DISCLAIMER: Teddy Lupin, Victoire Weasley and all the other Harry Potter characters are property of JK Rowling, not me; no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Happy February :) Sorry for the long time between updates – I had an insanely busy week last week, and I had no time to write. But I got a snow day today (yay :D ) so I came home and wrote like crazy. Uh, I mean, came home and did my homework :P

The Art of Being Subtle

Chapter Five - James II

Hogwarts Express – 14th July – 1:08pm

"I still can't believe that this is your last ever trip on the Hogwarts Express, you know," Victoire said. She was curled up next to Teddy, her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

"I know," her boyfriend replied, looking out of the window as they sped through the countryside somewhere near Birmingham. "It's like, this is it: your childhood is over now. You've got to be a grown up from now on . . . no more messing around and having a laugh, it's all seriousness and grey suits from now until I retire."

"You make it sound such an attractive prospect," she laughed softly. There was a slight pause. "Are you scared?" she asked.

"Of what?" Teddy asked.

"Growing up. Getting a job. Living in the real world," she replied. "Take your pick."

"No . . . not really," he said, at length. "I mean, I love Hogwarts, truly I do, but it'll be nice to get out . . . start living life for real, as opposed to doing the whole 'get up at eight, have breakfast in the Great Hall, then Potions from nine until ten' and all that. It'll make things more . . . interesting, I think. Why? Are you scared?"

"Merlin, yes," she replied. "Why do you think I signed up for seven years in medical school? I want to stay in school - I can't face the real world. It's scary out there, you know?"

"Yeah, I do know," he said. "But I'm going to be fine – and so will you, next year. It's not as hard as you think. Well, I sure as hell hope it won't be." They both attempted a laugh, but neither of them quite managed it.

"I'm really going to miss you, next year," Victoire said, determined not to cry. She'd be doing enough of that when she had to leave him at the end of the summer.

"I'm going to miss you, too," Ted whispered. "You know . . . we should have figured this whole thing out a lot earlier. We could have had so much more fun."

Victoire gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah . . . we should have. But we're going to have a fun summer, right?"

"We-ell," drawled Ted, drawing out the word. "I guess that depends on what you mean by fun." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Why, what exactly are you suggesting, Mr. Lupin?" Victoire asked coquettishly, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Ooh, I don't know . . ." He shrugged. "Perhaps something like this?" He leaned in and kissed her.

"Mmm, no," Victoire pulled back after a while. "I personally think that fun would be something more like this . . ." She kissed him again.

It was Ted's turn to pull back. "Miss Weasley, I'm very sorry to break it to you, but I do think that you will be needing some practise at this fun business," he said seriously.

She pouted, trying not to giggle. "Oh? And who is going to help me practise?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know," Teddy pretended to think about it. "Possibly . . . myself?"

"Possibly," Victoire said, considering. She raised her eyebrows. "Personally, I think that – oof! What the hell? Ted?" He had shoved her off his lap and onto the floor of the train. She glared up at him. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Shut up!" he hissed. She opened her mouth angrily, but before she could say anything, a voice at the door piped up.

"Victoire? Ted? What's going on?" James Potter asked, staring curiously at the pair of them.

"Hello, James," Teddy said, smiling pleasantly at him. "How are you?"

"Er . . . fine, thanks," James answered, looking strangely at the pair of them still. "What's Vic doing on the floor?"

"Er, she . . . um . . . er . . ."

"I lost my earring," said Victoire, scrabbling around on the floor for the item.

"You've got both of them in your ears," pointed out James.

"Oh, I know – it wasn't these earrings that I lost – it was another set," she laughed rather manically. "From my . . . uh . . . bag. Where I keep my . . . uh . . . other earrings."

"Right," said James, utterly confused. "Um . . . yeah. I'll . . . uh . . . just be going, then," he said, still looking at them as though they were insane. "See you guys at the station."

He backed off slowly. "Bye!" Victoire called. She waited until he had disappeared from view, and looked sideways at her boyfriend. "Oh, my God," she said, leaning back against the seat of the train and closing her eyes in relief. "That was close."

"I know," Teddy agreed. "Talk about a close shave, right? If James found out, there'd be no keeping it from anyone. He's got a bigger mouth than Uncle Ron."

"I know," said Victoire. "A little warning would be nice, next time you're going to hurl me across the room like that, though," she glared at him.

"Sorry," he said. "It was instinct. Quick thinking. And I didn't hurl you across the room! I placed you gently on the floor."

"Gently?" she protested. "That wasn't—"

"It so was," he replied. "And anyway, what was with your absolutely appalling acting skills? 'Oh, I've lost an earring!' 'Oh, I've broken a nail!' 'Oh, my hair is out of place!'?" he put on a falsetto voice.

"Excuse me!" Victoire said, looking outraged. "At least my acting skills were actually present, Mr Um Er Um Er Um!"

"Touché," he replied. "Anyway, d'you reckon James suspects anything?"

"Nah," Victoire reassured him. "He's completely oblivious."

"Your sister," James announced, walking into the carriage he was sharing with Fred and Louis and pointing at the latter, "is completely insane. And so's Teddy."

"Huh?" asked Louis, looking up from a copy of The Quibbler. "What? Why?"

"They're both in one of the compartments back there, and they're both being really weird."

"Weird how?" Louis asked.

"Like, rolling around on the floor and being really kind of . . . uptight and secretive," James said.

Louis raised an eyebrow, and said with the air of one who has seen it all already, "Older sisters can be like that. I wouldn't worry too much."

"Yeah," said Fred, who had caught the latter part of their conversation as he walked into the compartment with a disgusted look on his face. "And at least they were just being weird, not like my older sister."

"What's she doing?" James asked.

"Roxanne," Fred announced dramatically, "is snogging Christopher Macmillan!"

"Ew!" said Louis.

"That's disgusting," said James.

"It is," Fred agreed, gravely. "Anyone want to play Exploding Snap?" The subject of the strange behaviour of elder sisters was left by the wayside as the three of them threw themselves into a very complex game, determined to use their last few hours of being able to do magic in a productive way.

By using a variety of jinxes, charms and hexes to cheat their way to a win.

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews :) I really appreciate them! I've got another snow day tomorrow, so I'll hopefully update then, as well. See y'all soon! xx