title: A Great Hope Fell
pairing: Victoire/Teddy
author: Madeline/chasingafterstarlight
for: Madeline/all the lonely people
warnings: very long, slightly non-linear, Sherlock references
"Victoire."
The blonde girl spun around at once, her hair billowing behind her. She tugged at the edges of her blue scarf as she stared at him. "Yes, Theodore?"
"I, erm..." Teddy found himself scratching the back of his head, feeling all the more awkward as he stared at her. Being a Gryffindor, he was not intimidated by many people, but Victoire Weasley was definitely one that he was intimidated by. It was something about her stance, always so confident, or perhaps it was the way that she–
"Your girlfriend broke up with you," she stated, as if it was obvious.
Furiously, Teddy glanced around. "How do you always do that?" he hissed under his breath.
"Easy," Victoire smiled now, folding her hands in front of her as she began. "First of all, you look a mess. You've got bags under your eyes and the fact that they're bloodshot indicates that you've been crying and probably not sleeping. Second, I know that she was important to you, so she probably is one you would've cried over. You've fixed up a bit more today, perhaps on the hunt for a new girl, but not enough to indicate that you're seriously looking. Your breath smells of cigarettes, but your ex-girlfriend – Michi Breee, was that her name– she'd never let you smoke. And last of all, you're talking to me."
"So?" Teddy asked. "We're friends. I can talk to you without the world ending."
"Acquaintances, Theodore," she replied after a moment, rolling her sharp blue eyes. "Merely acquaintances. And you don't normally talk to me unless you need something. In this case, you want advice on how to get her back."
"I hate how you do that," Teddy grumbled, feeling himself tense despite himself. "You always have to read people like a book. Can't even have a conversation like a normal person."
"I can, but I choose not to," Victoire responded after a beat. "Anyway, the answer is no. I am not helping you get the stupid Michi girl back."
A scowl took over Teddy's face at once, and he sighed, an aura of desperation falling over him. "But Victoire! You always go on about how clever you are. Here's your chance to prove it by helping me out!"
Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I am clever, Theodore, and you know it. However, it would be a precious waste of my time to help a bumbling fourth year regain his past girlfriend. I have no time nor have I got patience for people like you."
"People like me?" he repeated, slightly offended. "What do you mean by that?"
"Why, the mentally inferior, of course," she said. Spinning on her heel, she began to walk off. "Have a nice day, Theodore," she called over her shoulder as she left.
He'd always wondered why she called him Theodore, but he never thought to question it.
–
Victoire Weasley was somewhat of an abnormality.
They'd met for the first time at a young age (perhaps they were seven and eight, perhaps they were younger). Their mothers (well, Teddy's grandmother) had decided that due to the small gap in their ages, they were to become best friends, but that didn't work out too well. Even from a young age, Victoire was more perceptive than the rest.
She could sense any change in the emotions, any difference in the appearance. Nothing he did was above her radar. She would waltz in as if she owned the place and plop down just beside Teddy, a smile on her face as if nothing was wrong. Then the analysis would begin.
"You look upset today," she would chime innocently, as if she was the perfect young child instead of a psychopath genius. "What's on your mind, Theodore?"
Then she would go on to describe, in impeccable detail, everything in his thoughts. She would tell how the downward curve of his mouth indicated that something was upsetting him, yet the slight curve told her that it wasn't anything too bad. She'd tell him that he wasn't very sad, because he hadn't been crying, but his hair was mussed as if he'd been running his hands through it. There were slight, nearly unnoticeable bruises on the backs of his hands, which told her he had been punching something.
"You're lonely," she would proclaim at last, her eyes bright with the euphoria she got whenever she had solved yet another case. "You want friends."
"I have friends," he had scoffed, glaring at her. "It's not my fault that you haven't got any."
Then he would storm out, much to the chagrin of his grandmother. The thing about Victoire was that, despite her flaws, she was a pretty tough girl. She wouldn't cry at Teddy's insults. Instead, she would just laugh, a maniac laugh that nearly drove him insane, and sit back down with one of her millions of notebooks, scribbling away. Scowling, he would try to peek into her book, and she would shove him off. (She wasn't very strong, really, but that was about when one of the guardians would interfere and attempt to keep the peace. It never worked.)
It went on like that for a while. They grew up together, but somehow they were never really close. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Teddy knew that Victoire Weasley wasn't really close to anyone. She just wasn't the type.
She was the type to gain pleasure from sitting in the depths of a musky library, surrounded by knowledge. He would picture her in the library at times, imagining her head buried in books, a rare smile lighting up her admittedly nice-looking face. Some of the time, it bothered him. Some of the time, he was jealous.
Most of the time, he pretended that he wasn't bothered.
–
It was during her fourth year, Teddy's fifth year, that one of Teddy's dorm mates disappeared. The professors attempted to write it off as nothing, but Teddy wasn't quite as stupid as he appeared. The worry that filled the Hall sometimes was thick enough to cut with a knife.
As he walked down the corridors, he would sometimes inadvertently listen in on the teacher's conversations. They were almost always whispering about Benedict, about the best way to get him back, about what could have possibly happened. For whatever reason, the first thought in his head was that Victoire would know.
So he made his way through the corridors, pushing by burly guys and terrifying girls alike, until he reached the library. As always, Victoire was seated alone at a table in the middle of the room. He liked to think of it as hertable. No one else ever sat there.
Her head emerged from the midst of the books, and she cocked an eyebrow at him, which was her way of asking why he had come. He sat down across from her despite his fear and sighed.
"Why are you here?" She spoke at last, her eyes turning into small slits as she stared at him. "No one sits there."
"Well, now I do," he laughed. "Listen, it's about Benedict."
Glancing back down at her books, she asked sharply, "Who is Benedict?"
Teddy laughed, shocked. When she still did not refute her statement, he blinked. "Benedict, my dorm mate."
"What about him?" she asked casually, flipping a page in her book. With a simple glance downward, he realised that she was reading about the five states of matter, some sort of Muggle science. Typical.
"He's gone," he said, frustrated. "Victoire, for someone so clever, you can be so thick sometimes. Honestly, you must have noticed."
"Can't say I did," she replied absently, shutting her book at last. Her eyes travelled up to his face, as if to signify that he had her full attention for once. "When you say 'gone', do you mean dead? I feel as though the teachers might have made a bigger deal about a dead student, Theodore."
"No, he's not dead," Teddy spit out, his face heating up despite himself. It was scary how easily Victoire Weasley could get under someone's skin. "He disappeared not too long ago without a trace and the teachers are baffled."
"Well, of course they are," she informed him. "They're all bumbling idiots. They can hardly get the first years to class, much less find a missing student."
"I was hoping that you would help to find him," Teddy told her tentatively. "After all, you're more intelligent than all of the teachers combined."
She paused. "Yes. I know."
"Is that a yes, then?" he prodded.
"Obviously. This is right up my alley, Theodore. I'll meet you back here tomorrow night and we can get started."
"Hang on," he interrupted, eyes wide. Her last statement sent a shiver up his spine. What had she meant, we? He had never agreed to anything, much less getting dragged nto something as potentially life-threatening as this case threatened to be. Yet, he was a Gryffindor, and what good was bravery if he did not use it? He finished nonetheless with a confused, "What do you mean, we?"
"Well, you and I, obviously," she told him, stacking up her books. "If I'm going to investigate, I'm going to need an assistant."
Then she was off, leaving him with no coherent thoughts other than what have I just gotten myself into?
–
When they were younger, he used to consider Victoire to be attractive– very much so, as a matter of fact. Most people did, what with her creamy skin, blonde hair, and striking blue eyes. Of course, all of that was ruined the moment she opened her mouth.
"Theodore," she declared at Molly's third birthday party. "Theodore, this party bores me."
"What do you expect me to do about it?" Being a full year older than her, ten-year-old Teddy had decided that girls weren't really his thing, particularly younger girls that could tell everything about him just from a glimpse at his clothing.
"Well, you could–" She cut off abruptly. Turning, Teddy noticed that her eyes were (finally) fixed upon the group of boys behind him, as if she was just noticing them for the first time. Her eyes lit up in that way Teddy knew meant that she was all fired up and prepared for analysis.
"Victoire, no," he protested, but it was too late.
Turning to the first of his friends, a tall, stocky boy named Martin, Victoire began her careful analysis. "Cropped hair. Your parents made you cut it, but you only wanted a bit off. They, however, took the liberty of cutting off as much as they could, hence the uneven cuts. You were trying to shove them off as they cut. You've got a bit of a tear in the knee of your trousers, probably because you were hopping the fence on the way over. Your sneakers are scuffed from where you propelled yourself over. You stayed over at his house last night–" She pointed at Teddy's other friend Michael, "and you borrowed his deodorant."
Martin tensed up at once. Despite his skinny boy physique, Teddy had a feeling that Martin could pack quite a punch, and he hoped that Victoire wouldn't be the one to prove his theory correct. To his relief, Martin simply demanded, "How?"
"Was I right?" Victoire demanded, her eyes bright and somehow so far away.
"Tell me how," Martin hissed under his breath, his bronze eyes unusually dark.
Persistent as ever, Victoire replied simply, "Was I right?"
"Yes," he admitted at last, crossing his arms. "Now you must tell me how."
"I told you already, it's the simple art of observing and deducting. Nothing too complex," she said absentmindedly, her eyes travelling to Michael. "Your parents have been fighting, haven't they? I wouldn't bring it up, but you've already told these two 'geniuses'."
Michael's jaw dropped. "How could you know that?"
"I won't give away any more of my secrets," Victoire informed him, smiling wickedly. Turning on her heel, she spun off.
"Why are you friends with that weirdo, Teddy?" Martin whispered, his voice full of disgust.
"I'm not," he responded after a moment, but he knew the moment he said it that it was a lie.
–
The day after his meeting with Victoire in the library, he was called out of class. Of course, since he was a fifth year boy, this was a cause for rejoice. Potions, the class he had been called out of, was the most boring of all, and he didn't even care to know the reason why he had been called out as long as he was missing Potions. Of course, they made a point to tell him anyway.
"Teddy Lupin," some wrinkled old lady said, staring at him accusingly. "Victoire Weasley claims that you will be assisting her as she investigates the case of your dorm mate Benedict."
"Victoire claimed correctly," Teddy told her, a smug grin taking over his face. "Have you got a problem?"
"Problem! Why, yes I do!" She exclaimed. "You haven't paid a lick of attention during any of my classes for the past five years. How are you meant to help out intelligent little Victoire Weasley if you can't even manage one Transfiguration class without falling asleep?"
"Trust Vicky's instincts, I suppose?" He grinned wickedly.
"Don't call me Vicky," someone piped up from over in the corner. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see Victoire sitting there, her fragile frame being swallowed up by the large, plush chair. Upon seeing Teddy staring at her, she added, "You haven't got a legitimate reason to be staring at me, Theodore. There is nothing in my teeth or on my face. So kindly sit down before I change my mind about you helping me."
"What's in it for me?" he complained crossly, plopping down into yet another of the large, plush chairs.
"Why, the thrill of the case, of course!" the Transfiguration professor exclaimed. "And of course, the time out of class, not to mention the hero status you would attain around school."
"Hang on a second," Teddy interrupted, grinning again. "Did you say hero?"
"Yes," the professor replied, perplexed. "Yes, I did."
"I'm in," Teddy told her abruptly. Then, without warning, he stood up. "So, when do we start?"
–
On Victoire's first day at Hogwarts, she looked just as nervous as all of the other first years. It was a weird thing for him to think about, really; he had never even considered the possibility that Victoire Weasley could have feelings akin to those of other children her age. Yet she stood there shaking in line for the Sorting Hat, even though he had no qualms about which house she would be put into.
When her name was called, she stepped up to the stool, her face a clear mix of worry and excitement. She placed the Hat upon her sleek, straight blonde hair and smiled in anticipation.
The Hat took a bit more time with her than it had with the others; from the look on her face, it was as if they were involved in a deep, meaningful conversation. Then at last, the Hat bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!" and she beamed.
At first, she was the prize of Ravenclaw. She was a smart girl; that much was obvious to anyone who came into contact with her. However, after a while, most of Ravenclaw got annoyed with her, and Teddy knew exactly why. Despite her intelligence, Victoire was still one of the most unbearably annoying and arrogant females in the school.
Her favourite term to use to describe others in the school was 'idiots', though she was partial to 'stupid' and 'imbeciles'. She looked down on everyone, including people in her house, and eventually people started to declare her 'intolerable' and 'just plain annoying'. She, however, just took it like it was the best compliment in the world.
He had a feeling that, somewhere deep down inside, Victoire Weasley had a strong sense of house pride. While she broke quite a few of the school rules, she still wore her Ravenclaw tie every single day with a big smile on her face.
Her name and her house earned her a lot of attention at first. People would come up to her often, saying some variant of 'aren't all Weasleys in Gryffindor'? She'd just glare at them and then inform them, in no uncertain terms, that she was far from the typical Weasley and if they ever implied that all Weasleys conformed to some horrible 'stereotype' again, then she would be sure to get her revenge. The scariest part that she would never say what her revenge was; she would just walk off and leave it at that.
He admired her in a strange sort of way, but only from a distance. Her disdain for him was obvious; he saw it in her eyes every time that she looked at him. She thought that he was an idiot, much like everyone else, and maybe he was, but he was also so much more. At least, he thought so.
–
"This is your dorm?" Victoire hissed, her disgust written all over her face. "Honestly, I thought my dorm was bad! All the girls complain because I tend to conduct experiments every half-hour. This, though... this is beyond horrible!"
"Yeah, well, you can't expect us to be perfectly neat," Teddy griped, standing protectively at the base of his bed. "Now, what exactly are you looking for?"
"Anything and everything," she replied with a smirk. However, instead of bending down and digging through the mess, she simply stood up and surveyed the room. Her unblinking eyes travelled over their belongings, stopped on the mess of clothing that surrounded Benny's bed. She hesitated before walking over, her eyes flashing as though she had found something. Then, she backed off suddenly and clutched at Teddy's hand. "We've got to get out of here."
"Have you found something?" he inquired, surprised. Though he knew of how brilliant she was, he still found it amazing that she could find what she needed to in just a matter of seconds.
"You could say that," Victoire answered slowly. "Prior to his disappearance, he'd been mixed up in some pretty dark magic, particularly dark for a Gryffindor, of all people."
"How do you know?" Teddy demanded at once. After all, Benedict had been a dorm mate of his, and the things that Victoire was accusing him of were very serious. He had to have solid proof first.
"Well, first of all, he's always seemed very secretive, but obviously I'm not accusing him just based on that. Second of all, he has some very toxic, dark magic-associated chemicals coating some of the things in your dorm. Third, he has a stash of letters stacked under his bed, where he had hoped no one would see them. And last of all, the book of restricted dark spells is by his bed. Is that enough, or do you need more proof?" She raised an eyebrow, challenging him to say anything back. He didn't speak a word. Instead, he just stood there and gaped at her for a moment, trying to get his scattered thoughts back together.
"That traitor!" Teddy exclaimed at last, a shot of adrenaline running through his veins. "He'd been doing dark magic all that time! We were friends! I was friends with a dark wizard!"
"Wasn't like you could've figured it out," Victoire snorted. "You're too dense. Anyway, let's go; we've got quite a bit of explaining to do to those bumbling people that we call 'school authorities'."
"But wait," Teddy said, catching Victoire's wrist. She stopped, cocking her head at him to ask what the heck he was thinking, and some strands of her soft blonde hair fell into her face. Resisting the urge to push them back, Teddy continued, "So he disappeared because he was into dark magic?"
"No, of course not," she sighed impatiently. "It must be so boring inside your brain, Theodore! Honestly. Anyway, he disappeared because he didn't do something that they wanted him to do. They warned him; that much is obvious by the graffiti painting by Benedict's bed. He didn't listen, though. He panicked, hence the frantic notes – all balled up in the rubbish bin now, of course. Time passed, and he still did not fulfill their commands, so they took him."
"Imagine he'll ever come back?" Teddy asked, biting his lip.
She looked up at him, and for the first time, Teddy thought he saw a hint of emotion in her blue eyes. With a grin, she informed him, "I'll ensure that he is returned safely."
"Somehow that doesn't sound too convincing to me," Teddy says, but he laughs and grins at her as if to show his gratitude, and she smiles back. He decides that he likes her smile; despite her hard exterior, her smile is genuine.
–
Back in first year, she fell into the lake.
A group of boys were crowded around the icy pond, and she was in the centre of them, her blonde hair whipping around her face.
"From what I can deduce," she said confidently, "the ice will not break if someone stands on it. So yes, I do believe it is safe for you and your little rambunctious pals to go skating today. Do have fun!" She began to march off then, a cocky smirk on her pale face.
Of course, one of the boys took that opportunity to seize her shoulder and spin her around. She gave him an angry glare, but he spoke softly. "If you're sure it won't break, then, go and stand on it." His smile was evil, his eyes dark, and Teddy didn't really like the look of the situation. But before he could step in to intervene, Victoire was prancing onto the ice.
She stood in the middle, throwing out her arms. "See, I told you so!" Stomping a foot, she smirked at them. "I am always right."
"Oh, aren't you?" one of the boys whispered from beside Teddy. Teddy knew what was coming and he tried to stop him, but of course the boy just hadto get his revenge, and before Teddy knew it Victoire was splashing into the freezing cold lake.
Despite his hero complex, he didn't bother helping her. He just watched, eyes wide with pity and surprise, as she clambered out of the freezing lake, looking a bit like a drowned rat. It would be too much of a risk for him to save her, he decided; he didn't want his friends thinking that he was friends with the strange girl. Her eyes watered as everyone around them laughed, acting just like the stereotypical, immature young children everyone thought them to be.
"Using magic to melt the ice doesn't count," she whispered as she fled, still dripping wet. The laughter died down after a bit.
Teddy pinpointed that as the point where Victoire began to be all the more condescending toward her fellow students, going so far as to talk constantly about how inferior they were to her. She had a good reason, at least. He felt guilty about it for ages.
–
"You're saying that a young Gryffindor boy has been in contact with some dark wizards?" the Headmaster asked skeptically, her eyes crinkling. "And they took him because he wouldn't do what they asked him to?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Victoire nodded. "Look, I know that you're all under the impression that all Gryffindors are perfect little angels, but I need you to get rid of that false piece of information right now. Delete it."
"Victoire, not everyone can delete things –" Teddy began, but of course he was cut off by the Headmaster once again.
"Who do you suspect this dark wizard was?" she inquired.
"Honestly, I am not sure," Victoire responded after a moment, blinking rapidly, as if the blinks coincided with her train of thought. "I have quite a few ideas, though. Eight, actually."
"Eight?" The Headmaster, apparently not accustomed to Victoire's expansive brain, looked as if Victoire had just told her that she was secretly a maid with twenty children and five husbands. "Eight ideas already?"
"Yes," was Victoire's eloquent response. "Of course, this will require a bit of investigation, so my partner Theodore and I will investigate tomorrow. It is Saturday, after all; we have the day off of school, which makes it theperfect time –"
"Children are normally not allowed off school grounds on Saturdays, Miss Weasley," the Headmaster reminded Victoire cautiously, blinking just once to show her imminent surprise.
"Yes, but Theodore and I are hardly normal children, are we?" she smirked, standing up, and Teddy didn't even attempt to control his surprise. Was she seriously suggesting that he was abnormal? He'd always assumed that she lumped him in with the rest of the dull students, but here she was, proclaiming to the world that she considered him to be special. It was a bit of a shock, really. Disregarding his surprise, Victoire barreled on. "Face it, you need me."
"Yes," the Headmaster spoke at last, clearing her throat. "Yes, I regret to say we do."
"Very well," Victoire said, seeming satisfied. "You will let us out tomorrow, and we will head off to Hogsmeade for investigation. It would be nice to have someone who could Apparate, though, obviously not all of my suspects live in Hogsmeade."
"We'll send someone with you for the day," Headmaster McGonagall relented. Her face seemed to convey her defeat; obviously, she had never had to deal with an overly intelligent (albeit thoroughly irritating) fourth year before.
"Cheers," Victoire spoke at last, her face splitting into a smile. As she stormed off, Teddy followed her, shooting the Headmaster an apologetic glance to make up for Victoire's inherent rudeness.
–
"I can't believe I'm doing this," complained Teddy as he glanced around the small wizarding town. "Honestly, Victoire, what good is this doing?"
"Plenty of good," Victoire mumbled absentmindedly. "In fact, I've already eliminated one of my suspects on the basis that he is too thickheaded to have pulled this off without being caught. That leaves only seven more."
"Seven more..." Teddy trailed off, glancing around. "So, where are we headed then?"
"London," Victoire replied, pushing back a strand of her silky blonde hair. He tried not to watch her, tried to push back the warm, fuzzy sensation he got just from looking at her, but it was becoming harder and harder to resist. Victoire was a pretty female and he was a guy, still succumbing to his hormones.
He shook off the bad thoughts at once and turned his attention back to Victoire and their 'transport', just as Victoire grabbed his arm and they vanished, apparating to the next location. Once they landed once again, he fell to the ground, trying to keep his breathing steady.
"What was that?" he demanded as he slowly got to his feet. "You could've given me some warning!"
"We're about to Apparate, Theodore," Victoire told him in a bored tone, her eyes twinkling. "Is that what you wanted?"
"Would've been nice to have warning beforehand, thanks," Teddy grumbled, but he followed her as she stormed off nonetheless.
At last they came to a house. It was small, smaller than most houses Teddy had seen, but it had a certain charm about it. Of course, Victoire wasn't there to appreciate the beauty of the small house. She crept to the window and began to peer in.
"Victoire!" Teddy exclaimed, feeling more than a little bit uncomfortable. "Isn't that... well, a bit creepy? Something a stalker would do?"
"No, it's something a detective on an important case would do," she retorted, pushing the curtains out of the way. "Honestly, Theodore, keep up." She continued to peer for a minute, obviously taking in everything inside, and then she shook her head. "Not them. No time to explain. Next person, please."
They went on like that for hours, creeping on all of the people that Victoire suspected could possibly be involved, but Victoire didn't seem to think any of them were actually the guilty culprit. That was, until they came to the last person.
"Yes," she declared, her face lighting up, "yes, this is him. Come on, Theodore, we're going inside."
"This is more than a little illegal," Teddy reminded her, but he couldn't even shove her off due to her vice-like grip on his arm, so he had to follow her into the cellar of some random man's house.
Down there, it was cold, wet, damp, and dark, not exactly Teddy's cup of tea. He swore as he hit his foot against some random chunk of metal, and then swore again when Victoire's foot collided with his leg, causing her to whisper something along the lines of 'can't you take a hint?'. He had no idea what they were looking for; all he knew was that he had to follow her as if his life depended on it or else risk getting lost – or worse.
Of course, after about five minutes the lights switched on, revealing a tall, burly man with an angry face. "Why are you here?" he bellowed.
"Ah, Mr. Carrow," Victoire stated confidently. "Really, it has been a while. I had no idea that you had stooped down to the level of taking young boys from schools when they did not bend to your will! That's a new low, even for you."
The Carrow man cackled loudly, shaking his head. "Prove it."
"Easy," Victoire retorted, and he watched her with pure admiration clouding his eyes. "There are scratches on the wall in the left corner, indicating that someone was here and tried to get out. They're deep, but not too deep, indicating that the person was strong, but not incredibly so. The Gryffindor tie in the corner finishes off my theory. You haven't got a son, much less a son in Gryffindor, so you had to have kidnapped him."
"You're good, Victoire Weasley," the Carrow man replied, his dark eyes bright with something that sent a chill down Teddy's spine, a chill of fear. "The problem is that you aren't good enough."
Then the lights dimmed and Teddy was plunged into a world of darkness, screaming, and terror.
–
When they were children, Victoire asked him for advice on something.
"Theodore," she said, clambering over so that she was seated beside him. "Theodore, you had a girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah," he replied, visions of his ex-girlfriend (Orion Hendricks, aged six) floating through his mind. "But then she ate my candy so we broke."
"Broke up, I'm assuming?" she said haughtily, her vocabulary far too advanced for a six-year-old. "What was it like?"
"It was okay," Teddy shrugged, not really thinking much of it. "We kissed one time, but her lips were kinda gross. I think she ate a mud pie."
"Are your lips muddy?" she asked curiously, smirking at him.
"No!" he exclaimed indignantly, crossing his arms across his chest. Even when they were children, she always knew just how to get under his skin.
"You know, I don't believe anything unless someone proves it to me," she informed him, standing up straighter so that she was nearly as tall as he was. "So prove it."
So he did. He leaned forward, tentatively pressing his lips to hers. Admittedly, it was a far better kiss than the one he had shared with Orion, but they were young and had no way of knowing how to kiss, so they ended up toppling over into the mud.
"You're rather bad at this," she declared, before stomping off to go find her pile of books. He just laughed and walked off to go find some of his friends.
It was the first time he'd ever considered that he might be attracted to Victoire Weasley, but he pushed it away. After all, she was just an insufferable brat, right? She was definitely of no importance to Teddy Lupin.
–
When he awoke at last, all of the memories of what had happened before came rushing back into his head. Pain filled him. Was he dead? Was he still at the man's house? He struggled to sit up, but the rush of blood to his head hit him so painfully that he fell back down.
Then there was a wrinkled hand on his forehead, pushing him down into his pillow. "No, no, mustn't do that, Teddy," the person told him in an absentminded tone. "Not unless you want to stay in the Hospital Wing."
Disregarding her words, he pushed his head back up a bit and glanced around. "Is that where I am, then? The Hospital Wing? How did I get here?"
"Your little friend Victoire secretly called in a team from the school for backup," the Healer told him, pressing a cold cloth to his forehead. "You blacked out. You're lucky, Teddy Lupin."
"Am I?" he groaned. "Tell Victoire that I'm never helping her out on one of her 'cases' again."
"Aren't you?" He glanced up to see the girl in all of her glory, a smile stretching across her face. "Honestly, Lupin, I thought you enjoyed it. The adrenaline rush, the thrill of the danger, not to mention your little pal Benedict is back at school (on probation, of course) and you're a bit of a hero – you've got plenty of motivation to stick with me."
"Basically, you're asking me to be your permanent assistant?" he asked, blinking once. "I don't know..."
"Just say yes," she hissed, crossing her arms indignantly across her chest. "Really, you need to become more decisive, Theodore. Everyone knows that you want to be a hero, and what better way to become one than by being my assistant? Though, of course, heroes don't exist, and if they did, I wouldn't be one of them."
"Yes," he interrupted before she could continue rambling on. "Yes, I'll be your permanent assistant. However, that does not mean that I am your guinea pig or that you have any sort of right to me – "
"Oh, do calm down, Lupin," Victoire laughed. "I'm better than all that. Anyway, you probably need your rest," she reminded him, most likely seeing the angry glare on his Healer's face. "See you tomorrow... or whenever we get a case."
He originally thought that he was going to regret his decision, but truthfully, he never did.
–
The first time that he'd ever thought of Victoire Weasley as 'intelligent' was a few years before their first year at Hogwarts. He couldn't pinpoint the exact time, but Victoire's parents were trying to teach them sums and of course, Victoire was the first to catch on. She always was.
"Theodore, 6 + 3 is nine, not seven," she scolded him. "Honestly, keep up."
"Honestly, keep up," he repeated bitterly under his breath. It was a bit annoying to the boy that a girl a year younger than him was so much smarter than he was. He glared at her, but she still did not even seem to so much as notice his animosity, much to his growing despair.
She seemed to stare at him then, take in his expression, before stating the obvious. "You are angry with me."
"Yes, because you are annoying," he retorted, his voice full of anger and satire. "Leave me alone."
"Look, Theodore," she said sharply, holding up six chubby fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Six," he replied, counting in his brain. His face lit up once he was done. Maybe he wasn't so hopeless, after all.
"Yes," she nodded in affirmation, then continued, "You are adding three, so you put up three more fingers." Three more of her chubby fingers went up. "Now how many fingers are there, Theodore?"
He counted mentally, the sound of the numbers in his head creating a rhythm. Once he was done at last, he exclaimed, "Nine!" Perhaps he really could get the hang of this. Was this how Victoire had been doing it?
"That's my intelligent little girl," Fleur Weasley said affectionately, ruffling the hair of her oldest child.
"Intelligent?" Teddy repeated, completely baffled. He had never heard anyone use the word before.
"Smart," Victoire explained, beaming from ear to ear. And as he looked at the young girl, all he could do was nod in affirmation. Yes, if there was ever a word to describe the eccentric young girl, it was most certainly intelligent. She was smarter than most people that Teddy knew, even if she annoyed him a lot.
Oh well, nobody was perfect. His grandmother had certainly told him that enough times.
–
After 'The Mystery of the Missing Benedict' (Teddy liked to call it that; Victoire, on the other hand, demanded to know why he came up with such ridiculous titles), they became the crime-fighting team of the school. No one could compete with Victoire's massive intellect, and no one could compete with Teddy's general heroicness, as he liked to call it. Together, they were a fairly flawless team.
For a year, there was peace. They were only called in to solve the most petty of crimes. Often times Mycrofta Corner would misplace things or one of the Zabini boys would beat up an unsuspecting Gryffindor, and they were called in to deduce where Mycrofta had put her textbooks or whether it was Zaniah or Xane Zabini that socked Matthew Creevey in his jaw. It was nothing too stressful, though, and whilst Teddy appreciated it at times, he also craved the danger. Not that he would ever admit it.
Of course, in Teddy's sixth year, things got exciting again when a seventh year got caught with a bottle of pills. There was still a single pill in the bottle, but if there were any others nearby, they were nowhere to be found. The student was shaking, but it became obvious within moments that she had not taken any of the pills.
They called Victoire in to size up the situation.
She stared at the girl, taking in her incessant shaking, scruffy appearance, and mousy brown hair, before she began to speak. "Anna Abercrombie, seventh year. Generally a happy girl, friendly with everyone, but not popular, so to speak. Always felt a bit inferior but never to the point that she would even think about... this."
"I didn't think about it," Anna said, trembling. "I wouldn't!"
"What happened?" Teddy asked as gently as possible, not trusting Victoire to be gentle (after all, her quick wit was more of a liability than an asset at times).
"I can't tell," Anna hissed, her eyes darkening. "I mustn't." Then she fled from the room.
After Anna was gone, Victoire turned to the clump of teachers and school officials, a frown on her face. "It wasn't a suicide attempt," she told them at last. "Somebody forced her into taking the pill, but we found her before she could, thankfully. We'd best be careful, though. Somebody is out there and they want us dead."
Teddy shuddered despite himself.
–
The Pill was what it came to be known. Everyone lived in constant fear of it. Of course, two more random students – one a fifth year, one a third year – turned up in hallways. The third year had taken The Pill and was sprawled in the hallway. Unfortunately, they were not able to revive him.
The funeral was held just days afterward, and of course, Victoire could not sit still and mourn like the other normal kids. She jerked Teddy to his feet and began poking around.
"They said they found him in the corridor, right?" she mumbled absently, staring at the ground. "That must have meant that he had set out at night. Had he?"
"Ask his dormmates," Teddy shrugged. "I don't know him, so I have absolutely no clue."
"You ask him," she retorted. "Most Ravenclaws aren't huge fans of me. Besides, if you're going to be my assistant for this case, you need to do something. I'll investigate while you do that."
"Investigate," he grumbled under his breath, but he approached a group of crying Ravenclaw third years nonetheless. Trying to appear casual, he ended up blurting out, "So, um, how are you doing?"
One of the boys turned around and raised an eyebrow, as if to ask what drug he was on. "Wonderful, obviously." His sarcasm was biting.
"No, sorry, I just..." he ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. Victoire was going to get an earful for this one.
"You're friends with the freak, aren't you?" the ringleader of the three hissed. "That Victoire chick? Thinks she's so much better than anyone else and she alone can solve the mystery?"
"It's true," he protested. "If you want to find out who killed your friend, you're going to have to answer a few questions for me."
The two boys who had spoken before looked murderous, but the third, who was obviously the most reasonable, spoke up. "Guys, chill. We want justice, right? And this guy is offering it. I say we hear him out."
"Did your roommate – did he leave the room while you were asleep?" Teddy questioned, feeling awkward.
"Yes, he tends to do that a lot," one boy informed him. "He'd always been one for occasional solitude."
"Was he alone?" Teddy continued.
"Yes, of course," another threw in. "We wouldn't have let him walk out of the dorm with some murderer! We're Ravenclaws; we're hardly that stupid."
Teddy nodded, discovering that he could think of nothing else to say. "Have you got anything else to include?" he said at last.
"Nope," the first boy told him, popping the 'p', and so Teddy returned to find Victoire.
It took a while, but she was up at the front, examining the dead body like any other normal person would do. "He took the pill," she told him at last. "Why was he so quick to take it, unlike the others?" Turning around, she crossed her arms. "Find anything?"
"Yeah, actually, they said he left the room that night, but they said he does it a lot," Teddy shrugged.
"Same with the other two." Victoire's eyes lit up, and she began to pace around. "Theodore, I think I've got it! So he left the room, right? The other two left the room, each on different nights. They all do it regularly, so they've established a routine. Who would know their routines? Who can ghost about the school after hours, completely unnoticed?"
"Haven't a clue," Teddy admitted after a moment.
"Me neither," Victoire said at last, shrugging. "But at least we're getting somewhere."
–
That night, at about 3 AM, someone burst into their dormitory. Afraid it was the Mysterious Pill Man, Teddy shot up, but he relaxed once he realised that it was just Victoire.
"I have an idea, Theodore," she told him, ignoring the groans from his dorm mates. "Come with me."
Of course he did follow her; at that point, he would've done anything in the world that she asked him to do. This time, it seemed, the thing she wanted him to do was simply walk around the school and come back to report to her who he had seen.
Somehow, he doubted it would be as simple as she made it seem.
But he released her hand nonetheless, slipping off down the dark corridors. The shadows were rather incriminating, he decided, but he kept walking nonetheless. Then the sound of footsteps began to echo behind him.
Taking a big breath, he leaned back against the wall. All he could do was hope that the person wouldn't see him, but of course, hope always failed him. Someone seized his wrist and whispered gruffly, "Come with me."
He followed, whimpering slightly – Victoire would come after him, wouldn't she? She had to, otherwise, this could be his end. His heart hammered in his chest – thump thump thump – and he wondered if kicking would do him any good, but by the looks of this person, he doubted it. Teddy was strong, sure, but he wasn't the strongest by any means.
Then he was being thrust into a dark closet. The lights flickered on, and he was face-to-face with... the janitor?
"Oh, thank Merlin it's you," Teddy exhaled, relieved. "I thought that it was the murderer, honestly, and then I would have absolutely murdered Victoire, if I wasn't dead, that is –"
"
"She sent you?" the janitor growled (Teddy had never bothered learning his name). "The Weasley girl sent you? Oh, that's good; that's very good. I can use you to get to her."
"Wait." Teddy took a deep breath and everything suddenly fell into place. They'd recently gotten a new janitor after the death of Filch, and no one had really thought much of him. He was sort of invisible, just like Victoire had said. Invisible. The janitor was the murderer. It all made sense. "You're the murderer."
"I prefer the term manipulator," the janitor snarled. "I never laid a hand on any of them."
"Then how are they dead?" Teddy hissed. "You had to have forced them to take or consider taking the pills somehow. Did you point your wand at them?"
"Why don't you ask your little friend?" the man retorted, and Teddy spun to see Victoire in the doorway, her hand trembling as she pointed her wand.
"Theodore," she said evenly, but her voice shook just a bit, which was completely unexpected. "Theodore, get out of here."
"Victoire, I –" he started, but then realised he had no idea how to finish that. I'm not leaving you? I don't want you to die? I care about you a lot more than I had originally thought? None of that seemed sufficient, so instead he just shut his mouth.
"Go on, little Weasley," the man cackled, smirking at Victoire. "Explain."
Sighing, Victoire stepped forward, still pointing her wand directly at the murderer. She began to speak, so fast he could barely comprehend what she was saying. "The jar originally had two pills. He'd give it to them in the hallways, threaten them with a wand, tell them he was going to kill them. They had to take one and leave the other for him. Whichever one they took, he would take the other."
"And I'm still here, but one of your students is dead," he exclaimed gleefully. "You'd think those students wouldn't underestimate the power of Dark Magic. They learn about it every day in class."
"But yet, they're still clueless," Victoire reminded him, shaking her head. "Pity."
"And so are you," he snarled, lunging for Victoire. "Prepare to –"
Things happened in a rush then. The ugly, twisted man lunged for Victoire, Victoire ducked, pushing the door open, and a crowd of students and teachers flooded in. He shot a spell wildly, but one of the professors blocked it and seized him.
"Much obliged as always, Miss Weasley," the Headmaster told her with a smile. "We are very much in your debt."
"Obviously," Victoire stated pointedly, and then she seized Teddy's hand, dragging him out of the too crowded closet. Once they were out, she tilted her head. "You didn't think I would honestly let you go alone, did you?"
"I'll admit the possibility crossed my mind," he admitted, giving a small, surprised laugh.
"I'd be lost without my assistant," she told him with a broad, un-Victoire-like smile. And, just like a Gryffindor, he pulled her in for a hug. Though she was tense at first, she softened, placing her head against his chest.
–
After that, they were even more prominent within the school, and of course, fame came with a price. People were always coming them, asking them to solve stupid things like why their Mum was angry with them or if their pet goldfish had gone mad. Fortunately, Victoire could solve cases like those in just moments, so it wasn't too time-consuming.
They took on a few more 'major' cases, had a few more near death experiences, all of the things that Teddy had come to accept as normal. Everything was fine and peachy until Teddy's seventh year, when the two partners hit a bump in the road.
"Theodore, we have a case," Victoire announced, barging into the room where Teddy was kissing his (admittedly very hot) girlfriend.
Glancing up, Teddy groaned. "Can't you go on without me? I'll be there in just a moment."
"No, actually, I can't," Victoire grinned at his girlfriend, an evil smile, and then walked over to the two of them. "It's very important. I'm sure your little playtoy can wait."
The girl's jaw dropped. "Is that all I am to you? Your playtoy?"
"No, no – " Teddy began, but of course Victoire interrupted him. "Yes, of course, couldn't you tell? Now scurry along and go sob to your friends. Theodore and I have important work to do." She flipped her hair and stalked out of the room, Teddy following.
"I cannot believe you!" he said at last. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that we have a very important case, Theodore," she told him, raising an eyebrow. "Your little girlfriends are merely a distraction."
"Maybe they're important to me, Victoire," he hissed, crossing his arms. "Honestly, don't you ever think about me? You really should start."
"Who's to say I don't?" She lifted her eyes to stare at him at last, unfeeling, unblinking.
"Well then, you should start acting like it," he shot back, feeling tougher than ever before. Normally around her, he was cautious, scared that he would get something wrong and she would laugh, but now – now he was angry. "Honestly, you really should be grateful that I've stuck around. I'm one of the few people who even tolerates you."
Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she looked as if she'd been stabbed. Darkly, she muttered, "So you're saying that you're doing me a favour by sticking with me because most people wouldn't?"
"Something to that effect, yes," Teddy retorted, his newly invoked seventh year status giving him the courage to talk back to Victoire Weasley at last.
"Maybe I was doing you a favour," she hissed. "You'll see."
He just watched her as she walked off. What the heck had he just done?
–
Life was boring without Victoire, he decided.
Most of his time was spent with his friends, who congratulated him for ditching the weirdo, playing Quidditch, or snogging girls. The problem with the girls was that they were so airheaded.
"Do you know if there are any Saturnians in the school?" one asked, her eyes bright.
"Saturn is a planet, so no, I doubt that," Teddy replied, biting back the Victoire-esque insults that sprung to mind.
The girl laughed. "I thought it was a country."
"Wouldn't doubt it," he muttered under his breath.
The worst part was that Victoire was right. She was always right. Life without her was boring, mundane, and horrible. He couldn't keep a girlfriend, possibly because every girl, every moment, everything reminded him of Victoire Weasley, the snarky little Ravenclaw who was constantly saving the school (and, mind you, she never asked for anything in return). Yes, she was annoying and made him want to pull out his hair at times, but the thing was that he needed her more than he would like to admit. She was his more intelligent half, the person that (if he was being honest) he loved more than he could say.
The problem was that she didn't feel the same. After she'd had a few failed relationships, she'd told Teddy that she 'just wasn't feeling it anymore' and that she was done with love. Not to mention that the things he had said were horrible and completely uncalled for. She would probably never forgive him. Yes, Victoire Weasley knew how to hold a grudge.
So he avoided her the whole of seventh year, pretending that he was completely happy with the way his life was going, watching her solve case after case as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Sometimes, he laughed at how much of an idiot he was.
–
It was at some point during the summer after seventh year that he realised he had to do something.
Sitting around wasn't doing him much good; he just thought of her and all he had lost. Sometimes he would take the Muggle gun that his grandmother attempted to hide and shoot holes in the wall. It was a mundane existence, and a melancholic one at that.
It hit him during one of his moping sessions that she was going off to school and he would not see her for at least another few months. That was when he made up his mind to go to the platform.
Harry was more than willing to take him, much to his delight, and Lily blabbered his ears off the whole way there, moping about how Albus and James were going to Hogwarts but she was going to be left behind. She only shut up when he offered to play with her while Albus and James were away, though he had a feeling he was going to end up regretting it.
Lily clung to his hand the whole way in the door, but he excused himself once they walked in, making the lame excuse that he had to go to the bathroom. Once they were gone, probably to make their way to Platform 9 ¾, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, they were early, which gave him time to wander into one of those Muggle shops and buy a bouquet of flowers (he had a feeling that they'd added that in there to satisfy the perpetually late guys like himself). Once he was satisfied, he ran into the barrier between Nine and Ten, and then he was on the platform.
His eyes searched the platform and at last, they landed on a blonde-haired girl, standing with a smaller version of a blonde girl (oh yes, it was Dominique's first year at Hogwarts). He made his way through the crowds and grinned at the two of them. "Hello."
"Hello, Theodore," Victoire said coldly, but Dominique's greeting was a bit more warm ("Hey, Teddy.).
"I was hoping I could talk to you alone, Victoire?" he asked hopefully. To his relief, Victoire pushed Dominique out of the way, muttering for her to go find some group of Slytherins and sit with them. Then she stared at him. "You have a surprise for me, obviously. You want to make it up to me. You're sorry. I can see all of that just from looking at your eyes. Can't you at least attempt to be mysterious?"
But her mouth curved up into a bit of a smile, and she stepped closer with a laugh. She placed her hands on his chest, gently still, and said quickly, "Kiss me already. I can see that you're dying to."
So he obliged, not even bothering to question how she knew. He kissed her as if the world was ending, holding her closer still. For someone who spent most of her time with books, she surely did know how to kiss, and he could only pull her closer. Nothing mattered in that moment but her.
That was, until James Potter shrieked from beside them, his face alight with mirth. "You're snogging Victoire!" he crowed.
"Yeah," Teddy laughed, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "That's kind of what you do when you get older, James."
"I can't wait to tell!" James sniggered, dashing away before either of them could stop them. Victoire's face was a lovely shade of red.
She scowled at Teddy's amused expression. "They are never going to let me live this down. I have been informing them for years that I am simply married to my work."
"Maybe I am your work," he laughed, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "How'd you know?"
"How'd I know what?" she responded slowly, seeming quite distracted, which amused him all the more.
"How'd you know that I wanted to kiss you?" he demanded.
"Easy." She shook her head, as if to tell him that he really should know this by now. "All the signs were there. Dilated pupils, racing pulse – like I said, Theodore, you really should be more mysterious and at least attempt to control your emotions."
"You were right."
"I'm always right," she conceded, folding her arms in front of her.
"You are not," he countered, and when she cocked her head to the side, asking him to elaborate, he gave in. "Victoire, my name isn't Theodore."
"Your name isn't... Theodore?" Her eyes widened. He could tell that this shocked her beyond words.
"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p'. "It's Ted, actually, after my father. My grandmother called me Teddy because she thought it was cute, and I suppose it stuck."
"Oh," was all she got out. For a moment, she was silent, appearing to be lost in thought. Then she brightened. "Well, you know what? You are still Theodore to me. I'll just be the only one that calls you that."
He laughed and dipped down to kiss her again. Once they both pulled away, she told him sharply, "I'm going to miss you, you know. I have been a bit lost without my assistant."
"We'll meet up this summer and solve a few cases, right?" he questioned.
"Just this summer?" she replied, raising an eyebrow. "How about I become a private detective for the wizarding world? You could be my assistant."
"The only one in the Wizarding World," Teddy said, his voice dreamy, and he could tell by the look on Victoire's face that this pleased her more than she would like to admit.
That was just them – the girl who was never wrong, and the boy who was never right.