"What?" I shrieked and turned to run after him. Look at me, I thought, running after a boy like some foolish little girl. I reached Teddy on the stairs and grabbed his arm.

"What the hell?" I stared at him. He was just standing there, a conflicted expression on his face.

"Vic, let's not do this here." He looked around nervously.

"Well we just were somewhere else and you didn't want to explain there, so…"

"It's not that I don't want to explain!" He pushed his hands through his hair in desperation, making the places where his fingers touched his hair turn blue.

"Then what. Is. It?" I asked, clenching my fists. This whole cat and mouse act was driving me crazy.

"Can we go outside? Please?" He asked. I shrugged and he led the way.

"Here we are. Now explain!" I commanded once we were in the garden.

The kitchen window was slightly open and I was sure my dad and Harry were listening in on us.

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So this summer, after I graduated, your parents talked to me. They asked me how much time we spent together at Hogwarts and when I said 'almost all the time' they were worried. They thought you might be tempted to quit if I wasn't there or something. So they asked me to cut you off. To stop texting or calling or owling you" he sighed again and took his face in his hands. He was clearly ashamed and uncomfortable.

"And I went along with it. Because I thought you deserved better than me. I still think you deserve better. I wanted you to get the grades I know you can get and find someone who will be good for you, not someone like me." His shoulders sank and he scratched his head.

I didn't know what to say. That was so dumb. I didn't think people actually did stuff like that.

"What the fuck?" I asked. It was all I could ask.

Teddy shook his head.

"Victoire, I'm sorry. It was a stupid plan and I should have called you. But I wanted you to be happy."

I crossed my arms.

"You wanted me to be happy? I was fucking miserable! I wasn't doing well in school because I was imagining you falling in love with some Romanian girl and forgetting all about me. I wasn't feeling well because I thought our friendship meant nothing to you! I was going crazy because you weren't around and you wouldn't even talk to me! It was a stupid fucking idea and I can't believe you seriously thought you were helping me," I yelled.

"I know, Vic. I'm sorry. Unbelievable sorry. I would do anything for you, you know that, right?"

He stepped towards me and tried to tilt up my chin but I stepped back.

"No. You can't just waltz back into my life like that! You can't pretend nothing happened and you sure as hell cannot tell me you're sorry." I turned to leave. I needed to think this through.

I stormed back inside the house, where my relatives were all doing something to make it look like they hadn't just listened to our fight. I didn't care. They should have their own problems to think about. I stormed up the stairs and locked myself in a bathroom.

I immediately texted Jade the situation. I would have called her but I didn't want to disturb her and her family. If she didn't reply, I would have figured it out for myself. But of course Jade replied almost instantly.

"What. The. Fuck." She texted.

"I know right?" I responded.

She then told me to ignore Teddy for the rest of the day, as payback for the last five months. I thought about it. It hurt so much to walk away from Teddy but it was what he deserved. That much was for sure. I decided to try it out. One day. Fully ignoring him. I would be able to do that, no matter how painful it got. I still had pride and if he wanted to make it up to me he would have to bloody well work for it.