TEDDY:

The class fell abruptly silent as Vic walked in, head held high and aloof; looking as if she wasn't even aware of the ripples of interest her arrival caused. Like it caused such a stir on an everyday basis that this was no different. Pushing aside my books from the empty seat beside me, I quickly made room for her and she glided effortlessly over to sit beside me. I had assumed she wasn't going to turn up at all today; worrying all day about where she was and how much trouble she was going to be in when McGonagall found her.

"Hey." I nudged her with my elbow, whispering out of the side of my mouth.

"Hey." She nudged me back, eyes downcast.

"Where were you?"

I couldn't help myself. Having spent all morning fretting and asking random people if they'd seen her, I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't know every thought that was passing through her head. Did she regret whatever this was? What was she going to do? What did she want me to do? I hated seeing her lacklustre and defeated. She was the one with all the plans. She was the one who was supposed to be driven and determined and focused.

She shook her head minimally, signalling she didn't want to talk here. Grabbing a quill, she quickly jotted a few words on a piece of parchment I had been attempting to construct notes on. Her eyes glossed quickly over what I'd managed to write before a ghost of a smile appeared and she turned amused eyes to face me.

"Herpo the foul created the basilisk, Teddy."

"Oh. What did I say?"

She raised a brow as I glanced down at my own scribbling and burst out laughing at what I'd wrote.

"Well as diseases go, they are pretty foul." I allowed and she grinned.

I read over what she'd written, saying we'd talk at lunch by that massive tree by the lake and I nodded eagerly, pleased she actually wanted to talk to me. I couldn't have really handled another day of silent, secretive Vic.

"McGonagall saw it? And what's she going to do?" I stared at her open mouthed. McGonagall knew? But then… problem solved. She would sort everything. Bursnell would be suspended or expelled or whatever and Vic would come to Gryffindor and everything would be right.

She sighed. "Nothing. There's nothing she can do."

Spluttering in confusion, I angled myself to face her directly; not following. "What do you mean there's nothing she can do? I can think of loads of things she should be doing. She's the fucking Headmistress."

She took a deep breath. "I didn't tell her it was Bursnell."

A beat of silence lingered.

"I'm sorry?" I asked weakly. Why the fuck not!? I wanted to scream. It would have been the end of everything. The rest of those Slytherin dickheads were sheep! They would never be brave enough to ridicule her without Bursnell. It all seemed pretty obvious to me.

"I said I didn't-"
"Yeah I heard you. I was wondering what the hell you were thinking."

She narrowed her eyes. "You would have done differently?"

"Hell yeah. I would have told her straight out. It was Bursnell. She's a fucking psycho. Can you take care of that? Cheers."

She rolled her eyes. "No you wouldn't have. It's not that easy."

I sighed. I was pissing her off again. I could tell from the defensive slant to her shoulders that she was going to start yelling in a minute if I didn't change tack.

"Well help me understand. Because I really don't."

She glared out over the lake. "It's humiliating. The only thing worse than having the whole school know that your entire house is united in it's loathing of you; is having the whole school know you went running to McGonagall like some Hufflepuff, because you couldn't handle it."

I reached for her, pulling her close and breathing in the scent of her hair. She stayed rigid in my arms, her own arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"Vic, no one could handle that. Besides, the rest of the school don't hate you. They actually feel kind of sorry for you."

She made a small hissing noise. "Merlin. That's almost worse."

I laughed despite her sour mood. She was such an odd, prideful little thing. "You'd rather be hated than pitied?"

She arched a brow, looking at me in disbelief. "Wouldn't you?"

"No way. People look after you when they feel sorry for you, don't they? They're just dicks when they hate you."

She huffed, clearly disdainful of my complete acceptance of being pitied; but not having the energy to argue further. Slipping onto my lap, she lay there for a moment or two, lost in thought until I nudged her.

"So what did McGonagall say?"

"That if I won't say who did it then I have to sort it alone. I can't move house or anything."

"Shit. She was a fat lot of help wasn't she?"

"I know. And she told my parents."

"Shit. What did they say?" I stroked her hair absently, loving how silky it felt and admiring it's silvery glow.

"The usual. We love you, keep your head up, Beauxbatons is always an option."

My hands froze, hovering over her hair as I ceased my movements and stilled completely. Beauxbatons? But that was in France, wasn't it? She remained silent, not commenting on my quietness or statue-like stillness. Was she testing the water? Waiting to see what my reaction was? What I would say if she just scooted across the Chanel for a year or two?

"Teddy?" She turned to look at me curiously, wondering what had caused me to tense up. I felt a surge of relief. She wasn't entertaining it as an option. Thank Merlin. I breathed out easily.

"Nothing. Sorry, just zoned out. First Quidditch match next weekend, you know." I made excuses feebly. Probably not the manliest thing to admit that you had almost fainted because you thought she might leave you. Probably not the manliest thing to be stroking her silvery locks either. I dropped my hand as casually as I could.

"Oh yeah." She frowned, suddenly looking very troubled. "Fuck. I'd forgotten that."

I grinned. "Don't worry about it. We can cheer for Ravenclaw together now. "Fuck Slytherin, woo!". Though I hate to say it, they probably will win- Daniels just hasn't the chasers to outscore Zabini. But maybe his headspace will be off with all that's-"

She leapt up quickly, cutting me off mid-sentence and dusting off her skirt to get rid of any grass or leaves. "Where is Greenwood?" Her tone was curt.

I blinked, before laughing slightly. "What?"

"Greenwood. What is his next class?"

"Am… Transfiguration, I think- hey! Hey where are you going?"

VICTOIRE:

"Greenwood! Hey! Greenwood!"

He turned to face me in confusion as I jogged down the corridor, disentangling himself from the group of boys he'd been talking to quickly and coming to stand in front of me; shuffling his bag on his shoulder and looking kind of awkward.

"Hey Greenwood, can I transfer to your dorm too? I think I'm seeing why you boys are always so fucking tired in the mornings these days." One of the boys called after him, giving me a dirty wink and clapping his friends' hands as they all celebrated his razor sharp wit. What a fucking toad, I sniffed indifferently. Aelius turned quickly, looking very angry as he called after his mate and began marching back. I grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around before he could get away again.

"Greenwood, we have bigger fish to fry than your retarded friends. What's happening about the match next weekend? Bursnell and Zabini aren't going to do shit now, and the rest of the team was conditional on them!"

Aelius's mouth fell open in surprise, but he shut it quickly. "Look Weas- uh, Vic. Don't worry about that now yeah? Just um… focus on feeling better."

I raised a brow. "Feeling better? I not ill Greenwood."

"I know. But, you know. Focus on… you." He trailed off pathetically, wincing as though he knew how shit that sounded.

"But Teddy-"

"Will live. And he'd murder me if he heard I was making you do this now. Just leave, it yeah? We tried. We lost. Life goes on." He gave me a small smile and patted my shoulder friendlily as if he had imparted something really deep. "Keep the chin up, Vic."

I frowned as I watched him walk away. What the hell had just happened? Had he… Had he cancelled the strike? Or just cut me out of it because he thought I was too delicate? Maybe he was right, I mused. Maybe I should just let this go. Let everything go. I wouldn't be in my current mess if I hadn't been such a manipulative bitch for my entire Hogwarts career. People wouldn't be celebrating my fall if I hadn't been so prideful and conceited. Maybe I should stop trying to control things and find a way to be normal. Less… controlling. Less scheming. Maybe I'd be one of those sweet little hufflepuffs that sit with all the losers and doesn't care what people think of them. Maybe I'd even stop being so prideful and spend time… I dunno, tutoring the remedial kids instead of painting my nails or doing my hair. And Teddy would think I was not only beautiful but like, wholesome and kind.

Instead of a crazy psycho bitch that was ostracised by her own house. How fucking horrible do you have to be to be rejected by the Slytherins? They even accepted You-Know-Who! Maybe this was a wake-up call. I tried to picture what Bursnell would do if I walked up to her and hugged her, declaring I forgave her for being a dirty, lying skank. That was her truth and I accepted it.

I had nothing to do but contemplate my mess of a life as I sat in the cubicles of the girl's bathroom waiting for class, because I couldn't face the dirty looks in the corridors or drudge up the effort to try and find Teddy. It meant wading through the entire school of people that hated me and by the time I found him, it would probably be time for class anyways. I sighed, lifting my feet from the floor and lifting my knees onto the seat of the toilet as another anti-Victoire conversation started up from the sinks outside. No way was I giving them the satisfaction of knowing I could hear them, or that I was even there. I remembered back to the start of the year when I'd walked out on Carlisle having a similar conversation, and how fantastic it felt watching her squirm. I doubted anyone would blink if I walked out now. Maybe just a few sniggers and smirks.

Fuck.

"So disgusting. How do some girls have such little respect for themselves? She slept with Scorpius too you know? And he was like, in love with her. But she wanted Lupin, no matter what. Sad."

"I know, it's so pathetic. I bet she's loving all the attention now. It's like, are you fucking deluded? Who the hell wants to be known as a gross tramp that is just passed from guy to guy. I wouldn't be her if you paid me."

"Wouldn't mind having her legs though." A third voice mused and they burst out laughing; leaving the bathrooms and joking about how they wouldn't mind having Teddy either.

Suddenly I felt empty again, the perk from talking to Teddy and Aelius completely drained. What the fuck did people want from me? Wasn't I allowed to move on? Wasn't I allowed to think Bursnell was a fucking wart? Was it my fault that Teddy loved me? What the fuck did I have to do for people to leave me the hell alone? I was quiet and meek for three years and they hated me for it. I was assertive and bossy for another three and they hated me even more! I couldn't fucking win!

I walked quickly to Charms, lost in thought and trying to ignore the looks people were throwing me. I was going to be better from now on. I resolved. I'd be sweet. Sincere. I'd win everyone over, one person at a time. I'd pick my friends more carefully. No, wait, nice people don't pick their friends. They accept everyone, don't they? Yes, that's what I would do. It's not like I could afford to be picky.

"Victoire!"

I turned slowly, recognising Kelleher from my Defence class and looking up at him in puzzlement. "Yeah Adam?"

"Hey, I just wanted to check how you're doing?"

I blinked. I had never had more than one conversation with this boy. But maybe this was my new positive thinking pulling through. Think good thoughts and nice things will follow etc. But still. I was wary. The girls passing on their way to whatever class they had next shot us filthy looks and erupted into whispers as they left. I tried to tune them out and focus on Adam. He was being nice. Don't be bitchy. Don't be mean.

God. Being nice was exhausting.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I managed a small smile, and he grinned brightly back. His friends were waiting for him at the end of the corridor, and I randomly appreciated what a sweet gesture that was. To ask them to wait while he ran after me to see how I was. See? That was the kind of nice things I should be doing.

"Great, great. Hey if you're up for it, I was thinking of going for a few drinks in Hogsmeade this weekend?"

I blinked, realisation seeping through me slowly with sickening clarity. He wasn't being nice. He thought I was a slut and was trying his luck. Now, now, now. I cautioned. Hold on. Maybe he's just being friendly. Maybe he sees you're lonely and is inviting you in an effort to extend the branch of friendship, or whatever. But then I caught side of his sniggering friends; looking less like patient, sweet boys and more like sleazy creeps by the second. Forcing an icy smile, I glowered at him.

"I'm with Teddy, Adam."

He grinned again, undaunted. "I won't tell if you don't."

And then he had the fucking audacity to wink. He. Fucking. Winked.

"Fuck off Kelleher." I managed through gritted teeth, too dumbstruck to think of a put-down or witty retort. Who the fuck did he think he was? Two weeks ago he would have been terrified to ask me for the loan of quill, and now he thought he could ask for a quickie in Hogsmeade? Asshole. He arched an eyebrow, slowly realising that I was not eager or amused. Shrugging, he backed away, looking irritated.

"Fine. Suit yourself. Bitch." He murmured the last comment under his breath as I stared after him, chest heaving with anger and humiliation and just the unfairness of it all. His waiting friends erupted into laughter as he reached them and told them he'd been declined.

"Does it have to be a Gryffindor Weasley?" One of them called after me, to renewed laughter. Gritting my teeth again, I pretended like I hadn't heard and just kept walking. Part of me wanted to run and tell Teddy, to have him soothe me and then kick that slick wanker's ass. But I was turning over a new leaf. One where I didn't pull strings and manipulate people to do what I wanted. It would be so easy and feel so good to let Teddy terrorise everyone who was rude to me (or even just fucking Kelleher), but that was what the old Victoire would have done.

Well, no. Old Victoire would have castrated him personally.

The point was, neither option was open to new Victoire. She would rise above sleazy, skeezy perverts and bitchy dorm mates. As I turned onto the corridor for charms, determined to personify new Victoire when I saw Bursnell, an anxious Lys looked up and shot me an odd look. Lingering outside the door when everyone else had already gone in, it was obvious she was waiting for me. But why? So we could walk in together? A show of support? So we might have a few private minutes to talk? But as I approached her and she nibbled at her lip; I knew it was something else.

"What?" I asked, my stomach sinking.

She wringed her hands. "Maybe just skip this class, Vic. It's healthy to ditch every now and then."

Sighing, I pushed past her and opened the classroom door; ignoring her intake of breath behind me. The whole class stilled as all attention swivelled to face me, some faces wary, others gleeful, but all of them expectant. It didn't take long to see why. The entire board behind me was filled with Victoire centred slurs. Only it was all done in different writing. Different little messages quite plausibly done by loads of different people. Or one, insanely twisted person. Numbly, and very conscious of the thirty or so eyes on me, I read a few. They all followed the same vein. At least five rhymed "Gryffindor" with "whore".

I turned away, plastering an indifferent expression on my face and trying to keep calm. It was bizarrely easy not to cry. I was so completely numb with shock, I didn't feel anything. My fear was that I would be sitting half way through this lesson and the tears would just erupt. But then, surely the lesson wouldn't continue with all this on the board? If Lys could have removed it, she would have. There was no way I was embarrassing myself trying to remove it in front of everyone. No, it would have to be cancelled until they found a solution. I tried to think what was more embarrassing; if they had to cancel the lesson in clear deference to my feelings, or if they just kept on with it. It was a close call.

And it wouldn't even end when I left here, no matter whether it was after forty minutes of a lesson, or after five minutes of painful efforts on the professors' parts to remove the offensive material. If it was something I alone had to deal with, then maybe it would be okay. But Teddy would hear about it. Teddy would feel guilty and he'd pity me and that made me feel indescribably pathetic. So would Dom. So would Louis. Maybe even my parent's again.

Wouldn't it be worse if they didn't feel bad for you though? I reasoned. Again, it would be a close call.

I was halfway to my seat when I saw it was occupied; and my heart stopped.

Clemence smiled lazily up at me; looking like she might purr if she could. Stretching one long leg out, she crossed it over the other, looking very at home in my seat. The seat that had been mine since fourth year.

"Problem Victoire?" She asked sweetly, dipping a quill in some ink and getting ready to take notes. Like she didn't even see the entire fucking board of horrible filth she had created. Like she thought class would start any second.

I stared at her for a beat.

"Nope. No problem at all." I responded grimly, and stormed back out of the classroom, fury etched on my face. I must have looked terrifying indeed, because first year backed out of my way; scampering to avoid me. Hell even seventh years looked intimidated. And they should.

"Victoire! Vic! Wait!" Lys came crashing after me, looking really worried. "That was intense. Are you okay?" She peered into my face anxiously, blinking quickly at my expression.

"I'm fine." I said in a strangled voice that sounded half demented.

"No, you aren't. And you don't have to be. If you want to cry or whatever-"

"I don't want to fucking cry!" I exploded. "I don't want to cry, I don't want to moan, I don't want to weep- I WANT HER HEAD ON A FUCKING PLATTER!"

I hurled my books onto the floor of the courtyard; ignoring how any stragglers that were late for class were suddenly hurrying away, fleeing the scene like I was some kind of lunatic. I didn't care if they thought I was unhinged. I was so tired of caring and worrying and fretting- I wanted to do something about the mess my life was! And being Hogwart's answer to mother Therese clearly wasn't working. It had only been two minutes into the "new Victoire" and I wanted to stab someone with my Quill.

"Okay!" Lys nodded, looking excited. "Alright! That's more like it!"

I took a deep breath, gathering my scattered thoughts and trying to think clearly. "I mean it Lys. I don't care about stealing Beatrice away or who fucking Zabini loves more- I want this over with. Merlin help me, she is fucking done at this school."

Lys nodded more slowly; looking more sold by the second. "I'm in. Let's ditch Astronomy and go get the details ground out. I'm in the right kind of mind frame for scheming anyways. Feeling very sinister all of a sudden."

TEDDY:

"Tobias said Keheller made some comment today too." Craig sighed, hanging up his Quidditch jersey and reaching for a t-shirt in his gear bag. I sank onto one of the benches, more than exhausted from trying to coach Aelius in coaching the team and trying to find Vic and solve her problems.

"What do mean he made some comment?" I ran my fingers through the cracks of wood, brows knitting at Craig's words. Adam Keheller? That ponce from Ravenclaw? I'd never had much to do with him, and didn't realise Vic had either.

"Yeah, even Beecham did this morning." Aelius helpfully piped up, cleaning the ends of his broom and inspecting the tips for any breakages. Their conversational tone had me flummoxed. Why were they saying these things so casually? And why hadn't anyone said them to me? What did they even mean by "some comment"?

"What exactly are they saying?"

Craig turned to face me doubtfully. "I don't know about Beecham, but Keheller basically propositioned her and told her he wouldn't say it to you, if she didn't. Kate heard the hold thing, she said it was horrible."

Anger flared up instantly. "He said what?" I managed to spit out.

Oblivious as ever to the change in mood, Aelius continued blindly. "Yeah Beecham said he wanted to come stay in our dorms. Implied we were all in on the action so to speak." He looked up to see if anyone was listening to him after the ten long seconds of tense silence that followed. His expression dropped as he took my appearance in.

"Teddy- your hair-"

"I know Aelius. Why didn't you guys tell me? Why didn't you handle Beecham yourself?" I shot angrily at Aelius and he frowned.

"I tried, I swear I did. I went to follow him but Vic stopped me-"

"Right. Who has the map?" I stood quickly, addressing no one in particular as I angrily stuffed my things into a gear bag and Craig wordlessly handed it to me.

"Do you want us to come, or-?"

"No I've got this. Thanks."

"Kelleher!" I called out loudly, walking slowly down the corridor and making no effort to disguise how pissed I was. He turned with a grin, and looked puzzled for a moment. People are always puzzled when I'm annoyed. They don't recognise me with darker colouring see. Seeing his stupid, politely puzzled face just made me more annoyed though. And the five flights of stairs I'd taken to reach the Ravenclaw common room had done nothing to calm my previous anger.

He quickly recognised me though and his expression shifted from puzzled to cautious in an instant. His friends seemed to have sensed something amiss too, because they hung back and waited for him, watching. I slowed to a standstill directly in front of him, eyeing him in dislike, and waiting for him to say something. Like maybe explain why on earth he'd been trying to sleep with my girlfriend.

"Lupin. Look, it was a misunderstanding. I didn't realise the two of you were actually together-"

I swung for him before he could even finish the sentence, my fist making solid contact with his jaw in a satisfying thud. He fell back against the wall, groaning somewhat as I stepped closer again and picked up straight so he could look at me and see I wasn't joking.

"Look, I'm sorry. It was a mistake-"

"Yeah, it was. We are together, mate. Don't fucking forget it."

He sagged back against the wall as I released him, walking away and feeling only marginally better about the situation as his friends rushed forward to help him. Not so eager to help when there was a chance they might have gotten messed up though. Or maybe it was just unwritten rule amongst guys, you know? You hit on someone else's girlfriend and you run the risk of being decked. It's only fair.

I stormed the whole way back to the common rooms, inwardly seething that Beecham was already safe and tucked away in his own Common Room. I chanced a glance around it for Victoire's name and did a double take when I saw it neatly printed in my own room. I thought McGonagall had ordered her back to her own dorm? Unless something else had happened?

Jogging quickly up the steps to my dorm, I barely nodded at the people who greeted me. I could hear voices coming from within. Aelius and Gregory according to what the map had said.

"…and you're sure we should still go ahead with it? But what if-"
"Greenwood. Do it."

Victoire's voice was confident and clear; as assertive as Aelius's had been dubious. As I pushed open the door, he turned to me with a grin; his face moulding from confused to amused in a flash so quick I couldn't even be sure I'd seen it.

"Teddy! Happy huntings?"

I nodded grimly at him. "You could say that."

"Good. Well, we'll leave you two to… catch up." He sauntered out quickly with Gregory in tow, both of them looking like they couldn't wait to leave so they could discuss something very important. I stared after them for a beat.

"What was that?"

Victoire shrugged, a lazy grin spreading across her features as she stretched across the bed. "Come here Teddy." She ordered.

Raising a brow at her bizarre change in mood from when last I'd seen her, I quickly hopped onto the bed; knowing better than to question and not needing to be told twice. I grinned at her.

"What do you want to do?"

She smirked; pulling me closer and kissing me softly before pinning me beneath her on the bed. Holy crap she was fantastic. I wasn't even mad at Beecham anymore. Of course he wanted her. I felt sorry for him, because I was never fucking letting go of her.

"Do you know what I want to do?" She whispered through a grin.

I grinned deliriously up at her. "I think I'm getting the idea, and I have to say- it's a fabulous one. I am totally on board!"

She giggled again, kissing me more fervently and pressing tighter against me.

"Teddy I need you to do something for me. I'm… well I have no experience with things like this and… You do, to put it bluntly."

I recaptured her lips, having a hard time focusing on what she was saying. It was all going in wonderful directions from what I could make out.

"Anything." I was kind of ashamed at how unsteady my voice sounded, already hoarse and low. We'd only been kissing for two minutes? What was I, twelve? But then her lips were against mine and all thought ceased but her and how fantastic she smelled and the way she moved against me and-

"I need you to get me suspended."

I broke away from her, not quite sure I'd heard correctly.

Come again?