As we took our usual seats in the long line of Gryffindors in the Great Hall, I felt my eyes unwittingly search for her pale blonde hair along the Slytherin table. Slightly disappointed, I turned my head back to face our fellow housemates and tried to catch up in the conversation.
"So if everything goes to plan, we should be up and running by later this week! We will of course; leave it up to our honourable captain to pick the date. But apart from that… all set." Alec fixed me with a wicked grin as I nodded vaguely in response; looking to Craig to clue me in. He shook his head in disbelief.
"Seriously Teddy?" He whispered, leaning slightly into me. "It was one conversation. And she was horrible. I don't understand this."
I shrugged casually, adopting an insulted air. "I was actually thinking about Quidditch trials if you must know."
He looked away but I could tell he wasn't fooled. Paying full attention to my meal now, I pondered what Craig had said. It was true. I didn't understand why this one girl was so damn… attention grabbing. Well, I did. Any teenage boy would. But to this extent? To the point to which after one day I couldn't even hold a conversation with my friends without wondering where she was?
Sighing, I began to tuck in to the vegetables. It was the Veela thing. It had to be. I had never in my life clammed up like that in front of a girl. It was actually one of the things I prided myself on- girls were never an issue. Next time; it would be different, I resolved. As if on cue Aelius nudged me sharply in the ribs, hissing quietly in my ear.
"Look Ted- it's Slytherin Barbie!" He jerked his head to the hall behind us, smirking as I swivelled quickly in my chair, just in time to see Victoire float past us on her way to the Slytherin table. Floating really was the only way to describe how she moved. It was graceful and smooth; no thought put into her posture or the natural way that her hips swayed softly. With great effort I tore my gaze away from her hips and dangerously short skirt; just shy of inappropriate; and watched instead her reception into the Slytherin table.
Unspoken consent rippled through the table as people shifted quickly out of her way; a gap simply materialising beside Zabini as she sank into it; whispering something in his ear as he smirked between mouthfuls. She eyed the spread distastefully before settling on a cup of pumpkin juice and sipping delicately.
Suddenly her eyes snapped up and I found myself once again staring into her blue orbs. She scowled over at me; but didn't drop her focus. The distance did very little to minimise the power of her gaze, and I once again found myself enthralled. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Zabini look up and glower over at me.
Smirking lightly, I offered her a nod and a cheeky grin, before turning back to the table; just in time to see Zabini's face fall in shock and hers to flitter with confusion, her full lips opening slightly in surprise.
It was a cute look on her. And unless I was very much mistaken, I had noticed the corners of her lips twitch. She had smirked. Only minimally. But still.
As I took a happy bite of my meal, I pointedly avoided the open stares of Aelius and Craig. Fortunately the moment had gone unnoticed by the remainder of the Gryffindors.
The rest of the meal passed uneventfully; Aelius occasionally making jabs about Victoire; but thankfully subtly enough that no one seemed to catch his drift. After aiming another swift kick his way under the table and watching him wince with satisfaction, I decided I had had enough of this dinner- I wanted my bed. Striding from the table and bidding my adieus, I made my way out of the hall, quickly jogging up the stairs and ignoring the heckling of my so called mates back at the table.
The corridors were mainly deserted, my footsteps the only sound on the cool stone floors as I slowly made my way back to the Gryffindor tower. I was so lost in my own musings, strategizing the try outs the next day that I barely noticed the presence of another individual in the corridor until she was a few mere feet from me. I pulled up in shock, a grin spreading slowly across my face.
She realised my presence a few seconds later and rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Christ, Lupin- are you following me?" She placed a hand on one slim hip, her tone icy.
I laughed in derision. She had balls; that much I'd admit, even if she was outrageously arrogant. "The Gryffindor common room happens to be on this floor. Which has me wondering what the hell you're doing here? Bit lost are we?" I flashed her a smug smirk that I just knew would get under her skin.
Sure enough, her eyes flashed in annoyance. "You must have hit your head harder than I thought if you think that I'm going to stand here explaining myself to you." Sidestepping me; she made to pass down the stairs behind me.
I swung around to catch her arm. "I'm sorry about that again. Honestly."
She hesitated, frowning up at me in confusion, her arched brows knotting together as she considered me. "It's fine. I don't really care." Her arms folded quickly across her chest, as if to prove how little she cared.
I smiled sarcastically. "So we're friends again?"
She scoffed loudly, smirking up at me. "We were friends? I've known you for less than a day and all you've done is give me a concussion and get me in trouble."
A slow grin spread across my face. "How did I get you in trouble?"
Her smirk spread slightly, her lips twitching upwards just a fraction more. "Cass wasn't too pleased at you grinning over at me like some 90 year old pervert."
I guffawed, throwing my head back and grinning. "Wasn't he? Oh dear. And I'm sorry I got you in trouble with my "perverted grins". It wasn't my intention. If you need help explaining it to him- you come find me." My faux sympathetic was met with a sarcastically sweet one of her own.
"Oh, it isn't me I'm worried for Lupin. I'm more than capable of dealing with Zabini. It's you I worry for." She leaned in slowly, closing the gap between us as her scent once again filled the air around me; making it noticeably harder to breathe. I kept my eyes trained on hers; willing them not to slip to her lips.
"He has rep for being overprotective you see." She bit her lip, pausing slightly. I was going to explode. She was driving me fucking crazy.
"He also has a rather particular set of disfiguring curses."
I forced my dry mouth to speak. "Disfiguring how?"
She smirked again, stepping away a little, making it a little easier to think.
"In a way that makes it very tough for other boys to compete." Her eyes drifted south along my torso, resting pointedly. Following her gaze I raised my eyebrows.
"That does make it tough. Don't worry though; I'll do all my perverted grinning in private from now on. We wouldn't want darling Cassius to get upset again."
She was already walking away, turning back to speak to me over her shoulder. "See that you do Lupin. Or I won't need Cass to disfigure you."
I watched her leave for a minute or two; until the sounds of her footsteps had faded beyond hearing and jogged slowly back over to the portrait of the fat Lady; already eagerly anticipating the bed that lay just beyond it. I sunk into my soft pillows contentedly, the whisper of a smile still on my face.
Christ.
What the fuck was I doing?
I awoke abruptly in the morning, very conscious of loud noises in my proximity. Blearily cracking open an eye, I just had time to register that a pillow was flying in my direction before it smacked me in the face. Scowling grumpily I tossed it aside; searching for my assailant. The velvet red curtains of my four poster bed had been drawn back roughly, leaving the entire room exposed. Aelius's bed opposite mine and Craig's beside me were untidily strewn open, as were Alec's and Gregory's further down the room.
Craig's ruffled head popped up from behind his bed, as he stopped rummaging through his trunk momentarily.
"Teddy. Get the fuck up! We're late!"
Panicked footsteps resounded through the room as everyone called out to each other; searching for missing quills and books; followed by angry pounding on the bathroom door as Alec abused Aelius for hogging the mirror. The response was muffled, but it sounded insulting enough.
I leapt out of bed; hastily pulling on pants and my shirt; my fingers stumbling across the buttons as I frantically stuffed books into my bag, grabbing a random assortment of quills and parchment as I paused momentarily to concentrate on my appearance. A quick glance in the mirror told me that things were far from spectacular in the shaving department and that I had a serious case of bed head.
Fuck it. I scrunched up my nose in concentration; ridding my face of the stubble. I decided to keep the hair. It could work. Flashing a quick grin at Craig, still rooting desperately in his trunk for his shoes, I jogged quickly from the room; ignoring the curses of my roommates as I flew to class. I was Quidditch Captain. I couldn't afford detention on the day of try-outs.
I crashed through the potions door without a minute to spare, just as Slughorn had stood to give the opening address. I cracked a sheepish grin.
"Sorry Professor."
He smiled indulgently back, motioning for me to take my seat. "Not to worry Teddy, my boy. I hope you won't be late for tonight though?"
I froze. Fuuuuuck. The Slug Club. I had totally forgotten about that- how was I going to fit that and practise? I nodded weakly; sliding into my usual seat at the back. It was nice to know that even when I wasn't present, people still respected the natural order of things. When Aelius and Alec eventually fell into the room, ten minutes behind me; they had to endure a massive lecture on the importance of punctuality in the modern world. Smirking as they sank into the seats beside me, they both shot sour looks my way.
Narrowing his eyes, Aelius opened his mouth to offer some sort of insult but shut it quickly as the door opened for the third time.
When Victoire sauntered into the room; there was none of the meek apologies of Aelius and Alec; or even the sheepish camaraderie of me. She simply didn't acknowledge that she was late. She sailed to the front desk; her long hair flowing loose and straight past her shoulders.
Slughorn looked up in surprise; giving her a softly reprimanding smile. "Victoire; what time do we call this?"
Pausing, I noted a slight roll of her eyes before she turned to face him; smiling sweetly. "I know Professor. I'm so sorry." She went in for the kill, biting her lip anxiously. "I had… personal issues."
He nodded in compassionate understanding and waved her benevolently to her seat. The three of us dropped our jaws in shock; Alec and Aelius turning to me in bewilderment.
"Slug Club?" Alec suggested speculatively, leaning his brown curls into us as he whispered. On the other side of me Aelius shook his head slowly; deep in thought.
"So am I. I still had to listen through the whole speech. It has to be more than that. Who cites "personal reasons" and actually gets away with it?"
They both slowly slid their gazes to me. "I'm not even sure he could have let you off with that Ted." Aelius questioned dubiously.
Silently I leaned forward on the desk, my eyes slipping to where she sat, nestled comfortably in a ring of Slytherins; none of whom seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.
I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on my potion making with her in the room; her tinkling laugh reverberating around the room incessantly. Flustered; my potion was beginning to look like something only Craig would cook up. Aelius leaned in to inspect the pot again. "You sure it's supposed to look like that Ted? It looks… Is it- moving?" His eyebrows shot up as he looked at me in alarm.
Irritated, I swatted him away. "It's fine. Perfect. Just… get out of the way alright?"
"Could say the same myself Lupin." A familiar cool voice floated over to me.
I swung around in surprise. "Excuse me?"
Victoire arched an eyebrow calmly. "You're standing right in front of the supply cupboard. Move."
Glancing quickly behind me, I saw that she was right. "Right. Um, yeah." I shifted awkwardly out of her way and she slid past me silently.
"Hey Victoire- could you look at our potion? It's pretty shit. We don't know what's wrong with it." Aelius leaned languidly against the other end of the cupboard as she rooted for supplies; ignoring the death glares I was shooting him; and smirking slightly. The arrogant git.
She flicked her hair of her face, looking up at him indifferently. "Your potions have been shit for years. Why would I start looking at them now?"
I laughed outright at the look of undisguised outrage that flooded Aelius's face, as he opened his mouth to retort hotly. Intervening quickly, I stepped in front of him.
"Because this one is particularly shit. I don't want to alarm anyone; but… we're pretty sure it's breathing." Cracking an abashed smile; my heartbeat skipped erratically as I saw her hesitate, her gaze flickering momentarily to the cauldron sat innocently on the table.
She smirked softly, taking a step or two towards it and peering in cautiously before laughing outright and dancing back to us. "Yeah, you're right. It's pretty fucking terrible."
She turned away dismissively. Unable to stop myself I called after her, grinning as charmingly as I could. "You're going to leave us with it? Alone?"
She turned back; smirking.
"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave?"