Their father waved Victoire and each of her siblings off as they stepped into the fireplace to travel via the Floo to their aunt and uncle's house. Victoire was the last to go, forcing herself to take a large, hesitant breath before stepping forward. She called out her destination and, seconds later, found herself stepping out of another fireplace into a warm and comfortable home.
"Look who else is here," called a voice that Victoire quickly identified as belonging to her ten-year old cousin Albus, her Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry's middle child. He was already greeting Louis and Dominique; he looked excited to see some familiar faces.
"Are you all here for the party?" he asked Louis.
"Is there a party?" Louis joked as he touseled Albus' hair playfully before turning to greet their Uncle Harry. He'd just approached the group with a polite smile, right as their Aunt Ginny's voice called out from the kitchen to ask who had just arrived. She did seem to want to wait for an answer, seeing as she emerged moments after asking to see for herself.
"You three!" Ginny said. "So happy to see you." She smiled specifically at Victoire and let her face soften. "You especially."
Victoire smiled a little curiously, wondering what that meant. "Why me?"
"Because you being here means you and Teddy are talking again; you're friends again." She continued to smile. "And that makes everyone happy."
"It allows peace to be restored to all the land!" Dominique announced in an unnecessarily theatrical way, earning her a smile from Louis and Harry. Albus giggled at the silliness of it all, though Victoire threw her look telling her to knock it off.
Ginny gave Dominique an affectionate rub of her back before gesturing aimlessly toward the back of their house. "Well everyone is outside in the garden. There's food and things to drink out there. Feel free to go out and have fun."
Victoire let her eyes drift toward a window that showed a glimpse of the back garden. It didn't reveal much, but from what she could see, several people were standing around laughing and chatting.
"I want to go outside," Albus said, suddenly grumpy. "It's my house. It's my garden."
"No one's stopping you," Harry said, walking over to sit on the sofa. "We just don't think you'll have much fun out there with the older kids. They're not exactly playing pin-the-tail on the Hippogriff."
Albus made a face. "That's a baby game. I'm too old for that."
"We should probably go and say hi," Dominique said, glancing from Louis to Victoire.
"Go," Victoire said, hesitantly swaying on the spot. "Don't let me stop you. I was just going to visit for a bit." She gestured to Harry and Ginny. "I haven't seen them in ages."
Dominique and Louis exchanged looks before both turning to stare skeptically at Victoire. Dominique especially seemed to find that to be a load of tosh.
"I only just saw most of those people at school," she added dismissively, now avoiding her siblings' gazes. "I'll be right behind you. Go."
"Alright," Louis said as he and Dominique made their way outside, already whispering about something. Victoire fixed herself back onto the spot where Ginny had now joined Harry on the sofa.
"How are things?" Ginny asked. "How was school? How'd your O.W.L.s go?"
"Really well, I think," Victoire offered. "I know I did well in Charms and Potions. Transfigurations I'm a bit worried about though.'
"Do you think you failed?" asked Albus.
"Oh no, I just don't know if I got an 'O' in it or not."
"Is 'O' the best?" he asked with a glance around the room.
Ginny and Harry nodded, with Ginny adding, "You'll learn all about that when you get to school."
"I was just happy to pass the majority of my O.W.L.s," Harry said. "Getting that single 'O' that I did was an added bonus."
Victoire smiled. "My dad got a few 'O's. I'd like to rival him at least."
"Didn't Bill get twelve O.W.L.s total?" Ginny asked.
Victoire nodded, "It's something he likes to remind all of us. Mostly as a joke of course, but still…I only sat ten subjects though, so we'll see how I do."
"I wouldn't doubt that you get all ten," Ginny said as a door was heard opening a closing somewhere close by.
"I'm going to earn twelve O.W.L.s," Albus said.
"Excellent," said Harry with a glance at Ginny. "We can retire early because Albus will support us when his high marks get him a great job straight away out of school."
"Fantastic," Ginny said as she smiled at her youngest son. Albus, however, was vehemently shaking his head at the pair of them, clearly not on board with that plan.
"Are you excited to start school, Al?" Victoire asked him, smiling fondly at him.
"I am," he said. "It's rubbish that I have to wait another year. James won't stop talking about how amazing his first year was. He keeps showing off his wand…"
"He better not be," Harry said to Albus, "He knows he's not allowed to be playing with it outside of Hogwarts. It's not a toy."
"Well, he is," Albus said in a way that only a younger sibling who was snitching on their older sibling could. "All of the time!"
Harry and Ginny exchanged tired looks, clearly over something that Victoire wasn't privy the details of. In an effort to keep the conversation light, she asked Albus, "What house do you want to be in?"
"Gryffindor," he said without hesitation. "Obviously."
She smiled at him. "Good choice."
"You're in Gryffindor, aren't you?" he asked. "Mum and dad were both in Gryffindor too."
"It's the place to be," Harry said. "Not that it matters what house you end up in, really."
"Ted says Hufflepuff is the best house," said Albus, "but I'm not sure that's true. James says Gryffindor is the best."
"Your dad's right," Victoire said as the sound of the back door opening and shutting once more caught her attention. "It really doesn't really matter what house you're in because—"
"Hufflepuff is best," said a familiar voice from behind Victoire.
When she turned, she saw that Ted had entered the room. He was as tall and lanky as he'd ever been; his shaggy hair—which happened to be teal at the moment—hanging in front of his eyes. He smiled at Victoire as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"You're saying that to a room full of Gryffindors!" Albus laughed.
"Which means I need to get the truth out," Ted joked as he came and sat on the arm of the sofa Victoire was sitting on. "What's up, Vic? I saw Nicki and Lou outside so I figured you had to be around here somewhere."
"Just visiting," she said as she gestured around the room.
"Do you all have everything you need out there?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, we're great," he said with a smile.
"There's more food in the kitchen," Ginny added. "Help yourself."
"Will do," he said before standing back up and looking at Victoire. "Well, party's outside if you do feel like coming out of hiding and joining us."
"I'm not hiding," she said. "I just hadn't seen them in ages and—"
"Don't let us keep you," Harry interrupted. "We're all old and boring."
Albus made a face. "Speak for yourself, dad."
"Come on then," Ted said, nudging Victoire in the shoulder. She glanced up at him and almost wondered if he realized how awkward this all felt, but dutifully stood nonetheless.
Taking a deep breath, she followed him out into the back garden where several people were sitting and standing around in small groups. A radio was playing; it was a popular wizard rock band from somewhere. Most everyone turned to see the new arrival.
Several people smiled and waved to greet her, while some didn't seem interested at all and continued on with their conversations. One group in particular—just as Victoire had suspected—turned and stared at her. At the center stood a petite girl with long brown hair and very soft features. Celia Ward, Ted's long time girlfriend. Her displeasure at Victoire's sudden presence was practically palpable. Victoire made a point to look anywhere but at her.
"You know everybody," Ted said, right as a stocky boy with blonde hair suddenly came happily rushing over towards the pair of them. Victoire smiled at the sight of him.
"You! You look amazing," said Simon Reed, Ted's friend and housemate. He hugged her and lifted her off the ground in the process. "We're still getting married, right?"
"Is that still the plan?" she asked with a friendly smile.
"You'll come around," he added. "I mean, now that I'm done with school, our chances of seeing each other are becoming fewer and farther between." He sighed dramatically. "I don't know what I'm going to do to get through the day."
"You could start by fawning over a girl who's actually interested in you," Ted suggested before he pat Simon on the back, threw them all a look asking to excuse him, and then turned to join Celia, who was clearly waiting to speak to him. Victoire couldn't help but notice she was trying to make her face look as annoyed as possible for Ted to see. Or maybe that was just her face…
"He's just jealous," Simon joked, prompting Victoire to smile. "Come and sit." He gestured towards a nearby set of chairs. "We can catch up."
"Alright," she said, feeling less apprehensive already now that she had Simon to chat with. For all his silly flirting, Simon truly was the loveliest person to talk with. If she didn't have Ted around—which she was sure Celia would make sure of—she was happy to have Simon. Perhaps this night wouldn't be as bad as she had thought…
Two hours would pass without incident. Victoire found herself sitting with her siblings, Simon, and some of his friends as they all traded various stories about school, people they all knew, or playful ribbing of each other. There was loads of laughter, and some of the most genuine and sincere fun she'd had in ages.
If she were being honest, this was something she hadn't experienced in a long time. If she had been with Colleen and that crowd—if she had told some of these playfully embarrassing stories about any of them—she'd be in for a world of repercussions and wrath. Her usual friends didn't know how to have light-hearted fun; everything with them was always so serious. This was what she missed most about having people like Ted and Simon in her life. Things were simply more carefree; more delightful.
To make a good night even better, Celia and her friends seemed to want as much to do with her as she did with them. They kept to themselves and only proceeded to look in her direction if Ted happened to be anywhere within her vicinity. It was when he came near to chat that she could suddenly feel the presence of several pairs of eyes burning into her—a feeling she was experiencing at that exact moment.
"He had no idea," Louis was telling a small group of them, recalling an embarrassing Ted story from their childhood. "He thought it was juice or something, and so he goes over to the glass and throws it back in one swig."
"You thought Firewhiskey was juice?" asked a boy called Caleb, his laugh loud and boisterous.
"I was...what?" Ted glanced at Victoire. "Seven?"
"Probably," she said with a smile. "But the look on his face—" She started laughing as she puffed out her cheeks in an attempt to imitate that expression. "It looked just like that. He turned bright red and started yelling that his throat was melting."
"It was one of your finest moments," Dominique teased, glancing up at Ted. "You're yelling like a madman and no one could figure out why. It wasn't until my uncle realized he'd misplaced his drink, then put everything together."
"Your grandmother pitched a fit," Victoire said to Ted. "You were sick all night. You were sick in the bushes at one point."
"I honestly remember none of this," Ted mused, "Apparently because I was drunk. At seven-years-old..."
"Getting pissed at seven," Simon laughed, patting Teddy on the back. "This one started young."
"I still hate Firewhiskey to this day," he offered, standing up and pushing his hair out of his eyes. "I won't touch it."
"I probably wouldn't either," Louis said to him.
Ted laughed, but turned to venture off—back over to where Celia was eagerly waiting for him after silently beckoning him back for the last fifteen minutes. A look of immediate relief crossed her face as he approached.
Everyone else took the lull in the conversation as an opportunity to stretch and walk around as well. Caleb went off to talk to other friends; Louis and Dominique went to find more food. It left Simon and Victoire sitting there alone on their own.
"It's good to see you and T.R friends again," he said to her, though his eyes were still on Ted. "To be honest, I didn't even know that you two had properly made up."
"We only did about a month and a half ago," she said, sipping on her butterbeer.
"Yeah...Celia loved that," he said as they both happened to chance a look in her direction. She and Ted were talking in whispers; she seemed to be talking very fast.
Victoire rolled her eyes. "If she had her way, we never would have spoken again."
"Yeah, what happened there? T.R. had mentioned you two had started speaking again, but he never said how or why it happened. Never said who sought who out to make amends."
"He sought me out," Victoire offered, glancing over to where Ted and Celia were now smiling about something; he was wrapping his arms around her. "It happened down by the Black Lake, one ugly afternoon before exams…"
Victoire remembered it like it was yesterday. It had been an afternoon where she had been running as quickly as her legs could carry her down the central staircase at Hogwarts. Even then, it didn't seem to be fast enough.
As she finally reached the bottom, she rushed out of the double doors at the front entrance and was hit by the light of the afternoon. She blinked in an annoyed manner, or perhaps because she could still feel the tears burning her eyes, but proceeded to make her way across the grounds. Several people were messing about and enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon, but she couldn't help but feel anything other than resentment toward the lot of them.
She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robes and continued walking at a fast pace.
"Hey, Vicki!" a voice called from nearby. A group of fourth-year girls were waving at her to come join them on a sunny spot near a shade tree. She paused for a moment, fearful that they might catch a proper glimpse of her. She was standing far enough away that they wouldn't notice her puffy eyes and red cheeks, and she didn't dare venture any closer.
She waved back, but it was cursory. She hastily continued toward the lake, only wishing to be left alone.
She made a point to keep her eyes down until she found herself trailing the edge of the great, black lake. She stopped and glanced out upon it, feeling the slightest bit calmer already. Having grown up on the water, she had a very peaceful reaction to it; she often sought out this spot in particular when she needed a place to be on her own.
A chilly breeze began blowing her hair back as she stood there staring at the mountains and the tree tops that were running along the lake's opposite shore. She sniffled. A part of her wished she could run off to the other side and then just continue running; she wanted to get away from everything. The stress of exams and stupid, awful people.
She felt her body shake. She wasn't sure if it was because of the chill in the breeze or because she felt so exhausted, but whichever it was, it triggered a release in her that wouldn't allow her to hold back the tears any longer. She had managed to keep most of it in over the last few minutes, but finally relented as she slid down the length of a nearby tree into a sitting position and began sobbing into the sleeves of her robe.
Why was everything so hard lately? Why were her friends so mean? They'd started an awful rumor after she'd spent several nights helping out a friend—her housemate, Tom Haines—prepare for their O.W.L.s in the library. Apparently they couldn't have just been studying, it had to be something more scandalous. It had to be that they were messing around; that she was giving him a blowjob between the aisles of books, which...that didn't make any sense. She wouldn't have done that for so many reasons, but especially because she'd had a boyfriend at the time.
But the rumor had caught fire and people talked. Suddenly it seemed as though everyone was having a laugh at her expense; others were calling her a cheater and some rather horrible names to go along with it. It had destroyed her relationship with her boyfriend, David, and it had made her life a living nightmare for the last few weeks. And it only happened because she had dared call Colleen Lynch out in front of their mutual friends for being rude about something; she'd apparently felt like a fool, so Victoire had to pay.
Colleen had of course denied it all. She'd even faked pity and sworn revenge on whomever it was that started the rumor, but Victoire had discovered the truth easily. Her life had been flipped upside down and reputation tarnished because Colleen was mildly embarrassed over something stupid. It was the day Victoire knew she had to get away from this girl and everything to do with her. That friendship had to end.
But the damage was done. People were still taking the piss; some of the ruder, cruder boys were asking if she would "help them study" in the library. Her friends were dead to her, her boyfriend had ended things over the drama, and she didn't have anyone else. On top of that, the most important exams of her life were days away and she was crumbling under the stress of it all.
Today had been the day she'd simply broken.
She heard laughter and playful screams coming from somewhere nearby and looked up. This part of the lake was also wildly popular for couples who frequented the area for some alone time, so she wasn't entirely surprised by the sounds. She only hoped that they were keeping themselves busy enough to not find a reason to discover her.
Unfortunately, sounds of nearby branches and leaves cracking until the footfalls of people approaching indicated she was about to be discovered. She quickly wiped her face and buried it into her knees, which she'd pulled up to her chest in an attempt to make herself look smaller. Whomever it was better keep walking.
"You're good at Potions, though," said a female voice. "You shouldn't have to worry about your N.E.W.T."
"I'll worry about it until it's over," said a male voice that Victoire felt an instant familiarity for the second she heard it. It was strong enough that it caused her to look up and search for the source.
"I just wish it was over already," he added.
"Soon enough," said the female, laughing as she turned her head and looked directly in Victoire's direction. It was in that exact moment that both Victoire and the girl recognized the other. Their faces both immediately fell.
"Of all the people…" Victoire muttered to herself as she looked away and forced her gaze onto the lake. This day just went from bad to worse.
She could hear Celia and Ted's quiet voices talking among themselves; she knew that they were probably conversing as to why she was sitting out here alone. She honestly hoped she was wrong and that they weren't. She hoped they both suddenly felt so terribly awkward upon discovering her and that they turned and walked as fast as they could.
"Why!?" Celia's voice shouted as Victoire put her head between her knees once more. She groaned a little. Why won't they just go away? Why wouldn't they just—?
"Hey," came Ted's voice suddenly.
By the sound of it, he was somewhere nearby. His sudden closeness startled her so much that her head shot up simply to check that she wasn't imagining things.
Sure enough, there he was, standing about six feet away and staring down at her. His hands were in the pockets of his robes and his face had been unreadable until he'd caught a full look of her when they made eye contact. He now looked concerned, but he said nothing.
She didn't return the greeting, but merely glanced over at Celia. She was still standing in the same spot she had been in before looking extremely annoyed. She was pacing in a small circle.
"How are you?" he asked rather carefully.
Victoire turned her attention back to him. But there was no warmth. "Fine."
"You don't look fine."
"Look again then," she said, fighting a strange battle within herself as to whether she should cry or shout at him to piss off.
He nodded as he continued to watch her. What the hell did he even want? Did he really expect her to sit here and speak to him as if nothing had ever happened between them? As if they were still friends? As if they hadn't spent the last year not speaking to each other?
"I know it's been awhile," he said slowly, "but if something was wrong, you know, we could…I'm still here to—"
"Are you?" she asked as her tear-filled eyes focused directly on him. Was he serious with this rubbish? He hadn't spoken to her in a year, but he was going to claim he was "still here" or whatever he was on about? He hadn't been anywhere for her in a long time. A very long time.
"Because last time I checked," she added sharply, "the last thing you said to me was how I needed to mind my own business and that you didn't care about whatever it was I thought?"
He sighed at that, clearly looking uncomfortable. She didn't for one moment feel bad about it.
"T.R," called Celia. "Come on!"
"You'd better go," Victoire said, looking away from him. "I'd hate for my mere presence to cause yet another rift in your relationship."
Ted stood there for a moment, though she must have finally said the right thing to set him off because he turned away and started walking back towards Celia.
Victoire put her head back down and a strange mixture of relief and sadness overcame her. She was happy he had gone, but at the same time she now felt worse than before he'd come over. She wasn't even sure how that was possible—she had felt pitiful before—but she had somehow managed to dive even deeper into the hole of despair that now surrounded her. She began crying again—harder now—and wondered what was even the point?
But she hadn't been allowed to question much or feel too sorry for herself, seeing as soon as she began, she was suddenly startled once again by the presence of someone having approached her. She looked up again and was shocked to find Ted...sitting down?
"We need to talk," he said without looking at her.
She stared at him with wide eyes; a stagnant tear hanging off of the corner of her nose. What was happening…? She even looked back to where Celia had been standing and noticed she was gone. Ted, meanwhile, was absently breaking a twig in his hands.
"I thought you had…" She stopped and pointed toward the spot he and Celia had been standing in.
He still wouldn't look at her. "I just went to tell her that I needed to talk to you and that she may want to head back up to school without me."
The tear from her nose dropped off. "Why?"
"Because I think we needed to talk."
"I told you I was fine."
"Yeah, you obviously seem like it."
"What does it matter?" she asked, deciding not to look at him if he wasn't going to look at her. "Since when did you start caring again?"
He said nothing. He broke the twig in his hand once more.
"Trust me," she continued. "Whatever you're trying to prove here by doing your good deed for the day, or whatever it is, it isn't going to achieve anything and isn't worth the lecture you're going to get from Celia. Just go."
"Yeeeah…" he said slowly. "I probably am going to hear about this later."
"Wish I could say I was sorry about that," she muttered
"I know," he said. "I know. You think I'm a prat."
She hadn't expected him to admit that so readily. "You said it, not me."
He made a pained face. "Fair enough. But you know, I was thinking about you the other day," he broke the twig once more, "and about how shitty things are between us now, and I realized that I did the same thing to you that I always gave you shit about doing to me."
She stared at him.
"When you started hanging out with those stupid girls," he made a face, "I gave you so much shit about ditching me and only caring about what they thought; about becoming one of them. I would sit there and tell you how much I disliked them, but when I started dating Celia and when you did the exact same thing to me, instead of trying to work through it, I just gave up."
"Sounds about right," she mumbled.
"I'm trying to apologize," he said, finally turning to look at her. "This isn't easy."
"Neither is spending the last year having people think that you're the bad guy in all of this," she said. "Having people just assume that I'm a bitch who needs to bash their friend's girlfriend for no good reason other than I'm just a mean and hateful person."
"I know," he said. "And a lot of that was Celia's fault for pushing that."
Did he just…? Had she heard him correctly? Was Celia, for once, actually getting some of the blame?
"I'm not saying I agree with your opinion of Celia," he continued. "Obviously that's not the case. I've just realized that she didn't help things between us much when things were falling apart."
That she laughed at, even if she probably shouldn't have. Oh, how she would have loved to lecture him on how not only didn't she help matters, but that she actively encouraged the dissolve of their friendship.
But she didn't say a word. Her laugh seemed to convey the point clear enough.
"I've realized some things about her in respect to all of this over the last few weeks," he said as he cleared his throat. "But anyway, this isn't about her. This is about us."
"Is there even an 'us' anymore, Ted?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Is there anything worth talking about if you and she are going to keep dating? When you're around her you're not even the same person I used to know."
He stared at her strangely then. It was such a familiar look, but also so very foreign to her now.
"I like to think there is," he said quietly. "We've got so much history. I'd really hate to throw that away, Vic."
She blinked. Most people didn't call her Vic; they called her Vicki or Victoire. The only ones who did were her family and the people she was closest to. And that was exactly what Ted had been for over a decade to her—the person she was closest to.
It hit her like a ton of bricks. She missed him so much. She couldn't say that to him—not here, not now—but even him sitting here brought back such a familiar sense of calm for her, similar to the way being by the water made her feel, that she didn't want to let it go. She wanted to tell him how much she wanted him in her life; how she needed a real friend again that she could trust without question. But she didn't even know if he could be that person anymore. So much had changed. She was different; he was different. Their relationship, if there was one to have, was bound to be different.
But was different better than nothing? That she didn't know. But the only way she would find out was to try.
"Celia and I will never get along," she said finally.
"I know that. I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to get along with me."
She stared at him.
"Look, I know I was a little punch-drunk in love or whatever you want to call it for awhile there when she and I started dating. I was a bit much to deal with."
"A bit ?" she asked, thinking of how much of himself he'd thrown away to become what Celia wanted. A bit didn't even begin to cover it.
"Alright, I was a different person that was horrible for you to be around," he said, throwing her a look. "Happy?"
"Yes, actually."
He sighed. "You've got to cut me a little slack here, Vic. I mean you weren't exactly a treat to be around when Colleen and Penelope were breathing down your neck trying to turn you into one of their mindless clones." He took a deep breath. "That is if they haven't succeeded."
Well, now that was offensive….
"I'm only saying," he added quickly, "we've both made dumb mistakes and I'm willing to forgive and forget because of how much I miss you being around." He looked out towards the lake. "Whether you feel the same way, I don't know. For all I know you're happy to be rid of me."
She didn't say anything right away. Obviously she missed him terribly. She knew she wouldn't be sitting out here on her own crying her eyes out if she had had someone to truly confide in about how stressed O.W.L.s were making her, or that horrible rumor was getting to her, or how she wasn't sleeping well at night. That person had always been him.
"You know that's not true," she said finally.
He smiled. "Well, that's a relief. I was afraid I might have had to beg."
"You would have begged?" she asked.
"I've been known to do some pretty stupid things," he said, seemingly amused. "But since you've already forgiven me, I guess we'll never know."
She laughed at that, taking a deep breath after and finding herself staring at him. This felt normal. It felt right.
"It's weird to be talking to you again," she said.
"It's weird that you called me Ted. Only you, my Grams, Harry and his family call me that these days."
"I'm never going to call you T.R," she said matter-of-factly.
He laughed. "I prefer you calling me Ted to be honest. It'd be weird if you didn't."
She smiled. "Glad that's cleared up, then."
Back at Ted's party, Simon had nodded once Victoire finished recalling her story to him. "I remember him and Celia arguing that night," he said. "I mean, it might not have been that night, but it had to do with you and it was about a month and a half ago, so I wouldn't doubt it."
"What were they arguing about?"
"I didn't really pay attention," he said. "I figured out quickly that you two had talked and she found out and cracked a bit." He glanced over at Celia who was talking with Ted and a friend about something. "I've never understood why she's had it out for you. She acts as if you're some ex-girlfriend or something. She's just an insecure person. Always has been."
"I can tell that much," she said, watching as Louis returned with a plate of snacks and plopped back down beside her.
"I made fun of her hair when we were twelve," he continued. "And Maggie over there told me she cried for an entire afternoon. She's never worn her hair in pigtails again and gets really edgy if people comment on her hair."
"Who's this?" asked Louis.
"Celia," Simon said, gesturing over towards her in a way that Victoire wished he had made more subtle. Had Celia actually been paying attention, she would have known they were talking about her.
"I'll be honest with you though," Simon added, "T.R really does bring out a better side of her. I know it's something you've never seen, but she does actually lighten up and have fun because he encourages her to."
"It's too bad one can't say the same thing about her effect on him," Victoire mumbled.
Simon smirked as Louis threw his sister a funny sort of look. "Tell us how you really feel, Vic."
"You're a laugh, Vicki," said Simon fondly, looking up to see they'd also been joined by the return of Dominique. She was watching Louis strangely.
"I thought we were leaving. You got more food?"
"I wanted a snack before we left."
"That's a bloody meal."
"What do you want? I'm growing..."
Victoire turned away from her siblings, throwing Simon a "this is my life" sort of look before she stood up. He followed suit.
"Leaving?" he asked.
"Seems like it," she said, gesturing to Dominique and Louis' back and forth and bickering. "It is getting late. But it was so good to see you; to properly talk to you."
"It was. We'll have to get together when you're on holiday from school." He went to hug her. "T.R. can come too, I suppose… "
"If he must," she teased, glancing over to where Ted was sitting with his arm around Celia. She would probably have to walk over to them if she wanted to say goodbye to him. She'd done such a good job of avoiding Celia all night.
"I'll do it," Dominique said, seemingly reading Victoire's thoughts. "I'll go tell him we're leaving."
"No, wait," Victoire said as a sudden surge of courage overcame her. "No, I'll go with you."
Dominique, Simon, and Louis all stared at her. With his mouth full, Louis asked, "Really?"
"I'm done avoiding him just because of Celia. He's my friend. Let her squirm for a bit if she doesn't like it."
"About time," said Dominique, evidently proud of this new found resolve in her sister. It was she who then turned and then led the way toward Ted's group.
Victoire hesitated briefly, having hoped for another few moments to prepare herself. That wasn't happening apparently.
She trekked after Dominique, who had stopped and gestured for her to proceed first. Nobody seemed to have noticed them approaching, so she would have to say something.
"Hey, Ted."
No one's head turned faster than Celia's at the sound of her voice. She looked shocked to see her standing there.
"We're taking off, mate," Louis said, having appeared behind his sisters and gesturing toward the house.
"Oh," Ted said as he stood and excused himself from his friends, leaving a techy Celia in his wake. "Already?"
"Yeah," said Victoire, stepping a few feet away, "but it was a really good time."
"Glad to hear it," he said as he walked toward the house with them. "I'm really glad you all could come. When I get some time off from training at the hospital, we'll have to get together."
"Absolutely," said Victoire as the four of them stood just outside of the backdoor of the house. "Good luck with that by the way. The training and all."
"I'll need it, that's for sure." He smiled a little as he put out his hand to shake Louis's. Dominique gave him a playful punch in the shoulder.
He turned back to Victoire and they both stood there awkwardly staring at each other. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was: how do they say goodbye? She would normally hug him, but with Celia sitting just feet away? If they even shook hands, Celia would probably explode.
"Night," he said, taking her by surprise by leaning forward and hugging her. "And honestly, thanks for coming."
She hugged him back, but let go rather quickly. She didn't dare chance a glance in Celia's direction even though she wanted to.
"Night," Dominique and Louis said together, with Louis opening the door first and standing aside for his sisters to pass.
Victoire dawdled for a moment, but just a quick one. When she finally turned away, she couldn't help but smile. This night had definitely gone better than expected.