Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.

A/n: Written for the fourth round of the Forum wide competition! The given character was Teddy Lupin and I chose Victoire Weasley (Ravenclaw) as the pair.

Go Slytherin!

Chapter 4: A day like any other

It was a day like any other in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't even an exciting weekend. Not a dreaded Monday, nor an anticipated Friday, just a dull, boring Thursday.

Teddy Lupin was seated at the Gryffindor table amidst the usual noise that enveloped the table. His friends were arguing about something or the other, and he recognized a food fight in the making. But he couldn't be bothered with them. He was intently staring at the Ravenclaw table. Not the table, its occupants. Not the occupants, one in particular.

Just then the very object of his meditation turned in his direction. Noticing him, she smiled and waved, before turning away. She'd meet him sooner or later during the day anyway. There was no need for formalities between…them. Teddy was still unable to find a word encompassing enough to describe their relationship.

He had spent many hours trying to analyse where they stood. It was needless to say that he had come up empty handed. The only plausible conclusion he had come to was that sometime in the past fifteen years, they had crossed the stage when a single term could define them.

"Hey Eddy!"

There was only one person on the planet who ever called him by that name. He must have spaced out. There was no way he wouldn't have noticed her presence otherwise.

"Hey Vic! Ditched the Ravenclaws?"

"I just couldn't stay away from trouble. And the Gryffindor table just screams 'danger'"

She took a seat opposite him, quite comfortable at the Gryffindor table, unaffected. Teddy had always thought it unfair that she could be so at home here when her mere presence sent him off the cliff. He fought to sort himself out lest his metamorphmagus ability go out of control. As they always did around her.

Sensing her stare, he looked up to smile at her, reassuring her that everything was fine. She had a knack for knowing when something was wrong with him.

Noticing her restless eyes and flushed cheeks, he realized that she was apprehensive. She was being highly fidgety today, now that he noticed. She kept clasping and unclasping her hands, her laugh was nervous and her voice was slightly off. His friends seemed to be oblivious to all this though, and he wondered for a moment if he was just being a skeptic. If something was wrong, his intuition would tell him.

Their eyes locked across the table, and the danger sign began blaring in his brain. Something was up. Definitely. He raised an eyebrow and she ignored it, studiously listening to the person beside her who was describing Quidditch moves. This confirmed his suspicions. Victoire hated Quidditch and anything that had to do with it.

"Vic?" he called in a low voice, knowing she'd make out the impatience in his tone. She looked up at him, trying to school her expressions into normalcy. There were just a few cracks in her façade. She was becoming annoyingly good at keeping a poker face.

"I thought you wanted to finalize the patrol schedule?"

"Yeah, okay. We have enough time to finish within this free hour"

Her resignation was surprising as was the sigh. What was bothering her? They were already at the Gryffindor commonroom entrance before Teddy remembered that he had kept the papers in the Heads commonroom. They were heading in that direction when she spoke for the first time since leaving the hall.

"That was the lamest excuse you've ever come up with. Now they are gonna gossip"

"And they weren't before?" Teddy asked, knowing very well what she was talking about. It was well known that there was a running bet among the students about when the Heads would get together.

"I was worried. You seemed agitated. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. Let's go in" Victoire entered through the portrait hole before he could press further.

He entered the commonroom to find her standing before the fireplace, listening to the whispering of the portrait above the mantle, a smile on her face. Her face reminded him of the time in their childhood when she had first encountered a portrait of Albus Dumbledore. She had asked him the silliest of questions. She could be so child like sometimes. And then she'd do something that would throw him off balance, like the ardent look he was subjected to now. Whatever the portraits had said seemed to have made her better. The moment he let himself smile at her, he knew he had lost the reigns and her bright grin confirmed it.

"Your Ed again" she said, confusing him.

"And I wasn't before?"

She shook her head. "You weren't being yourself. Your hair wasn't changing"

"And that makes me 'not me'"

She shook her head again, this time in the affirmative. So she had noticed that his hair went berserk when he was with her. He hoped she hadn't figured out the reason yet.

"I like you this way, you know?" her voice was timid and unusually diffident while she said that. It was so unlike her that Teddy couldn't help but wonder what had brought such a change in her. Whatever it was, it must be something pretty severe. Victoire wasn't easily unsettled.

"What's up Vic?" he had crossed the room and was right infront of her now.

"No beating around the bush?" she asked, visible stalling.

"I hate suspense. And surprises. You know that"

"I do. Your pestering during Christmas time tends to leave its mark".

"So? What is it about?"

"You aren't going to like this"

"I'd much rather know than not" he said, gently urging her to continue.

"You know how I hate being stereo typed" Teddy nodded, trying to keep his head clear and assumptionless.

"It's just that my situation is so cliché! I don't want it to be! I hate fairytales!"

He smirked now. He knew she was in denial. The last part of it, atleast. Afterall, he knew where she kept her Muggle books collection and almost all of them were fairytales.

"Don't" Teddy raised a questioning eyebrow, though an all knowing grin broke out on his face. "You will not tell me otherwise"

"If you want to delude yourself that bad" he shrugged his shoulders, waiting for the slap that was sure to come. But this day was full of surprises. She only whispered, "If only I could…" before she turned mute.

He was genuinely concerned now. Something was horribly wrong with her. He lifted her chin with his hand making her face him. Her eyes were laughing, as if she was in on some secret he didn't know. They were also brimming with unshed tears. He hugged her close to his chest, the way he always did when he comforted her. Her voice was muffled in the fabric of his cloak. "I'm being paranoid, aren't I? And I'm frightening you too"

"It's just me being too fussy, Vic. You know how I tend to see too much into things" he said, repeating her favorite words about him.

"Over observant" she chuckled as she hugged him back, her worries forgotten. His beliefs were disproved when he felt the moisture of the tears on her cheek. Shocked, Teddy pulled her back, watching with mounting anxiety as she tried unsuccessfully to control her tears.

"What's wrong Vicky?" Seeing his alarming look sent her into a fresh wave of tears, and she hugged him fiercely, exclaiming, "Oh, Teddy! I wish things could stay the same! I wish it could all end well, but…"

"What? What is it?" He asked fervently, only thinking of ridding her of her tears now. No matter what it took. His own priorities and emotions were pushed to the back as her face took center stage in his mind.

"Teddy, I love you" Her voice was a breathy whisper as she said it, and he almost missed it. Almost.

"I love you too, Vic. Now what's the problem?" his voice was impatient as he looked down at her for explanation.

"That is the problem, Ed! Don't you see? I'm in love with you! I can't avoid it any longer. It was getting too painful for me to bear. I'm sorry if I upset you. I know I sound horribly like a sappy romantic heroine but, that's the truth. Ed? Ed? I understand that you don't…"

No she didn't understand. She didn't understand how he was imploding. How each bit of his heart was bursting into a thousand fireworks. But he had to say something or she'd make the worst of assumptions. So he did the only thing that would explain to her the fastest. He kissed her.

He could feel her surprise, delight and the passion as he hugged her close, his hands circling her waist. She held onto him fiercely, as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. This time though, they were ones of happiness, and they were joined by his own lone streak of tear.

He had never understood why people cried when they were happy before. He had seen an unfortunately large number of sappy flicks, thanks to Victoire. But that had been the one part he had never understood. Until this day. He had never appreciated the value of that one teardrop that expressed more than a life time of words could.

"I love you too, you know?" Teddy said as they finally pulled apart and Victoire laughed a relieved laugh. His face lit up at the sight. Her sorrow had been too much for him to bear.

"I know that. Now. So they were all right afterall"

"Who?"

"All those people who said we would get together. Now they are going to make a big spectacle of us. We'll never have peace now" she complained as she scrunched her face up childishly.

"Well, there's going to be an economic imbalance in the school tomorrow. I don't think anyone will bother us very much"

"There were that many people who bet on us?"

Teddy just nodded his head and hugged her closer, if that was even possible, resting his head on hers while he stroked her back. He had never been happier than with his arms around the woman he loved.

And just like that, what had been just another day had turned into the most significant day in Teddy Lupin's life.

A/n: R&R!