September 1st, 2017

The barrier wall disappeared as Victoire pushed her trolley through at a jogging pace. She smiled once she slowed down and glanced back at it. She had done it. For the last time, she had run through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾'s as a student on her first day of term. She could still remember the feeling of apprehension seven years previously as her father encouraged her to take it at a run. Now, she'd done it for the last time.

Both Louis and Dominique caught up beside her; their father and mother in tow as they slowly walked further onto the platform. The scarlet steam engine before them billowed smoke as they all paused.

"Have a good term then," her father said as he hugged Dominique first while her mother hugged Louis. "Be good and make sure you write."

"We always do," Dominique said. "Well, write that is. Not necessarily 'be good.'"

"No more hexing people in the common room," her mother said as she kissed Victoire on the cheek.

"I'll try," she said as she turned and hugged her father.

"Enjoy it," he said with his arm still around his eldest daughter,looking down at her. "It's your last year and I promise you you'll miss it when it's all gone."

"I will, Dad." She grinned. "I really think I will." He kissed her on the top of her head as she suddenly noticed Whit pushing her trolley towards the group of them.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," she said as both parents smiled at her. "Hi everyone."

They all said their hellos, though Victoire's father was already checking his watch and nudging his wife. "I guess we'll be off then. We need to be getting back to Gringotts."

"I'll miss you all," their mother said as she once again kissed each one of her children; she even went one further and kissed Whit on the cheek. She paused on Victoire and her eyes suddenly glistened with tears. "So grown up."

"If this is how she's like at the start of term, think about how she'll be when it's all over," Dominique mumbled.

They all said their final goodbyes and watched their father put his arm around their mother as they walked off and out of sight. Now that they were gone, Victoire sighed and started searching the platform again.

"We've got a little over twenty minutes," Louis said as he checked his own watch. "Which is good because that means there'll be loads of open compartments."

"We should get our stuff on the train then," Dominique said as she started pushing her trolley toward it. The rest of the group followed and quickly unloaded their things into the first empty compartment they could find. Victoire practically threw her trunk inside in an attempt to hurry back to the platform.

"Watch what you do with that thing," Louis said, ducking as the trunk nearly missed his head.

"Sorry," she said as she hustled to the door. She could just make out Louis asking when she was going, but she merely called back that she was popping onto the platform a bit longer; that she was looking for someone.

"Wait, I'll come," Whit said. "I can keep an eye out for Jack."

"Tell your boyfriend I said hi," Dominique shouted after them.

"You can tell Jack yourself in like five minutes," Louis said. "Why would she?"

"I wasn't talking to Whit."

"Who are you talking to, then?" Louis asked as Victoire chose that moment to escape the compartment. She had the entire train ride and all of a term to explain herself to him. She only had less than twenty minutes to take care of other matters.

"Your brother still doesn't know about Ted?" Whit asked as they both stepped back onto the platform and narrowly avoided a small group of girls who were trying to board.

"I don't think I mentioned it," she said, as she glanced up and down through the crowd.

"So I take it you didn't tell your parents yet either?"

Victoire let her expression turn rather amused. "I was thinking about telling them over Christmas. It really is sort of strange to bring up." She started hopping up and down to see over people's heads. "It's not as easy as you'd think."

Whit shook her head. "You're ridiculous."

She shrugged. "We've both kept it a secret to be honest. Ted tells my uncle everything and he still hasn't mentioned it to him because—" She paused and smiled. "We've just sort of been enjoying the last month as our own."

It had been during that first night in the tent that she and Ted had decided it was easier to keep their new relationship a secret rather than tell everyone right away. With Victoire only having one month in between then and when she was set to go back to school, they figured they could at least make the most of their time together without everyone else attempting to butt in. She knew the second her family found out, they were all bound to parade the pair of them around and gush and coo over how cute they were. This was something that neither of them were necessarily anticipating.

"And if someone finds out?" Ted had asked that night as the two of them emerged from the tent an hour and a half after they had entered. They'd kept themselves very busy the last hour getting to know this new side of their relationship. Mostly the parts that involved their hands roaming around the other's body.

"Some people are bound to find out," she said as she glanced around at everyone who was still talking and laughing around the campsite. "But we'll just do what we can."

"I'm going to have to tell Simon," he whispered. "If I don't, he's going to keep trying to fix me up with people."

She smiled at him as she noticed how messy his hair currently was. They really had done quite a bit of rolling around on his camp bed. "Your hair is out of control."

He smiled at her in a way that she now found very sexy. "Does it look like I've just spent the last hour fooling around in a tent? Because that's what it should look like."

"Yes, actually." She reached up and attempted to straighten it out. "It looks just like that."

"Just so you know, your hair isn't much better," he whispered. Victoire suddenly wanted nothing more than to go back inside the tent.

"There you are," said Louis' voice. Victoire immediately retracted her hand out of Ted's hair and turned to where her brother and sister were walking toward them. "Where'd you two disappear off to?"

Ted glanced at Victoire, who shook her head. "Nowhere."

"Nowhere?" Dominique asked. "Nowhere for over an hour?"

"Just for a walk," she said defensively, though given her sister's face, she already knew she didn't believe it. "Around the campsite."

Dominique just stood there smirking at the pair of them, though Louis said, "Well, are you almost ready to head back to camp? It's getting late."

"You have to come and talk to Simon with me," Ted said to Victoire before she could answer.

She glanced back at her siblings. "You all go on ahead."

"I'll walk her back," Ted offered as he took a few steps in the direction of where Simon was currently sitting.

"Alright, I'll find Jack and we'll go," Louis said to Dominique before he turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Dominique continued to stand there smirking.

"What?" Victoire asked in an attempt to sound casual.

"A walk around the campsite?"

She shrugged.

"Right," she laughed and turned to leave, but not before she glanced at Ted. "Hey Lupin, your shirt's on inside out."

Ted quickly checked at the seams of his shirt before looking back at her. "No, it's not."

"Ugggg…" she groaned, her face rather disgusted as she turned to walk away. "You had to check."

Victoire watched her go before she slowly turned to look at Ted. She mustered up a grin before saying, "So much for keeping it a secret."

"She was bound to find out," he said defensively.

Victoire walked over and patted him affectionately on the back. "I'll just have to blackmail her or bribe her not to tell everyone," she said as they both walked to where Simon was currently sitting and talking to a man she didn't know. As they approached, Simon threw his hand up in the air.

"About time," he said. "I was wondering when you two would be done talking."

Ted smirked at Victoire. "Well, in our defense, we finished talking ages ago."

"Then what took you so long?"

Both he and Victoire smiled at each other before Ted shrugged. "We had some stuff we had to take care of. Anyway, what'd you want earlier?"

"I just wanted you to come out here and hang out instead of running off to hide," he said, trying to nonchalantly gesture to where several girls were currently sitting. "You know, get to know certain people. Perhaps things could happen…"

Ted smirked. "You are a man dedicated to the cause, mate."

"Vicki, will you do me a favor," Simon said, turning towards her. "Maybe he'll listen to you. Tell him he needs to realize that work isn't everything and that he needs to have a little fun."

She smiled and turned towards Ted, who was already grinning at her in anticipation of what he knew was coming. "Ted, you need to have a little fun."

"And," Simon continued. "That he needs to start dating again because he's been hiding himself away for far too long."

He actually laughed at that; Victoire tried her best to hide her own laughter as she stood there and repeated, "And you need to start dating more. You've been hiding yourself away for far too long."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Ted said before they both glanced back at Simon.

"Anything else?" Victoire asked him.

Simon sighed and stared at Ted. "I'm just looking out for you."

"I know you are." He smiled. "But I'm actually doing well. In fact—" He glanced at Victoire. "The whole reason I'm not cooperating is that I'm already seeing someone."

"You're full of shit."

"Am I lying?" he asked Victoire. She shook her head.

"When did this happen, then?" he asked. "How long have you been keeping this a secret?"

He sighed. "You could say it was a long time coming."

"Years in fact," Victoire added.

"So who is it?" Simon asked, looking as if he didn't believe a word of this. "Do I know her?"

Victoire smiled. "Quite well."

Simon continued to stare at Ted while waiting for an answer. Ted was staring at Simon as if he was trying to see if Simon could read his thoughts. When he continued to stare at him blankly, Ted nodded towards Victoire.

Simon looked at her. She had assumed for a moment that he got the message, but it turned out he hadn't. He instead said, "He wants you to tell me."

"No." Ted laughed as he took a step closer to her and grabbed her hand. "No, it is her."

Victoire smiled at Simon, whose mouth had fallen open and whose eyes practically jumped from his head. "Shut the fuck up. You're full of it."

They both shook their heads. Victoire said, "We're not."

"I don't believe it."

"It's true," she said.

"Took us long enough, huh?" Ted asked as Simon continued to stare at the pair of them. He was clearly waiting for the prank to start; for someone to say that this was all a joke and they were having a laugh.

"But you two aren't allowed…" he muttered. "Wait, are you taking a piss?"

"No," Victoire said as she shook her head. "No, we would do that."

"Because Ted, if you want me to stop trying to fix you up, just say so," he continued. "You don't have to make shit up."

"I swear to you that we are not kidding," Ted said, dropping Victoire's hand and walking towards his friend. "We've been trying to work this out for some time now. I'm not making this up. I really am in love with her."

Victoire turned and looked at him. It was the first time he'd said anything about actually being in love with her, not that it hadn't been implied earlier with the Amortentia talk. Hearing him actually say it made something inside of her suddenly feel very light and excited. She wanted nothing more than to grab him; to kiss him.

"Prove it," Simon said.

"What?" Ted laughed. "Prove it how? What exactly do you expect us to do—?"

At that exact moment, overcome with what he had said just moments before and simply because she could, Victoire walked over, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. She didn't care who was watching or what was going on. She barely knew these people and she certainly didn't care what they thought.

She pulled away and smiled at Ted for a moment before turning her gaze onto Simon. "That's about as much proof as I'm willing to give."

He gawked at them both; Ted merely shrugged and smiled. After the initial shock had worn off, Simon had managed to soften to the idea. In fact, a week later he'd even pulled Victoire aside and told her that he couldn't understand how he hadn't seen it sooner and how obvious it should have been.

He seemed genuinely happy for the pair of them and made mention to her that he'd never seen either of them so happy before. She had to agree with him there. She'd never felt so content and happy with someone she'd dated. She hoped the feeling would never disappear.

"So," Whit began and she and Victoire continued to look up and down the platform. "Do you think your parents would have let you spend all that time with him had they known you were together?"

"I'm sure they would have let me spend the time with him," she said with a small smile. "It was the time alone with him at his flat that they may have had a problem with." She hopped up and down anxiously again. "Where is he?"

"He'll be here," Whit said as she continued looking as well. It was getting more and more crowded every second as children and their families started filing in to board the train.

"I hope he didn't get held up at work." She frowned. She knew he had a presentation later that afternoon, but that was hours away. He had told her he would be there even though she had told him he didn't have to. She had wanted to tell him goodbye the night before; fearing that he wouldn't be able to get down here fast enough. He hadn't let her, though. He swore he would be here.

"What did you do last night for your big date night?" Whit asked as they walked a few steps forward and leaned against a large wall that offered them a better view of their surroundings.

"We stayed in and hung around at his place," she said. "We tried to cook, but apparently we're both terrible at that so it didn't turn out as well as we had planned. We ended up eating cold sandwiches."

Whit laughed.

"It was fun," she continued. "We went for a walk and just sat around..."

"Just sat around, huh?" Whit grinned. "Now is that code for…?"

Victoire blushed and attempted to hide her smile, but was unable to do it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right…." she said as she nudged her playfully. "Look at how red you are!"

"It was just a really lovely evening and that's all I'm saying!" She laughed and playfully shoved her back.

"Well, I'm glad then," Whit said as she suddenly nodded down the platform. "Wait, I think I see him. It's hard to tell when his hair is the same as everyone else's since I'm so used to seeing him stand out."

Victoire turned and stared in the direction Whit was now pointing. She immediately smiled as she also noticed him walking along the platform; she took off at a jog through the crowd to catch him.

"Ted!" she yelled as she saw him turn to walk in the opposite direction.

He stopped and smiled at her as he waited for her to get closer.

"I'm really sorry," he said as he made—what she found to be—an adorably apologetic face. "We were prepping for this afternoon and I lost track of time and I—"

"Shut up," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I don't care, I'm just happy you made it."

"Yeah, but I should have made it twenty minutes ago," he said, sounding frustrated before smiling at her. "You look cute."

"Me?" she said as she stepped back and took him as he was dressed nicer than he usually was given his presentation later that day "Look at you. All cleaned up and handsome for the dragon pox blokes, then?"

"I like to think I'm always handsome," he joked.

She smiled as she grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd to where she had been standing before near the wall. "Well, I'll certainly agree with that."

"Have I mentioned how I don't want you going back to school?" he asked as she leaned up against the wall and pulled him closer to her.

"About a hundred times," she said as she kissed him again. "At least as many times as I've mentioned that I wished the Christmas holiday was closer."

"Me too," he said quietly. "It's just a couple months when you think about it."

"A couple of very long months."

"Harry and Ginny did it." He grinned. "I randomly asked him the other night how they worked that out and he said it's hard, but when you love someone you make it work."

"Which we'll do," she said confidently as she pulled him close again and kissed him. The entire world seemed to disappear as they stood there together, which was exactly the way she preferred it to be.

"Awwww," she heard Whit say as they broke apart and looked at her. She was standing with Jack, who grinned at the pair of them.

"Don't mind us," Jack said as he headed toward the train, pulling an amused Whit along with him.

"I probably deserve that after all the 'awing' I've done to them over the last few months," Victoire said, wasting no time in kissing him once again—this time a little more passionately. She wished she didn't have a train to catch, that he didn't have to go back to work, and they could just go off back to his flat, and—

"Teddy?" said a familiar sounding voice.

Ted pulled back slightly and stared at Victoire; she noticed the instant recognition in his eyes. He blinked a few times and reached up to rub his bottom lip before he slowly turned around.

"Hey James," he said as both he and Victoire took in James Potter standing there gawking at them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Um," he said with an awkward laugh. "I'm seeing Victoire off."

"By snogging her?" he asked in disbelief as he glanced at Victoire.

"Well, yeah."

"Shit," James said, laughing to himself and apparently swearing casually now. "So wait, are you two…?" He smirked. "You were snogging!"

"Nothing gets past you, mate," Ted said as he grabbed James by the shoulders and turned him around on the spot before ushering him forward a few steps. "Have a fantastic term, then. You don't want to miss the train, so you should get going."

James laughed, practically cackled, once again before he took off running in the opposite direction. They watched him go before glancing back at each other.

Ted shook his head. "He's going to tell everyone."

"You think so?"

"Oh, he's telling them right now," he said as he walked back over to her. "I know he is."

"I guess it was only a matter of time," she said. "I should probably write to my parents before they find out from everyone else."

"Should be expecting a visit from your mum then?" He grinned. "And you'll be way up at school safe and sound while I get to hear about it back here?"

She swatted him affectionately before she kissed him again in an attempt to utilize every second that they had left. They didn't break apart until the train's whistle blew and the steam began heavily billowing from the engine.

"Shit," he said, pressing his forehead into hers. "You have to go."

"Christmas time," she said.

"It'll be nothing," he said as he kissed her forehead. "I know it."

She grinned. "Just so you know, I might even write to you."

He laughed. "I think I might consider writing to you too. We'll see."

"You better," she said as she made a motion to playfully punch him. He grabbed her arm as she did so and pulled her into one last kiss before letting go.

"Have fun, alright?" he said as she took a few steps towards the train which was gearing to go. "I love you and all of the other mushy stuff that you hear me say when no one else is around."

She smiled as she stepped onto the train. "I love you too."

The train gave a great lurch forward as she waved at him. He waved back and continued to do so until she could no longer see him.

She sighed sadly as she glanced out at the cityscape that was now passing before her. Her seventh year was starting in just a few hours. The beginning of the end and the beginning of what she hoped to be, so much more. She was looking forward to a drama free year with no obnoxious girls to contend with and no real boy drama. She could concentrate on her friends and her school work and having fun. She thought about how it definitely had the potential to be her best year yet as she pulled the compartment door open.

"YOU'RE DATING TED!?' Louis yelled as soon as she'd entered. "ARE THEY SERIOUS?"

Dominique laughed loudly as Whit and Jack exchanged amused looks. Victoire sighed as she sat across from her brother and shrugged at him.

"Are you really that surprised?"