Title: Memorial

Summary: Victoire reflects on how the war memorial stone has affected her life

Rating: T

Warning: Spoilers, but DH did come out five years ago ...

Disclaimer: Rights to the wonderful J.K. Rowling

I've finally written a Teddy/Victoire fic! Yay! Love to my beta, Lara, (madhunterwithanimpalaon tumblr), who not only puts up with me, but is very sweet about it too

"Knew I'd find you here," said an all-too-familiar voice, and Victoire sat next to him, leaning against the large white marble stone, not wanting to look at where the names Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin (Tonks) were etched below each other. "I brought you this," she added, when he did not respond, pulling out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate. "Thought you could use some cheering up."

"Thanks, Vic," he murmured, allowing her to force the bar of chocolate into his hands. "I'm sorry. You don't need this on your birthday."

"It's fine."

The two of them had always sought solace from the stone, ever since their respective first years. Both of them had been the ones who had left and sat by the war memorial, and the other could always be counted on to join them. The first time it had happened, in Teddy's third year and Victoire's first, she had, rather stupidly, stormed off and spent the whole day sitting on the stone, crying because Teddy had gone to Hogsmeade, leaving her behind on her own.

He had laughed when he found her there, before hugging her, saying, "I'd never abandon you, kiddo. You know that."

He had then told her that he, too, went to the war memorial stone whenever he was upset, and that was why he had laughed, before he introduced her to Eleanor, his friend's little sister, who was in Ravenclaw. Ellie and Victoire had become great friends, finding a lot of things they had in common, one of them being age, which meant it didn't matter any more when Teddy went to Hogsmeade.

And so if either of them went missing, they always knew where to look, and could always succeed in cheering the other up and convincing them to come inside.

In Victoire's fifth year, Teddy had found her crying by the stone, because her boyfriend, Jamie, had dumped her. He'd managed to cheer her up significantly, and they had kissed.

"I'm so sorry!" Victoire had exclaimed at once, blushing the famous Weasley blush. "I'm just upset. I'm sorry. I - I'll go."

"No. Don't. You've got nothing to apologise for."

And then, to her immense surprise, he'd kissed her.

It was unbelievable. Teddy had kissed her. Her best friend. She'd never, ever, expected him to feel that way about her, as she felt about him. "What?"

"I didn't want to muck up our friendship," said Teddy in a low voice, looking just as surprised as her. "I never realised. You - you're my best friend, Vic. I didn't want that to change."

"It won't," she promised, and she kissed him once more.

They agreed to keep their relationship a secret, knowing the reaction the whole Potter-Weasley clan would have. Especially Lily, once word reached her ears, as they suspected she had been trying to get them together for years (unsuccessfully, of course, since she was only seven). And they had succeeded for a year, with only Dominique and Ellie finding out, and they promised not to tell anyone. The memorial stone had become their rendez-vous point, adding a strange note of happiness to the place. During the summer before Victoire's seventh year, most people in her family, and all of her friends, had found out about her and Teddy, and, just before she started her final year at Hogwarts, James had seen them kiss, so they were sure that everyone knew. Sure enough, Lily sent them a letter that indicated she was all but planning their wedding.

Every year, on Victoire's birthday, or, as it was more commonly know, Victory Day, there were no lessons at Hogwarts, the gates were opened, so that people (namely parents and past pupils) were allowed into the grounds and the castle itself, and students were allowed to visit Hogsmeade, or pop home for the day. Teddy and Victoire woke before anyone else, and spent the hours before sunrise sitting on the war memorial stone (the grass was too dewy to sit there) as was a ritual of theirs. Sometimes they sat in silence, other times they relived the stories they had been told by Teddy's grandmother and godfather, looking through photographs of his parents.

That year was no different, except, of course, the fact that Teddy was not there. Ellie, being the good friend that she was, joined Victoire in her ritual, and the two of them spent the hours before breakfast sitting on the stone. Victoire's final year at Hogwarts was almost over, and she was busy studying for her NEWTs. That day, her birthday, and the anniversary of the day the wizarding world had finally been rid of Lord Voldemort, she allowed herself a break. Nasreen, however, (a Hufflepuff girl in her year who reminded her of her aunt Hermione) was still studying, albeit in the shade of the towering beech tree by the lake, surrounded by her older sisters.

When the gates were opened, the whole extended Potter-Weasley family, including some best friends and boyfriends, gathered around the stone, remembering Fred, and then went to Hogsmeade, visiting each shop, the adults rather nostalgically. George and Angelina had to go back to their shop (they had opened one in Hogsmeade after Filch had resigned and a new, thankfully more accommodating, caretaker had been appointed. Skiving Snackboxes were now they only things banned from Hogwarts, though Fred still managed to smuggle some in). Victoire only noticed Teddy's absence after they'd been to the Three Broomsticks, where her parents, aunts and uncles had all chipped in to buy her an expensive bottle of mulled mead to celebrate her eighteenth birthday (last year they'd bought her Firewhisky, which she quickly discovered she hated and let Teddy finish it). She made a quick detour to Honeydukes, where she bought a large bar of teddy's favourite chocolate, before returning to Hogwarts to find him. Sure enough, he was sitting with his back against the marble stone, staring at the lake or Dumbledore's grave, she couldn't be sure, which.

"They'd be proud of you, you know," she said, nudging Teddy slightly. He smiled weakly.

"You think so?"

"Of course," she smiled, he opened the chocolate bar, offering a piece. She took it, continuing, "You're gonna be an auror, like your Mum." She took a bite of the chocolate. It was creamy in the middle, her favourite kind as well as Teddy's.

"They died to give me a better life; a life without Voldemort," said Teddy. "I understand that, but I wish I could've met them."

"You will," she said. "I know you will. It'll take a while, but you will see them again. Hold on to that."

He smiled properly, kissing her lightly. "I don't deserve you."

"As if!" she scoffed. "I don't deserve you. C'mon. Let's go to Hogsmeade. I still have some mead left ..."

They clambered to their feet and walked, arm in arm, away from the white marble war memorial stone. It had brought bittersweet memories to them, but, in the end, without it, they might not even be together.