Teddy's second year flew past as quickly as his first and all too quickly it was September 1st again. This year was different though; he was joined on Platform 9 ¾ by a ridiculously excited Victoire, who was eagerly looking around with wide eyes and insisted on giving a running commentary of everything that drew her attention.
Teddy felt a strange sensation inside him as he watched Bill ruffle her hair proudly and whisper into her ear, as he saw Fleur trying to hold back tears as she clasped her daughter to her one last time, as Dom stuck out her tongue and Louis clung on to his sister's clothes, refusing to let her go. This was what it could have been like, if his parents had still been alive. He would have had a family there to wave him off, maybe even brothers and sisters.
Then, he turned around and saw his grandmother and Harry and instantly felt guilty. They were his family. They did everything and anything they could for him and he would always be grateful for that. Still, it wasn't the same...
The whistle blew and Teddy said his goodbyes before helping Victoire onto the train with all of her belongings. She eagerly joined him in his compartment and introduced herself to his friends. It felt good having her there, Teddy decided. He missed her a lot when he was away; now they would be able to see each other all of the time, like they used to.
The journey passed quickly as each of the four Hufflepuff's shared their stories from the summer and wondered about the year to come. They played a game of dares with some suspiciously coloured Bertie Bott's Beans, Josh lost an eyebrow to exploding snap and Victoire sulked whilst they eagerly discussed their first Hogsmeade weekend. Then the train was at the station and Victorie was being bustled off onto the boats with the other first years, whilst the rest of the school got the horseless carriages up to the school.
The next time Teddy caught sight of her, she was in the line waiting to be sorted. She wasn't hard to miss; her bright, blonde hair sparkled in the candlelight, making her look a little like a Christmas tree angel. Teddy tried to wave but she was far too busy chatting to the dark haired boy standing next to her. Eventually, she realised she was in eyesight of the Hufflepuff table and gave Teddy an enthusiastic smile, but before long she had returned to her conversation.
Teddy's eyes never left her, however. He felt almost as nervous for her as he had done for his own sorting. He knew that everyone in the family was secretly hoping that she would become a Gryffindor but still, he clung to the small hope that she might join him at the Hufflepuff table. Hadn't she spent the whole summer telling him how she didn't care about family tradition; how she would much rather be in Hufflepuff with him? Hopefully the hat would take that into consideration.
Finally, she was next in line.
"Weasley, Victoire."
It seemed every person in the Great Hall stopped and stared as Victoire stepped up to be sorted. She lacked the wide eyed fear that many first years displayed and, Merlin, even at eleven she was beautiful. She lifted the hat to her head with the sort of elegant poise unbeknown to someone of her age and listened to the hat with a look of intelligent curiosity on her face.
She had practised that look, Teddy could tell. Fleur used it sometimes, when she was out in public, if Bill wasn't around. Ginny called it her 'Veela look' and sometimes laughed about it with Hermione when they thought no one else was listening.
Teddy felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Gone was that girl he had left less than an hour before. She was no longer one amongst many siblings and cousins...she had stepped out on her own and was seizing the moment. She knew that everyone was looking at her and she was enjoying the attention.
As he had dreaded, but expected, within moments the hat shouted "Gryffindor" and Victoire pranced off towards the cheering table without even a look in his direction. Teddy felt his heart sink.
His eyes stayed on her for the rest of the evening. Eventually she turned around to seek him out, giving him a wave then whispering to the two girls sitting either side of her. Josh, Aiden and Matthew kept trying to bring him back into their conversation but somehow he couldn't stop watching her.
After the food was finished, speeches made and notices given, Teddy took his opportunity. He strolled over to where she sat and, to his relief, was greeted by a massive grin and a tight hug.
"I did it Teddy, I got into Gryffindor. Everyone will be so proud!"
His worries subsided a bit then. Maybe that was it. For all of her talk that summer, she was a Weasley, and Gryffindor was where they went. How could he have expected her to want to be anywhere different?
Teddy promised he would see at her at breakfast the next morning and waved her off as she went with the prefects to Gryffindor tower, before walking slowly to his own common room. He tried to join in a game of chess with Aiden, but his heart really wasn't in it, so he excused himself and went to bed. He couldn't help but think about his mum and Charlie. They had been best friends but had been in different houses. If it hadn't affected them, then why should it affect Victoire and him? Yes, but they were in the same year, a voice nagged. They had classes together. It was different for them.
It took him a long while to fall asleep that night.
...
Life at Hogwarts quickly returned to its normal pattern and Teddy was glad to be back amongst his own friends after a long summer of not seeing them. Josh wanted to try out for the Quidditch team and, identifying Teddy as the second most proficient flier of the group, insisted on getting him to assist him with his practices. Alongside the increased number of classes and mounting homework, Teddy found there was plenty to keep him busy.
Victoire would still wave at him enthusiastically in the corridor whenever they passed, but they were always rushing off to their next lesson. On a few occasions she hung about the Hufflepuff table to chat to him after dinner, but his friends were always there, so it wasn't the same. Even worse was when he wandered over to the Gryffindor table. She was always sat with a small group of girls who started giggling as soon as he appeared, making their conversation awkward.
One Friday afternoon, as he loitered about in the greenhouses after their lesson was over, he voiced his thoughts to a concerned Neville.
"She thinks a lot of you, you know. She's always telling anyone who will listen about the brilliant Teddy Lupin."
Teddy looked at Neville, wide eyed. "But I've barely seen her since she arrived. She hardly speaks to me anymore."
"I think she's just trying to find her feet. She'll come back to you Teddy, don't worry about that. She's spent her whole life being one of a handful of Weasleys, and has got a little bit too excited about having some attention just on her for a change. It's like when Lavender...oh, I'm rambling again. You know sometimes Teddy, I think I'm talking to Harry, not you. You've picked up a lot of his mannerisms; you remind me a lot of him. Anyway, she'll come around, people always do."
Teddy could only hope his professor, who had shared so many words of wisdom in the past, was right.
...
A/N: Apologies if this is turning into the Neville Longbottom show. He keeps turning up and plonking himself down right in the middle of all of my chapters. I promise there are other professors at Hogwarts, but I love him a little too much to let any of them have any of the limelight. I am loving exploring bratty, self centred Victoire even more. I promise it's just a phase she's going through, but for now she has completely let the 'old enough to go to Hogwarts' thing go to her head; mix it with a good splash of 'everyone's looking at me because I'm part Veela' and you have someone who is brilliant fun to write, even if she is going to make Teddy's life a bit miserable. Poor boy, he has enough to deal with!
