Apercu: a hasty glance; a glimpse.
April 16, 2016
It had happened a thousand times before.
Teddy was eight and Victoire six. Everything was ordinary and subdued in the Burrow's cramped kitchen, made less cramped by Ron and Harry working a long case, Ginny sentenced to bed rest due to complications with her difficult second pregnancy, and Hermione spending the day looking after her. The adults talked in low murmurs about the baby, about Ginny, about the same scary-sounding things that had put Teddy on edge for weeks now. But then, as he looked up from his plate, his eyes met with Victoire's wide, sparkling blue ones and he knew that little smirk playing around her face was about the gnome they'd seen stuck upside-down in an old wellington boot, and he couldn't help but burst out giggling.
Teddy was eleven and Victoire was nine. He touched the fireworks in his pocket as he lounged on the front porch of his grandmother's house, waiting for Victoire to chase the munchkins out of the kitchen so he could plant his secret weapon. She'd spent all day avoiding him for a reason Teddy strongly suspected had something to do with the countdown above his bed declaring only three days left before September first. But when Victoire passed him, chasing James, Dominique, and Louis out into the yard, she looked at him, rolled her eyes, and from the tiniest jerk of her lips, he knew the cost was clear.
Teddy was thirteen and Victoire was eleven. They didn't talk much at school. Teddy was too busy with Rob and the rest of his friends doing cool, third year things like going to Hogsmeade or talking about Care of Magical Creatures. As they passed in the corridors, their elbows brushed. Teddy flashed her a warning look, hoping she understood what he meant. Two minutes later, when Morgan Rass rampaged up the corridor looking for a certain gossip-filled, pink-flowered notebook, Victoire was safely hidden behind a tapestry around the corner, trying not to burst into giggles as she methodically tore out the pages incriminating half the girls in their year of embarrassing secrets – true or not.
Teddy was fifteen and Victoire was thirteen. Snow was pouring from the sky so thickly it was impossible to see the end of the road in Hogsmeade. They didn't see each other until they nearly bumped into one another, thickly decked out in Weasley sweaters and heavy cloaks. Victoire stumbled and slipped on a patch of ice outside the Three Broomsticks. Teddy shot out a hand to steady her and their eyes, the only visible parts of their faces, locked for a second. Teddy brushed past her, and she turned to watch him fight his way through the storm, away from the warmth of the pub behind her. But she knew enough from that look not to go after him. She wouldn't make him explain his reasons for wanting to be alone to her.
It had happened a thousand times. The glances were utterly ordinary and so habitual neither even noticed them anymore. An occasional and silent communication that had been a part of their lives for as long as either could remember.
Teddy was nearly eighteen and Victoire was nearly sixteen. The morning was howling with rain. They could hear it drumming in all its April fury against the ceiling of the Great Hall. Teddy glanced down the table. Victoire's long, strawberry blond hair spilled down her back as she threw her head back, laughing at something or other. Their eyes met.
And suddenly everything started to change.
A/N: Oh you've got to love the two of them. :) Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews and support! To my last anonymous reviewer, I will definitely try to make that one work! :)