"Let's go, Teddy!" yelled James from the bottom of the stairs.
"I really don't understand why we have to do this," said Teddy, trotting down the stairs at Shell Cottage, where they were all staying before the wedding. "Just another unnecessary party I don't want to go to!"
"Oh, lighten up, love," said Victoire, from where she was applying some makeup for her bachelorette party. "You'll have fun. Just the guys,"
"Harry said he's gonna pass on this one, though, Teddy," said Ginny. "He's working late tonight and you know how he feels about parties,"
"How come he gets to skip out and I can't!" said Teddy. "I never recall asking for a bachelor party. Did I ever ask for a bachelor party?"
"Your eyes asked for one," said James dramatically. "You'll be drunk in a half an hour and won't remember anything, I promise,"
"Don't talk like that, James," scolded Ginny.
"Mum! I'm well over the drinking age!"
"Yes, so you should be far more responsible now!"
"Like you've never been irresponsible!"
Teddy walked away to escape the bickering and say goodbye to Victoire.
"Promise you'll have a little fun?" she asked. She looked at him imploringly, with wide blue eyes.
"Fine," he said, a smile spreading over his face. "I'll see you tonight, okay? Have fun doing whatever you do,"
She kissed him. "You're adorable," she said.
"I know," he said, kissing her again. Her hair smelled sweet and her lips were soft and warm.
"Let's GO!" shouted James. "Before I barf, honestly...,"
sexymarauders
They had been there an hour and Teddy had taken one sip of his drink. James had made reservations at the Leaky Cauldron and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Even Al was dancing and flirting. The wonders of alcohol.
Teddy just sat the bar, contemplating his butterbeer. His mate Owen, came up to the bar and sat down next to him.
"Why aren't you dancing? Do you see the girls?"
"I'm engaged, Owen," reminded Teddy. He took a sip of his butterbeer.
"A ring don't mean a thing!" shouted Owen. Teddy raised his eyebrows. The ring he had given Victoire meant an awful lot of things, things he hadn't considered until a week before the wedding.
"Is that all you're drinking?" asked Owen. "C'mon, have some fun! Bartender! Some firewhiskey, if you please!"
Hannah walked over to them, a bottle in her hands. "I'm fine, Hannah, thanks," said Teddy, lifting his still full bottle. Hannah threw him a wink.
Owen left, taking a pretty brunette with him. Hannah leaned against the bar. "You know, Victoire won't be mad if you have fun," she said. "Look, even Neville's dancing!"
Teddy rolled his eyes. "I've got too much to think about," he said.
"Nervous about the wedding?" she asked.
"You could say that," said Teddy. "I just don't quite feel ready. I feel too young,"
"A lot of us married young, but Neville and I decided to wait," said Hannah, clearly reminiscing. "Harry and Ginny couldn't get married fast enough, right after the war and all that. How old are you again?"
"Twenty-eight," said Teddy. "Vic's twenty-six,"
Hannah nodded slowly. "I had just turned twenty-seven. I suppose a lot of it has to do with experience, in a way,"
"Why'd you wait?" he asked.
"Oh, I dunno, the timing was right, I guess. I had just bought the pub, Neville was off to work at Hogwarts in the fall, so we had an early summer wedding before he went off. You were there, remember?"
Teddy remembered. He was about nine. He remembered how pretty she had looked and how happy Neville was. But he mostly remembered the dead looking faces of Neville's parents, whom he had never met. They were accompanied by a Healer who assisted them with everything. He had whispered, frightened, to Harry, asking what had happened, and Harry told him later, how Bellatrix Lestrange, his grandmother's sister, the woman who had killed his mother and who Mrs. Weasley had killed, had tortured Alice and Frank until they were insane. Teddy's heart broke for Neville. He had never really thought about how much bad magic could do until then.
"Timing's everything," repeated Hannah with a wistful sigh, bringing Teddy out of his memory.
Teddy mulled over her words as he stared at the party, HIS party, dancing and cheering happily. He had felt ready when he proposed. Victoire was the only one for him. Why shouldn't the timing be right? He was just scared because it was so close, right? Probably. He had been stressing out all week for nothing! A week of panic over a lifetime of happiness? Teddy didn't understand himself at times.
"You know what, I will have a firewhiskey," he said. "And god damn it, I will have fun tonight,"
He downed the firewhiskey, and jumped off the barstool. He went into the throng of people that had congregated in the center of the bar. Hugo spotted him, pushing his way over to say hi.
"Hi!" he said eagerly. "Having fun? Excited about the wedding? I can't believe your getting married! Now everyone's gonna get married, huh? Marriage. Wow. What a weird thing. It's like, you have to spend the rest of your life with this person because you signed a paper. Crazy, huh? It's like, forever!"
Hugo was sweating and he looked slightly crazy.
"Do you need to sit down?" asked Teddy, although his mind was reeling with what he just heard. It was as if Hugo had looked in his brain and read everything he'd been thinking.
He assisted Hugo to a booth and sat him down. "Breathe," he instructed.
Breathe, he told himself.
sexymarauders
He woke up late the next morning to bright sunlight streaming through the room. He yawned and sat up. There was a knock at his door.
"Yeah?" he said. Victoire came in, smiling coyly at him. Bill had forbidden them to share a room while they stayed at Shell Cottage.
"Hi," he said, smiling at her. She jumped on the bed and crawled under the covers next to him, snuggling up to his bare chest.
"Tomorrow night we'll be married," she reminded him.
"Yeah," he said. He fingered her curly, strawberry-blonde locks.
"Nervous?" she asked.
He didn't respond for a moment. Her head rose and fell with his breathing, and she gently stroked circles on his chest.
"What if we just ran away and lived together?" he asked. "We could just...go to Austrailia, and just live there, just you and me!"
"My family's here," she stated simply. "And so is yours,"
There was another pause.
"Why are you so afraid of marriage? It's just our names on some papers," she said.
"Exactly," said Teddy, siting up a bit. "I don't understand why we can't just not get married,"
Victoire sat up next to him and looked him in the eyes. "Teddy, I have dreamed about marrying you since I was four years old and knew what marriage was. I love you, more than anything and I know you love me. So, can you please do this one thing for me? I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. I'm here with you,"
He searched her blue eyes. "Okay," he said.
"Okay," she said.
"Okay," he said again, leaning in for a kiss.
a/n i cant end things for shit. but review if you liked it?