Girls! Thought Teddy as he walked along the cliff at Shell Cottage, kicking stones out of his way with slightly more force than was necessary. Why did they all have to be so . . . infuriating, always trying to get under your skin?
“Look at me,” he mimicked in a high-pitched imitation of Victoire. “I can fly higher than Teddy.”
Sure, he thought, you can fly higher all right, right into that ruddy bird. Molly had been positively furious when she had come tearing out of the house. She had run to Victoire and cradled her gently in her arms. To be honest, Teddy marvelled that the look she had given him had not turned him to stone on the spot.
“Put those brooms away this instant!” she had commanded. The younger children had scrambled to get out of the line of fire. No wonder Charlie isn’t afraid to work with dragons. The thought flitted though Teddy’s mind followed by an image of the elderly Weasley woman, breathing large red and orange flames of fire, with smoke curling from her nostrils.
An image he quickly suppressed, to stop the laughter that threatened to come bubbling out. Sulkily, he crossed the yard to pick up Victoire’s fallen broom and return it to the shed in the corner of the yard.
“I don’t want to see those brooms out again,” said Molly over her shoulder as she ushered a whimpering Victoire back into the house. When he was sure she was not going to turn around again, Teddy rolled his eyes and started toward the bluff.
She got into everything, Teddy thought. Victoire did not just get into everything; she ruined everything. Just last week Teddy and James had snuck down stairs in the middle of the night for a midnight snack and had been shocked to find her sitting patiently in the kitchen waiting for them.
“I heard you,” she had said. “Planning earlier today, you think you’re going to sneak Grand-mère’s cake.” With a huff, Teddy had sighed and levelled his eyes on her.
“So?” he said in a wearied tone. “What’s it to you?”
“You should have told me,” she said, sounding just a little hurt.
“NO!” James exclaimed, causing Teddy to look around in panic. He was afraid one of the adults had been privy to their late night excursion.
“Quieter James, you’ll give us away,” he chided. James was always up for mischief but he was young and not so good at the stealth part of it. “He is right though,” Teddy continued, turning to Victoire. “We didn’t want to invite you.”
Her eyes flashed and Teddy started and took a step back. She looked evil. As quickly as it had appeared, the look vanished and she had calmly stood and walked out of the room. With a shrug James crossed to the cabinet and took out a large cake. Molly had made it to celebrate the last week of summer holiday, for those who were returning to Hogwarts.
While he was waiting for James to grab silverware, Teddy had let his mind drift, remembering this tradition; all the Weasleys, Potters, and of course Teddy, together at Shell Cottage during this last week of summer. Together they would go and complete the back to school shopping in Diagon Alley and spend one last week with the whole family before taking all those of school age to Kings Cross Station. It had felt a little odd to Teddy; he was not going back to Hogwarts this time. He, like the rest of the adults, was on a weeklong holiday, almost like them, but not exactly.
He was not sure where he fit in, being neither an adult, nor a child. He himself would not be going to Kings Cross at all this year. In fact, he would be leaving the day before everyone else, to go back to work.
. . . CRASH . . . BANG . . . SMASH . . .
Teddy was pulled from his drifting thoughts by a horrible, loud noise reverberating though the quiet house. He quickly looked at James, a large fork of chocolate cake paused half way to his gaping mouth. Teddy stood and rushed to the door, just in time to see Victoire sliding into her bedroom as lights began flipping on all over the house.
A large statue, that ‘was a very old family heirloom’ according to Fleur, lay scattered in an unrecognizable mass. Large and small pieces were still skittering across the hard wooden floor, coming to rest just inside the kitchen doorway, right at Teddy’s feet. He panicked; he could hear the adults moving about in their rooms. It would be only moments before they would start appearing, eyes blurry and thoughts jumbled as they raced out to see who or what had caused the commotion. James, he thought quickly, ducking back into the kitchen.
“Quick,” he had said, panic in his voice, “into the pantry.”
James had glanced mournfully at the cake and then at Teddy. He must have decided that the look of horror on Teddy’s face outweighed the decadences of the chocolate cake, which remained partially eaten on the plate. Diving into the pantry James had just closed the door only seconds before the first adult stepped into the room. A much-frazzled looking Bill Weasley, closely followed by Fleur and his mother entered the room.
“W-what happened out t-there,” he stuttered, clearly not yet fully awake.
“MY CAKE!” Molly exclaimed.
“Yes,” said Fleur in a haughty tone. “Let us worry about ze stupid cake.”
She bent down to retrieve a few pieces of the broken statue. Teddy’s face flamed red as he quickly looked from one woman to the other. To his relief, his uncle George came into the room at that moment.
“Well now,” said George with a grin. “I didn’t know we were starting the festivities at midnight. I would have set up my little surprise before I went to bed.”
At that moment, George had to jump back quickly, as both Fleur and his mother took a swat at him, all the while shooting venomous looks in his direction.
“Reparo,” said another male voice, this one calm and slightly amused at the scene laid out before him. Teddy let out a sigh of relief as the statue jumped back together once more, appearing whole and unharmed.
“Hum,” said Fleur, obviously still a trifle upset. Molly simply placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the cake she had spent hours baking. Teddy noticed that behind Harry was Ginny, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the children. There, looking a little smug and standing in the back of the large group was Victoire.
Why that evil little git . . . Teddy’s thoughts once again interrupted by Harry. “What do you say Molly, shall we let bygones be bygones? Start the party a little earlier this year?”
She grumbled under her breath but went to the cupboard enchanted with the chill charm and started pulling out various drinks and placing them on the table.
“So,” said Harry. “Are you going to come out of the pantry James? Or are you going to miss the party?” Teddy gave Harry a disbelieving look. How had he known?
“This much noise and excitement, and James isn’t right in the middle of it? I figured he was in hiding. And the pantry is the only space big enough,” Harry said with a chuckle.
Well that night had turned out all right after all, no thanks to Victoire. Teddy’s thoughts once more drifted out of his memories. He shuddered as he remembered the glares he had received for the next day or two from Fleur and an occasional disapproving glance from Molly. It was all Victoire’s fault, ruined everything she did. Teddy lined up to kick a particularly good sized stone and paused just moments before his foot connected with it. There was writing carved in to the stone.
"HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF."
Teddy pondered this, of course, he knew who Dobby had been; all of the children had heard the stories many times. What he was pondering, were the stories and not so much the stone.
Dobby had tried to save Harry many times in his second year at Hogwarts, and had been the cause of many near-catastrophes and injuries for Harry. With his anger dissipating somewhat, Teddy reached down and brushed the dirt from the stone marking Dobby’s grave and standing, he turned and headed back to Shell Cottage to say his goodbyes. The family would be leaving early in the morning and they really did not need an extra body about while they packed.
Later that evening, Teddy sat opposite his Gran, playing with his food rather than actually eating it. With an appraising eye and a knowing smile his Gran said with a chuckle, “Ah, girl troubles.”
Teddy gave her an irritated look, drawing his eyebrows down and setting his mouth in a hard line before responding.
“If by that, you mean a girl who causes me nothing but trouble, then yeah.” He slumped down just a little more in his chair, jabbing his fork into the pile of potatoes causing it to slide across the plate underneath with an ear piercing screech.
“Why don’t you think about what you have in common with her instead of what you don’t,” said Andromeda kindly as she rounded the table, balancing her plate carefully while she slid Teddy’s out from in front of him.
“Or,” she said with a raised eyebrow, “at least use paper plates till you get it out of your system.”
Teddy scowled deeply and sunk even lower in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. He had nothing, absolutely NOTHING in common with that spoiled little princess. His mind drifted to Victoire standing on the bluff overlooking the coast, her long wavy red hair blowing around her gently; it curled and caressed her perfect porcelain features.
Teddy slammed the engine breaks for that particular train of thought, derailing any little ‘thought’ cars that may have followed. He pushed back hard from the table, the legs of the chair scraping loudly as he stood. He was irritated and a little annoyed, and he gave the chair a good kick to push the it back in place. When it caught the leg of the table, Teddy was sure he had just broken his toe.
“Blimey!” he yelped.
“Serves you right,” said his Gran, coming into the room. “You shouldn’t pick on my furniture; it hasn’t done anything to you.”
With a laugh, she set a plate of cookies on the table. Teddy grabbed one and stormed from the room. Now he was not just angry; he was angry and embarrassed. Being a Metamorphmagus, this was a dangerous combination for him; most people may turn a little pink in the cheeks when they are upset or embarrassed. He literally turned bright red and his hair even gave the illusion of flames shooting from the top of his head. He stormed up the stairs, stomping loudly and slamming the door to his bedroom with a flare of particular satisfaction. He flopped in the raggedy old chair that had once belonged to his father, and concentrated on clearing his thoughts, trying to relax and regain control of his appearance.
‘Think of what you have in common’ Gran had said. What he could possibly have in common with that obnoxious little girl?
He thought for a moment, the anger and embarrassment slowly fading. Maybe it was not what they had in common now, that really stood out, but what they had always. Both of their fathers had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback, Teddy knew that they both had dealt with this in school, certain parents “afraid of the ramifications” who didn’t think that their children should go near Teddy or Victoire. This had always angered Teddy. Both of them were cleared of any traces of the werewolf gene shortly after birth, it was not as if they were going to suddenly transform in their common rooms and go on mass killing sprees, murdering the rest of the children at Hogwarts as they slept, Teddy thought venomously. Calm down, he reminded himself.
With a deep breath, Teddy’s mind wandered to that moment in the kitchen when Victoire had looked purely evil. A trait no doubt inherited from her mother’s side of the family, the Veela side. He didn’t know much about Veela, but he knew that when they were angry they could be very scary, even darn right terrifying, with their heads that looked like harpies and their scaly wings that jutted from their shoulder blades. He had even once heard they could cough fire but he was not one hundred percent sure about that. Teddy shuddered to himself, slightly relieved that she was only one-eighth Veela, at least that seemed to temper the ‘evilness’ a little. He wondered if she was even aware of the change that overtook her features when she was angry, he wondered if she could control it or if it was like his Metamorphmagus abilities; so much a part of him, it started shifting before he even had a chance to think about it. With a deep breath, he became aware of a completely new feeling, not pity or sympathy, so much as a sense of camaraderie, a common bond.
Maybe he had been a little too hard on her, maybe the reason she had wanted to be so close was that she had felt it all along. He stood and stretched, maybe he just needed a good night’s sleep. What did it matter anyway he thought to himself, tomorrow she would go to Kings Cross and board the train to Hogwarts and he would return to work. He would not see her again until Christmas and that would be for only a few hours at the Weasley’s Christmas party.
Strangely, his heart rather fluttered at the thought, it kind of jumped. Teddy felt somewhat uneasy as he crawled between the covers that night, unsure of this new feeling building in his chest. Teddy slept uneasily that night Victoire danced in and out of his dreams. He smiled when she laughed and frowned when she was upset. He dreamt of a time when he had been attending Hogwarts and had come across some sixth year boys taunting her about her father, making wolf calls and calling her names. Sure, he had come to her defence then, but that was because it was personal and because she was a Weasley. Nobody picked on the Weasleys with Teddy around, even annoying little Victoire was safe then, but as he relived it in his dream, he felt strange new emotions taking over.
It was not just to defend her; he felt a need to protect her, to save her, to never see her hurt again.
Teddy awoke with a start, bolting straight up in bed. He had to get to Kings Cross Station. He looked at the clock on the nightstand; it read 10:15 A.M.
Flying out of bed, he scrambled to change out of his nightclothes, and started down the stairs, stopping every few steps to try to put on his shoes.
“Late on your first day back?” his Gran asked with a smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows.
“No,” said Teddy, slightly out of breath. “I have to get to King’s Cross.”
He flew about the room, gathering what he needed for the day and ending his search in front of the fireplace.
“What about work?” she asked innocently.
“Don’t have to be there until three, I’ll be home late,” yelled Teddy.
In a flash of green flame, he was gone, but not before he saw that knowing smile once again cross his grandmother’s lips. He raced out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, nearly knocking over an old witch on his way, ignoring the look of exasperation she gave him. He waved at Tom the bartender and raced out on the Muggle streets of London.
To be honest, Teddy could not remember much about the rest of his hurried trip to the station, or how he had even gotten past the other Weasleys and Potters, but here he was standing at the door to one of the compartments, the very one in which Victoire was sitting. She let out a little gasp at the sight of Teddy, a small giggle escaped her mouth, and a flush of pink caressed her cheeks. He crossed the space between them in a single step, slid one arm around Victoire and raised her to her feet, and as she tilted her head up in surprise, Teddy kissed her.
He could have kissed her forever, but forever was interrupted by a shocked yelp from none other than James Sirius Potter.
“Teddy what are you doing?!”
It was clear from the expression on young James’ face he thought Teddy was messing with the darkest of dark arts.
Not taking his eyes off Victoire, Teddy replied, “I came to see her off to school. Now,” he said, reaching to take hold of the compartment door. “Kindly go away.”
With that, Teddy slid the door closed and lowered his mouth to Victoire’s once more.
Common Bond by RTTLupin
Story Notes:
I want to thank Treacle_Heart and Russia Snow for taking the time to be my Betas on this fiction.
Chapter Notes: I am not J.K. Rowling. Anything you recognize belongs to her. The words on the stone are from Deathly Hallows.