Dedicated to Raven, for the Hogwarts's Teacher Appreciation Event. Enjoy!
Written for Ancient Runes Task #2: Write about a long-time wish coming true
The beginning
Victorie Weasley is heartless.
It's a statement that's throw out so carelessly, because how could she be anything else? After all, no one has ever seen her be anything but frozen cold, a queen with the iciest of smiles. She's a bitch too, never anything but a bored word or an eye roll as a reaction, her disgust evident with every sentence that falls from her crimson lips.
Veela charm and werewolf genes. It makes her envied but never loved. She's always so, so alone.
Sometimes, as she watches her world grow colder right before her eyes, Victorie thinks it may be true. Her heart's cold like the eyes that narrow at her in hatred.
...
Teddy Lupin is a loser.
Sure, he's Harry Potter's godson, but that only gets you so far. He's a Puff, after all, just another duffer, with blue hair and feet that he trips over every single time. He's got a Black for a grandmother, and that doesn't win him any points, this boy who throws in an occasionally "wotcher" with his perfectly polished accent.
He's a freak; metamorphous and werewolf and Black and half-blood.
He doesn't mind all that much. It's far easier to play the role of a naïve kid then to give into the rage simmering under his blood.
2011
They meet for the first time when he is thirteen and she is eleven.
Well, they meet before, in the era of golden days and childhood glory, but that is when they sit in a compartment together; the freak and the ice queen.
"I want to be loved," Victorie admits to him, halfway through the trip and it sounds like a prayer.
He does not make her any promises. He, out of all people, knows how cruel the world can be.
Dead parents, no friends, nothing but loneliness, all the days blending into one miserable existence
"Stick by my side then," He offers and she nods at him.
They finish the rest of the train ride in silence.
...
She gets sorted into Ravenclaw and he is not surprised. She wants to be loved, yes, but love is more than cheek kisses and valentines presents. It is the feeling of weighing your options in your hands, a novel tucked into your bag and knowing you know enough to choose.
Books, certainty, honor.
It is the only love she can accept.
...
Teddy realizes she's a genius by Easter. They study together by the fake fire in the library, nursing unlimited bottles of hot chocolate from the kitchens and she pours over the volumes like she's trying to find the answers to all her questions.
It takes the Hogwarts staff over two years to realize this and by the time they decide to move her up a year, she's about to lose her mind.
2013
"I want to get away from here," Victorie fumed.
Teddy looked up and winced when he saw what she was looking at. A few chairs away, a group of girls in her year were giggling, batting each other's hands down whenever someone pointed at Victorie.
"I'm sorry Vic, if there was anything I could…" Teddy let his voice trail off. Knowing Victorie, she would find a way.
"I'll tell you when I think of something," Victorie replied, her face still stony.
Teddy suppressed his smile. Even angry, Victorie was still his favorite person in Hogwarts.
...
"Is killing everyone in this entire forsaken school an option?" Victorie muttered, propping her feet into Teddy's lap. Around them, students began to stare and Teddy looked away in favor of taking in the tiredness in Victorie's face.
"Did you get any sleep today?" Teddy asked, concern coloring his tone.
Victorie sighed. "No, I got into another argument with my roommates. They voted to kick me out for, and I'm quoting this, 'being a total bitch.'"
Teddy gasped. "They said that to your face, Vic?"
"Yup," Victorie confirmed, popping the last p. Teddy made a face but leaned over to wrap his arms around his best friend anyways. Victorie laid her head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of Teddy's cologne and the smell hot chocolate on his breath.
"It's just not what I expected," Victorie confessed, her voice muffled from Teddy's shoulder. "Everyone always goes on about how amazing Hogwarts is but I hate it here so much, Ted."
Teddy nodded, not waiting for her to elaborate. Victorie wasn't much of a talker, preferring to read away her problems, so he just readjusted his arm until they were mushed together on the couch, reading the night away.
2015
In the end, the fragile peace they've established doesn't last very long.
They're walking down a hallway, in the middle of a conversation when someone says the words and she snaps.
"Teddy Lupin? Isn't that the annoying half-breed?"
It does not end well for anyone involved.
"Detention," Victorie said when he saw her next, not even waiting for him to ask.
Teddy sighed in relief, hugging Victorie so tightly that she let out an involuntary squeak.
"Put me down, Ted, please," Victorie said exasperatedly.
"I'm sorry Vic, I didn't mean to hurt. It's just that… it's my fault you got detention," Ted admitted.
Victorie rolled her eyes. "Please, he had it coming, saying things like that. Anyways, it's not like I have a lot of friends. Can't have the only person that likes me be insulted."
Teddy smiled sadly. "You know I love you, Vic, right?"
Victorie preened, her body lighting up. "I love you too, Teddy, which is why I have to do this."
"Do what?" Teddy tried to ask but Victorie had pressed her lips to his and oh-
So this was what love was.
2016
Seventh year comes so quickly Teddy barely has time to blink. Not that it changes much- he still has no friends but Victorie, who he spends every waking moment with. He decides he wants to be a lawyer for everyone who needs one and Victorie teases him for being a bleeding heart.
She decides to be a curse breaker. Teddy tells her he'll lock her in a tomb if she doesn't stop making fun of him and they laugh themselves nauseous that night, shaking with laughter under the stars.
He's head over heels and he doesn't even know how it happened.
2017
For Victorie, sixth year is the worst thing that's ever happened to her.
It's so, so hard and she almost crumbles that year, shaking under the glares and gossip that follow her around like threats. She begins to bail her hands into fist out of the pure, white-hot rage that runs through her body. Her palms have angry half-moon crescent imprints on them, and it hurts but it's a reminder that she's alive.
Victorie's smart enough to not let it show but she cries herself to sleep the first week and screams herself hoarse into her pillow the next.
She misses Teddy. She hates this empty shell of a life so much it hurts.
...
As much as he doesn't mean to, Teddy can't help but worry.
Sure, it's Victorie and she's never been anything but independent, but then again, they haven't been apart for this long since her first day of Hogwarts and lately, Victorie's letters worry him. They write each other constantly and nothing calms Teddy more than the fire flickering as he scribbles his day down on paper.
But now, it's taken a turn for the worst. What used to be lonely rambles and ambitious theories has turned into angry rants. These days, Victorie writes so had the scroll has puncture marks.
...
In the end, he's not surprised when he gets called down to Hogwarts.
McGonagall meets him at the castle walls, a fuming Fleur and concerned Bill Weasley by her sides.
"What happened?" Teddy asked, crossing his fingers that Victorie was okay.
"She eez okay," Fleur said, answering the unspoken question.
"But what happened?" Teddy asked worriedly.
Headmistress McGonagall's lips pursed. "Ms. Delacour- Weasley decided the correct reaction to a classmate insulting her family was to set him on fire using a spell she made up herself. After, she decided to run away instead of confronting her punishment. We were hoping you would be able to talk some sense into her."
Teddy couldn't believe his ears. "Someone insulted her family?'
The headmistress rolled her eyes. "It does not surprise me that you, , have missed the point entirely."
Teddy didn't even bother responding to that. "Is he still going to this school? Victorie was right to set him on fire. In fact, I'm surprised she stopped there."
Bill glared at Teddy. "You shouldn't be encouraging this behavior, Teddy."
"Yes, he is still going to the school," McGonagall said. "Ms. Delacour-Weasley, however, is suspended until the end of the school year."
Teddy looked at Fleur. "Where is Victorie going then?"
Fleur sighed. "William and I have decided that Victorie will be homeschooled until she is allowed back to Hogwarts."
Teddy gasped. "You're just going to send her back here after hearing the kind of things people say to her?"
"Yes," Bill said. "And you, Lupin, are in no position to question my judgment."
Teddy had heard enough. Turning around, he broke into a sprint, intent on finding Victorie.
...
It's Victorie that finds him in the end. He's searched everywhere in the castle when she shows up while he pesters the elves in the Hogwarts kitchen.
"Ted!" Is all he hears before a body rams into him, and for the first time in months, he finds himself tangled up with Victorie.
"Vic!" Ted said delightedly, spinning her around in a circle. Victorie laughed, her hair whipping around as she did, and Teddy beamed.
Suddenly, he remembered why he had been looking for her and his smile fell.
"They want you to stay in Hogwarts," Teddy whispered, his heart breaking as he said the words.
Victorie's face fell. "I know."
Teddy looked at Victorie for a second, staring at her chewed on lips and tired eyes before coming to a decision. "I won't let them trap you here."
Victorie leaned in until there was no more distance between them. "I know."
...
It's going to be hard to kidnap the daughter of two war heroes.
Or is it even kidnapping if she goes willingly?
Either way, looking down at Victorie's sleeping face, Teddy knows he'll have to. He didn't make a promise when he was eleven, but he now he wil. Victorie is his. She will be loved.
2019
Victorie woke up contently, her eyelashes fluttering open as the morning sun shone into the room. On the table beside her, Teddy's law texts threatened to fall as they balanced desperately on her curse-breaking guidebooks.
Propping herself on one elbow, Victorie turned around to glance at Teddy who was already awake.
"Good morning, Ted," Victorie said, leaning over to kiss his forehead.
"Good morning, Vic. Did I wake you up?" Teddy asked concernedly.
Victorie smiled fondly. "No, don't worry. Are you heading to work now?"
"Yes, but I'll be back to make sure you don't accidentally forget to make dinner. Don't fall into any tombs today, Vic, because it won't get you out of it," Teddy teased.
"I love you, Ted. Now shoo, you'll be late."
Teddy looked at his watch and groaned. "Bye Vic, love you."
From the bed where the sun shone and the birds chirped, Victorie smiled. She was so lucky to have Teddy in her life, this boy who handcrafted a better life for her with all his love.