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Vic's POV
It had been two weeks since Victoire Weasley had fought off a Death Eater. Two weeks since she'd seen her Aunt Ginny unconscious. Two weeks since her Uncle Ron had put a wand to her Aunt Hermione's throat. Two weeks since she'd been grounded for life.
Okay, so maybe she was only grounded until school started, but it had seemed like a lifetime. So much had happened in the short 14 days. Once they'd returned to Shell Cottage, Harry and Ginny had stayed for a couple of days to heal up. Ron and Hermione had left Rose and Hugo in the care of Bill and Fleur, but only temporarily.
Rose would be off to Hogwarts in two weeks, and Hugo would be off to stay with the Dursleys.
"Harry's right," Hermione had argued when the others had protested, "Privet Drive is the place You-Know-Who would least expect anyone of us to be hidden at."
"But Hermione," Ron had been shocked that his wife would agree with such a thing. "The Dursleys are awful! You know what they've done to Harry."
Victoire didn't know who the Dursleys were or what their relation to Harry was, but with the way that everyone spat their name, Victoire could assume that they weren't very pleasant people.
Eventually, the adults had come to the decision that Privet Drive was the safest place for Hugo to be. After all, he would be better off alive and unhappy for a few months than dead forever. And owl had been sent to Teddy Lupin explaining the situation, and Teddy replied, agreeing that he would escort Hugo to Privet Drive and take James and Albus from there to Diagon Alley.
Shortly after the decision had been made, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had departed. Victoire had reluctantly stayed behind, grounded in her room.
Victoire glanced at the clock on her bedroom wall. 1:26 in the morning. She sighed, rolled over in her bed, and closed her eyes. Sleep had been a privilege for the past few days. All she could think about at night was the conversation between her family at Mrs. Granger's home.
A scratching on Vic's window gave her a jolt, and she stood up and walked to the window. "Cynric," she sighed as she slid open the glass. The cool night air brought a cold draft of wind into her room and made her shiver through the thin fabric of her tank top and pajama shorts. It was strangely cool for mid-august. "What're you doing here so late at night?" she wondered. Cynric was Teddy's owl. Vic couldn't imagine what was so important to tell her at this time of night. Not that it mattered; she was wide-awake anyhow.
Victoire took the letter from Cynric's beak and let him in the room. She shut the window behind her and began stroking the gray bird's feathers as she opened the letter.
Oudside in five minutes.
T.
That was all the letter said. Vic smiled and laughed to herself. She re-opened the window, released Cynric, and tiptoed to the door of her room. She twisted the knob as quietly as she could and stepped out into the hallway. Vic took the stairs carefully, one at a time, skipping the second to the top as always. She wove her way through the sitting room and into the back hallway of the cottage. She unlocked the deadbolt on the back door, twisted the knob, and—nothing. Victoire tugged harder. It wouldn't open. Her parents had probably charmed it, knowing she'd try to escape.
Vic rolled her eyes, crept through the house to the dining room window, and opened it completely. She stuck one leg out, straddling the window, then hoisted her other leg over and touched both feet safely to the front porch.
Victoire left the window open just a crack, making sure she could open it to get back in.
Excitement boiled in her veins as she ran swiftly through the moist grass to the back of the house, where she found a tall figure leaning against the house. The moonlight shone perfectly on his hair, making his usual turquoise color seem like a trick of the light.
Victoire grinned to her ears. "Teddy," she breathed, and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight.
"I've missed you," Teddy Lupin whispered into her ear.
She leaned up and kissed him softly, tugging him closer to her with each second that passed.
Teddy ran his fingers through her hair, and Vic, for once, didn't care that it would be full of tangles later.
Vic reached her arms up and wrapped them around Teddy's neck.
The night breeze made Vic shiver once more, and Teddy pulled away from her. "You're cold?" he asked. "I'd give you my jacket if I'd worn it here."
The couple sat facing each other on the damp ground. "Why didn't you come sooner?" Vic asked, grabbing Teddy's hand with both of hers.
Teddy raised one of his eyebrows as if to say, "You really don't know?"
Victoire sighed. "I know, I know. The internship with Uncle Harry, everything with your grandmother…"
"Don't forget the fact that your parents practically despise me," Teddy added.
Vic sniggered. "They don't despise you, Teddy. They just don't approve of me dating, that's all."
"That implies that they don't approve of me," Teddy pointed out.
Vic shook her head. "I don't want to talk about my parents," she said. "I want to talk about what you've been up to."
Teddy crossed his legs pretzel-style. "Well, Harry's been off doing whatever he's been doing, and I haven't seen him for a month now. It's awful having to go into the Ministry each day to cover for him, Vic. I don't know how much longer I can do it. You know that I went with him for the first few months he was gone, right?"
Vic nodded.
"The strangest thing was, we didn't even do anything at all while I was with him. I'd wake up each morning in a tent in the woods and he'd tell me where we were headed to for the day. He didn't tell me why, of course, but once we got there, he'd say, 'Keep an eye out for anything moving. Keep your wand out. Look for small objects.' It was the same speech every day, over and over."
"And he never told you what you were looking for?" Vic asked.
Teddy shook his head. "Three months ago, I left him. He told me to keep his things organized at the ministry." Teddy almost laughed. "As if I'm the type he should be entrusting his office to. I'm only nineteen. I don't see how he thinks I can be so intelligent."
Vic smiled. "He knew your father, that's why."
Teddy grimaced. He didn't like it when people brought up his parents. "For two months, he kept in touch with me, apparating into his office at random times, asking how things were going. For the past month I've heard nothing of him."
Vic paused, then decided to tell Teddy everything that had happened. She explained how Aunt Hermione had shown up, how Vic had disobeyed her parents and followed her father to Mrs. Granger's house. She explained all of the dead men in black cloaks.
"Black cloaks?" Teddy sat up straight.
"Yeah," said Vic, "and white masks."
"Victoire," he said. He never used her full name. "Those were Death Eaters."
Vic's stomach jumped to her throat. So it was true. "Is You-Know-Who back, then?" Just as she said the words, another cold breeze passed through her hair. She shuddered, not knowing whether it was from the cold or the subject they were speaking of."
"I don't know," Teddy said honestly, "but we had a couple of bouts with the Death Eaters when I was with Harry."
Victoire gulped and let out a breath. "I don't like the sound of it all, Teddy. Uncle Harry being gone for months, Death Eaters popping up out of nowhere. Something's not right." Victoire shivered again. "Why is it so damn cold on a mid-August night?" She moved to sit on Teddy's lap, and he wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to keep her warm.
Victoire was trembling. "Are you sure you don't want to go back inside?" Teddy inquired.
"No," Vic said. "I want to stay here with you for as long as I can. I want to…I want…I…" Vic never finished her sentence. She was too busy thinking about the Death Eaters. "It's hopeless," she said solemnly. "Why do we bother fighting anyway?"
"Don't talk like that, Vic," Teddy rocked her in his arms.
"What's worth fighting for?" Vic whispered. Her fingers were shaking. Why was the cold getting to her so much?
"Maybe you're right," Teddy said suddenly. He'd begun shivering as well. "What's good in this life?"
They both seemed in a sort of trance as three black hooded figured floated toward them from all directions. They were sort of spectral, but still had some sort of physicality to them.
"Teddy," Vic's voice was barely audible. "Are those—" Vic didn't have time to finish her sentence before the figure pulled back it's hood, opened it's mouth, and began to suck out the very essence of Victoire.
With all of her might, she reached inside her pocket, drew out her wand, and slurred, "Expecto Pa…Expect…Ex…"
The last thing she saw before blacking out was a blue wolf dancing around the yard.
Well, there you have it. Hope you liked it and there will be more to come soon!