things he liked about Kira. She wasn't the crying type. She just put on a brave face and dealt with it.

"Great," James mumbled. Like he needed one more thing to love about the girl next to him.

"What?" Kira's voice interrupted James' grumbling.

"What?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"What."

"What?"

"What about what?" James asked. He might know Kira backwards and forwards, but every once and awhile she just confused the crap out of him.

"I asked you what you said and you answered with a question," she explained, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I said what."

"I didn't mean then, I heard that. What did you said before that?" Kira finally looked him in the eyes and James lost his train of thought. Her blue eyes swam with the same confusion that permeated her voice.

"Merlin, your eyes are pretty," he said thoughtlessly. Her eyes were pretty, but damn if that wasn't something he needed to say.

"WHAT?!"

"Hmm…"

"Never mind," she snapped. "You're being so weird."

"I-"

"James." His father interrupted him which was a good thing in retrospect because James had no idea how he was going to explain himself. "I need to talk to you."

James sighed and followed Harry into the deep backyard. They past most of the wedding party and thankfully Harry managed to keep people from bugging James too much with dumb questions about his dumb lie. At the very edge of the lawn Stephen and Rose were in the middle of a heated conversation that looked more like the couples first argument to James. Rose seemed near tears and yet again he wished he hadn't lied to save Wood's ass. He was inclined to stay behind and hear what Wood was saying to hurt Rose so much, but his father forced him on.

James knew what this was about. He'd already had this conversation with his mum. "James, how could you snog a girl in the loo?" "James, why would disrespect Kira by snogging her in the loo?" "James, I'm thrilled that you finally pulled your head out of your arse and realized that Kira is perfect for you, but the loo?!" "I raised you better then to snog a respectable girl like Kira Fitzsimmons in the loo!"

"Respectable?" James had snorted. "Kira Fitzsimmons is a lot of things, Mum, but respectable isn't one of them."

Thankfully his family had gone crazy outside right after James had said that drawing his mother's attention away from him. This was good because Ginny looked like she was going to kill him for even suggesting that her precious Kira wasn't as perfect and lovely as she thought. Sometimes he thought that his mother liked Kira more then she like him. It didn't help that Kira was far more charming when his parents were around then she was any other time.

"Crap on a stick, Dad!" James exclaimed, pulling away from his father. The two of them had finally stopped far enough away from the wedding party that they wouldn't be over heard. "I already know I screwed up, you don't need to rub it in my face."

"Crap on a stick?" Harry repeated. James rolled his eyes.

"Mum gets made when I say shit on a brick," he mumbled.

"And Ginny says we haven't taught you any respectability." James huffed and shuffled from one foot to the other. He opened his mouth to respond, but Harry held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not going to chide you for snogging Kira in the loo. Not that I believe for one second that you actually did."

"You think I lied?" James squeaked. He always broke under the pressure from one of his parents. A professor could (and most did) yell at him for hours about lying and he wouldn't bat an eye. But switch that professor with one of his parents and he lost it.

Kira never loses her cool, James' traitorous mind reminded him.

"I know you lied, James Sirius Potter. I got a letter from Teddy a few months back saying that you had decided to ignore your feelings for Kira and just hope that they'd go away."

"Damn it!" Harry cuffed him on the back of the head. James winced and glared at his father apologetically. "I knew I shouldn't have talked to Al about this."

"James, your brother just wants you to be happy. He knows that feelings don't just disappear and he endeavored to help you by getting the advice of someone who has dealt this a similar situation. According to Teddy you didn't listen to him."

James crossed his arms and tried not to pout. "I didn't get what he told me to do."

"I have a feeling I already know what he said, but why don't you tell me anyway?" Harry asked.

"You're a Gryffindor, act like it!" James said. Harry shook his head. "See? It doesn't make any sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, son, if you'd just take a moment to think about it."

James shook his head this time. It just figured that his father would agree with Teddy. The advice was vague if anything. He acted like a Gryffindor all the time! He was smart, he just never paid enough attention in class to prove it. He was courageous, always standing up for what he wanted- except when it came to the Kira situation. He was brave, never backing down from anything- except when it came to the Kira situation. He acted like a Gryffindor all the time- except when it came to the Kira situation.

James blinked.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as soon as realization dawned.

"Let me tell you a story, James," Harry said, sighing.

"I not a little kid-"

"Shut up and listen!" James slumped down on the bolder behind him. "Teddy's parents got together in the middle of the last war. Tonks was thrilled, of course, she was so much more… open to joy then Remus ever was. She loved him- the destitute werewolf and she loved him. The age difference, the poverty, the lycanthropy didn't matter to her. It was the man underneath all that that mattered. But Remus didn't understand that, so he fought against it, pushing her away for far too long. He thought he was pushing her away for her own good. But really all he was doing was making them both miserable."

James looked past his father. He'd heard this story before. Remus pushes Tonks away and then she yells at him after Dumbledore died telling him that she doesn't care about all those things that Remus got hung up on. Then they kiss and get married. Blah, blah, blah… What did this have to do with acting like a Gryffindor?

Something moved behind his father's right shoulder. Teddy's head had popped up over a fallen tree. Next to him was Victoire, looking a bit dazed. They both looked far more mused then they had during the ceremony and James thought they both looked lovely wearing Victoire's pink lippy.

"You know the rest of the story for the most part, James," Harry said, drawing his attention back to the conversation. "Remus and Tonks end up married… but there's another part that I've never told you and I've never told Teddy- and I don't mean to tell him until he gets Victoire pregnant and freaks out and demands to know how his father handled his mother's pregnancy so kept your trap shut, okay?"

"Ummm… Dad-" Teddy squinted at Harry's back, obviously not liking that some part of his parents' life had been kept from him.

"James, just agree. We don't have a lot of time before your mother comes to drag your lying bum home."

"But Dad!" Teddy was glaring at James murderously now. He wanted to know had been kept from him and James' exclamations were keeping him in the dark.

"James, just agree!"

"Fine. I won't say anything to him."

"Good. You know very well that Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione and I were hauled up in my godfather's house while we figured out what to do during the last war. What you don't know is that while we were there Remus came to visit. He asked to come along with us, to help us."

James' forehead wrinkled in confusion. "But what about Tonks?"

"Hermione asked that and Remus told us that she was pregnant."

"I don't get it, Dad. Why would he ask to help you guys hunt Voldemort when his wife was pregnant?"

Harry rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Because he was trying to run away from her again. He was afraid that Tonks would give birth to a child inflicted with lycanthropy and that she and the child would have to deal with the prejudice of the Wizarding community for the rest of their lives. I can only imagine that he hoped to make it better by taking himself out of the picture. In fact he was just being scared and stupid."

James locked eyes with Teddy. He was shaking.

"My father was a coward?" he demanded. Harry froze, then turned to him.

"It's not like that, Teddy," Harry insisted.

"So, he didn't want me?! And you weren't going to tell me!"

"Teddy, I-"

"Damn you, Harry Potter! Damn you!"

Teddy stalked off leaving Victoire sitting on the ground in her wedding dress. Harry went after him, yelling his name and begging for a chance to explain.

"Sorry about that, Victoire," James mumbled.

"Don't worry about it." She got up and dusted herself off. As she walked past him, toward her wedding reception, James could have sworn he heard her say, "Damn family. My wedding couldn't just be a disaster, it had to be devastating too." She started to cry.