Chapter 15 – Dominique's Despair
Pregnancy suited Victoire well. All pregnant women 'glowed,' but being part Veela made Victoire incredibly radiant. If people thought she was pretty before, that was nothing compared to what her baby was doing for her now. And Teddy's fears of all the students judging her and whispering horrid things, or calling her names, never even occurred.
Because for some bizarre, twisted reason, pregnancy made Victoire even more popular than she already was. People were keen to walk her from lesson to lesson, or to sit huddled around her in the Gryffindor common room or the Great Hall, keeping her company or helping her study. It was unbelievable! Everybody seemed thrilled for her.
All except one.
Dominique watched her sister with a scowl on her face. They were in the Gryffindor common room and Victoire was, of course, surrounded by her usual gaggle of admirers.
How was this remotely fair? Victoire had made the biggest mistake of her life, yet now her life was so much blissfully better! Teachers and random students she'd never met where giving her advice and supporting her wherever she went, congratulating her or complimenting her. If it was anybody else they would have been completely excluded and exiled by now. But no, Victoire was far too perfect; nothing ever went wrong for precious Victoire.
And just to make it worse, Teddy had moved into Hogwarts. He'd been staying in Professor Longbottom's chambers and as he was no longer a student, he was free to come into the Gryffindor common room whenever he wanted (he'd been in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts), and wherever Victoire went, Teddy went too. That was, of course, except for lessons.
And with the shock of Victoire's increased popularity, and Teddy's arrival, Dominique could at least rely on the reaction of her parents. But once again, she couldn't have been more wrong...
"Where is she? Where's Victoire?" Bill had demanded as he burst through the doors into Hogwarts. Dominique, Louis, and of course Victoire and Teddy, had been instructed to greet Bill and Fleur as they arrived at Hogwarts.
Victoire and Teddy had looked horrified, with faces as white as chalk ever since they'd arrived in the entrance hall, nervously awaiting Mr and Mrs Weasley's arrival. Victoire was wearing a particularly oversized cloak that she'd wrapped around her body in a desperate attempt to hide the slight, but obvious bump that now protruded from her tiny figure.
Dominique tried to stand as far away as possible from Teddy as she could. The way he had his arm draped around Victoire's shoulder, as though willing to protect her from any horror that burst through those great doors, was too much for her to bear. He'd barely left Victoire's side the whole time he'd been at Hogwarts, which was now approximately a week, and he'd barely acknowledged Dominique's existence whatsoever.
Louis was stood between Victoire and Dominique, a permanently confused expression plastered on his face ever since he'd been told his parents would be coming to Hogwarts. It appeared as though nobody had told him anything about the situation. Dominique felt slightly happier at the thought that she knew all that was going on. And although she felt sickened to acknowledge it, her stomach was squirming in delight at the thought of how angry her parents would be with Victoire.
Of course, she felt some regret that Teddy was going to be practically murdered by her father, but this was overwhelmed by the satisfaction of Victoire finally getting what she deserved.
As far as she was aware, her parents had no idea what the drastic situation was – only that Professor Bobbin had written to them, insisting that their presence at Hogwarts was required immediately because of something to do with Victoire, very similar to the letter Teddy had received only around a week ago. Professor Bobbin was also stood with the small party of Weasleys (and Teddy), along with Professor Longbottom and the school nurse.
"I – I'm here, Daddy," Victoire said shakily, stepping forwards to greet her parents. Fleur rushed to her side immediately, embracing her eldest daughter in a flurry of desperate anxiety. She took a careful step backwards, examining Victoire at arm's length as though searching for any possible signs as to what was so wrong with her. Her eyes seemed to widen slightly as they rolled over Victoire's poorly disguised bump. She looked extremely flustered.
Bill, however, was not looking at Victoire. His eyes had settled on a particularly nervous young man with bright blue hair, stood by the side of his eldest daughter. His eyes narrowed, as the same look of pure rage filled his face.
"WHAT," he roared, pulling out his wand, "THE BLOODY HELL IS HE DOING HERE!?" Bill strode over to Teddy, his wand raised threateningly, poised to attack. Professor Bobbin disarmed him quickly with a casual flick of her own wand, and caught Bill's in her other hand, slipping it into her pocket before he'd even realised what had happened.
He turned to face her instead, some of the anger dying down. "Look, Bobbin," he said, slightly calmer, but with danger still flaring in his eyes, "I'm not playing games here. Give me back my wand," he ordered.
Professor Bobbin arched her eyebrows coolly, clearly not used to being given orders in her own school.
"Mr Weasley, I think you'll find it's quite unnecessary for you to need your wand. We are, after all, here to talk. This conversation will not require the use of magic – merely our own calm voices."
Bill looked perplexed.
"I cannot allow you to harm my students," Bobbin continued in the same calm voice.
"But – he's not – he's not a student!" he yelled helplessly, waving his arm at Teddy, knowing he could not overpower the headmistress. He instead rounded on Teddy again. "Why are you here? You're not a student at Hogwarts anymore! Didn't I forbid you to go near my daughter?"
Teddy stepped back in fright, opening his mouth to explain, but once again he was saved by Professor Bobbin. "Now, Bill, it is on my request, just the same as you and your wife, that Teddy is here. As headmistress I can invite whomever I like to my school, regardless of whether or not they have been 'forbidden' by certain people to see certain other people."
Bill opened his mouth and then closed it again quickly, rather resembling a goldfish. He backed away from Teddy, still glaring, and settled in front of Professor Bobbin. "Fine. I get it – he's allowed to be here." He spoke the words through gritted teeth, as though saying them gave him great pain. "Now, can you tell me why me why you've ordered me and my wife to be here?"
"Of course," Professor Bobbin replied serenely. "Victoire's pregnant." She said it simply as though it was the most casual thing in the world to announce. "And if you hadn't already realised – Teddy is the baby's father."
Fleur began to weep silently, slipping down onto the floor as she sobbed. Nobody paid her any attention; everybody's eyes were focused on Bill's face, fearing his reaction.
"I... but… what?" he mumbled helplessly. His eyes looking suddenly vacant. All the anger seemed to have slipped away, but Teddy couldn't help but feel that Bill's new reaction was worse, so much worse. Seeing Mr Weasley like this was very unnerving.
Nobody knew what to say. Fleur was still crying in a slumped pile on the floor, and Louis looked very startled.
"Victoire's pregnant," Dominique piped up, shattering the silence. Bill stared at her as though he hadn't even realised she'd been present the whole time. "Victoire, she's – she's pregnant. She's going to have a baby. Teddy's the father. She's only seventeen!" Dominique reminded him pleadingly, desperately trying to snap her father back into the rage he'd been in before. But he continued to stare at her with his widened eyes, like he had no idea who she was, or what she'd just said.
Dominique felt furious on the inside. The moment she'd been longing for – the moment her perfect sister Victoire was going to get all hell unleashed upon her – had completely taken an unexpected turn. Dominique continued to stare into her father's round, vacant eyes, as though willing him to get angry with Victoire. But nothing of the sort happened. Instead he began to mutter some unintelligible words to himself. He'd surely gone crazy.
With a reassuring nod from Professor Bobbin, the nurse stepped forward hesitantly to face Bill. "Mr Weasley, I've been monitoring your daughter and her baby's progress for the past few weeks. They're both in perfect condition, and I must say that your, err, grandchild is a particularly fascinating baby." Bill seemed to perk up slightly at the mention of the word grandchild. "Within Victoire's child I've managed to detect traces of Metamorphmagi, Veela, and werewolf."
Teddy looked up nervously. "What does that mean?"
"It's perfectly fine," the nurse assured him. "The baby will most certainly be a Metamorphmagus, the same as yourself. The Veela DNA will alter, depending on the baby's gender, which at the moment is undetectable. And there is only the smallest of traces of werewolf. Much less than either yourself of Victoire, so there's nothing to worry about there."
Teddy felt reassured immediately.
"Daddy, are you alright?" Victoire said lovingly, rushing to her father's side.
Bill showed no signs of having heard her. Instead he mumbled quite happily to himself, "I'm gonna be a grandad."
"He's just in shock," the nurse assured her.
With Professor Bobbin's instructions, she and the nurse escorted Bill, and a hysterical Fleur, to the hospital wing, whilst Professor Longbottom led a still startled Louis, and a scowling Dominique, back to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Teddy and Victoire alone.
"Well, that was odd," Teddy said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. He'd felt as though a very heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was so relieved that Bill hadn't murdered him!
But Victoire's mind was clearly elsewhere. She looked positively delighted. "Our baby's one of a kind," she whispered in awe, her hands absentmindedly clutching the smooth bump beneath her top.
Teddy beamed down at her, and planted a kiss on her temple. "Just like you."