Whoa, what is this? Fanfiction? Indeed, Rozzy is back for a new challenge, and this time it is The Potter Project comp by Luck O' The Irish Seamione (check out the HPFC forum to find out more). For the first round we had to write a het romance, so here it is!
This story fits in with the "Across the Table" universe, but I'm pretty sure it makes sense in isolation. Enjoy!
Adults
Time, reflected Ginny Potter, is fickle thing. The more of it you wanted, the more it seemed to race by, pointing and laughing as it went—and when you couldn't wait for something, it seemed to pass at a snail's pace.
Ginny watched her niece shift anxiously from one foot to the other, glancing along the tracks every few seconds as though she'd see something that hadn't been there a moment before. The sight evoked both amusement and sympathy; Ginny knew exactly how Victoire Weasley felt. It didn't seem so long ago that she had been in those shoes herself.
"D'you think they've been delayed?" Victoire asked breathlessly.
"There's still a few minutes until twelve, sweetie," said Ginny. "Don't worry, he'll be here."
It was a little known fact that Platform Nine and Three Quarters was used for a train other than the Hogwarts Express. Every year it saw the departure of hopeful Auror trainees toward their final test, and two months later it was the scene of congratulations and commiserations as both failed and fledgling Aurors returned. And this year, Teddy Lupin would be among them.
For years Ginny had quietly observed the growing attraction between her eldest niece and her godson. They were thrust together at every Weasley gathering since they were babies, and had been inseparable for years, even through the awkward, tongue-tied period of their early teens. Harry and Ron, still as hopeless as they had been at school, insisted that Teddy and Victoire thought of each other as brother and sister, but Ginny was confident that they would end up together—and she was proved spectacularly right in the summer before her niece's seventh year.
Now nineteen, Victoire had grown into an elegant and opinionated young woman, though one who still could not bear to be separated from Teddy Lupin for long. At that moment she seemed equally unable to contain both excitement and trepidation.
"Aunt Ginny," she said, voice trembling. "I don't think I can do this."
"Do what, sweetie?"
"This!" Victoire gestured unhelpfully at the surrounding platform. "It's so ... ugh, you know, I think I'll just meet you back at the Burrow."
"Now just wait a second," said Ginny firmly. "What's going on?"
"I don't know!" her niece cried, desperation creeping into her voice. "This just feels wrong, somehow—I'm not ready for this. I think I should just go back."
"Oh, sweetie," said Ginny, doing her best not to laugh. "Is that was this is about?"
Victoire stared at her aunt. "Is what?"
"Come here," said Ginny, pulling Victoire towards a bench. "Tell me what's bothering you."
"Ugh, I don't even know," Victoire sighed, fiddling with a strand of her coppery hair. "I feel so strange. I've been waiting for so long to see Teddy again—" (Ginny remembered the days when two months seemed like a lifetime) "—but suddenly I'm nervous and I don't know why."
"It's okay to be nervous," said Ginny, hiding a grin. "After all, things are going to be different now."
"They are?"
"Of course. You have a job now. Teddy's an Auror. You're not schoolkids anymore, Victoire. You're adults."
"But I don't feel like an adult! I've been out of school for a year but I don't know what I want to do. I just know I don't want to work in the shop my whole life. But Teddy has his whole future planned out, and he's talking about finding a flat for the two of us, and what if he wants to get married?"
"Sweetie, no one's going to force you to get married."
"Yeah, but move in together? I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't know if I'll ever be ready for that. I mean, what would Grandma Molly say?"
"I think Grandma Molly's learned not to interfere when it comes to people living together."
"I mean, I know we've been together for two years, but we've hardly ever been in the same place. I was at school and he was training all the time, and we just got these short bursts together where everything seemed perfect and then one of us would have to leave again. Now we'll be together all the time... I don't even know if I love him or not!"
Ginny actually laughed out loud at that. "Victoire, sweetie, stop kidding yourself. You've been in love with Teddy since you were twelve years old. Maybe even younger."
"I—" Victoire stopped, entirely lost for words.
"Listen," said Ginny. "I know you're scared. An adult relationship is a big step. You're not sure if he's the same person you fell for when you were young. Hell, you're not sure if you're even the same person—"
She was interrupted by a sharp whistle, and a jet black train approached rapidly, belching steam into the clear blue sky. Victoire jumped up in alarm.
"He's here! Oh please, Aunt Ginny, I can't do this, please just let me go home. I'll see him later, I just can't—"
"Victoire," said Ginny firmly, her hands on her niece's shoulders. "I know how you feel. I felt exactly the same way when I was standing here waiting for Harry, and it took me a long time to get used to being with him when he got back. I refused to move in with him for ages. And trust me, when he starts work as an Auror, you won't be together all the time."
"But what if something goes wrong?" Victoire asked anxiously.
"Things will go wrong," said Ginny. "They always do. But as long as you know that you love him, things will work out in the end. I promise."
Victoire's eyes suddenly focussed on something behind her. Before Ginny could turn around, a familiar voice said, "Hi, beautiful."
For a second, Victoire just stared at him, and Ginny was afraid that she wouldn't be able to move. But then a huge smile broke over her face and she ran into his arms, and at that moment, Ginny knew that they would be all right.