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Never Let Go by majestic_ginny

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Chapter Notes: *crawls out from under a rock.*

Um, hello everyone. I'm so so sorry for the huge delay; honestly, I didn't expect it to take this long. I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. Real life has been a real pain in the backside. I'm in university and I just gave my second year finals a few days back, and before that I had a gazillion assignments to submit and with all my course and lab work I was under a lot of stress. That, combined with writer's block, has basically made me a very crappy author.

I am really really sorry for keeping you guys hanging like this. But I'd like to tell you that the entire story is planned out in my head and the next chapter has been half written. One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to get my lazy writer's backside into action and start focusing on my stories. So hopefully you'll be seeing an update again quite soon :). Once again I'm really really sorry for this terrible delay. Hopefully you people haven't abandoned reading this!

I'm not JKR. And I'll end this author's note right here so you can get on with the chapter. Hope you enjoy it!



"Ginny, please," Harry said, pacing the living room. "You know well enough that he wouldn't talk to me or Teddy at all. You're the only one he'll listen to right now, so why can't you just --"

"Harry, you know what he's like at the moment," Ginny snapped, her eyes hard as she glared at her husband. "Anything I say is going to make him even more upset, and I don't want to put him under any more stress than he is already in. That boy has had enough."

Harry heaved out a frustrated sigh. Teddy looked from one godparent to another as their bickering match went on, as though watching Chasers pass the Quaffle to each other during a Quidditch match. Teddy had to admit, though, he was on Harry's side. James wasn't willing to listen to him or Harry, and if Ginny would just agree to talk to him for a minute, he was sure she'd be able to convince him. James was very close to his mother, and Ginny was the one person who could ever get him to agree to something. Although, there was a slight chance it was only because Ginny would threaten him with a Bat Bogey Hex whenever he would be too stubborn.

"He hates us," Harry said, clearly distressed. "Percy was a daft idiot and James blames us for it."

"You did arrest him," Ginny pointed out.

Harry gave her a look. She was not helping in appeasing his state of mind at all. "To make sure the blame was off of him!" he objected. "To help him!"

"Well, a fat load of help that did!"

"It should be the intention that counts," Harry mumbled. "But really, Ginny, please. You know he will listen to you. Help us out, here."

Ginny sighed. "Fine," she said. "I'll try to talk to him. But I'm telling you, I won't be able to help you if he clams up and asks me to leave. I will not push him to do something he clearly doesn't feel comfortable doing."

"He won't say no to you," Teddy assured her. "He tells you everything."

Ginny's eyes darkened. "If he did, we probably wouldn't be in this mess." She stood up and made her way to the staircase.

As he heard her footsteps thump up the stairs, Teddy had to admit, Ginny had a point. If James had told Ginny -- or Harry, or anyone for that matter -- about his and Lucy's relationship, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have been accused of the crime he hadn't committed.

"You think he'll come down?" Harry asked Teddy.

Frankly, he wasn't very optimistic about the odds. "I have a bad feeling he won't."

Sure enough, they could hear muffled yelling coming from upstairs. Ginny, it seemed, was having a bad time.

"Mum, I had to miss Lu's funeral!" they heard him yell, loud and clear. "I was in jail when they buried her! I was stuck in a damn holding cell! I couldn't even see her for one last time before she was gone!

"James, I know you're upset --" Ginny started to say, but she was immediately cut off by James.

"Upset? Mum you have no idea what is going through me right now!" There was a loud crash, followed by a frightened scream by Ginny. In a flash, Harry had stood up and dashed up the stairs. Teddy, afraid of what they'd see, followed Harry up the stairs quickly.

As they reached James's room, they found the door ajar. It looked like James had just thrown a flower vase against the wall; a pile of flowers and broken china and lots of water were strewn all over the foot of the wall opposite to James.

"Sweetheart, listen to me --" Ginny was saying, trying to touch James's arm. It had been a mistake.

"No!" he shouted, yanking his arm away from her touch as if he'd been burned. He hadn't noticed his father or Teddy standing at the door. "I'm done listening to you guys! How could you have let this happen, Mum!" He grabbed an Omnicular off his table and hurled it at the wall in frustration. This time, however, Ginny was ready for it. Before the Omnicular hit the wall, Ginny had her wand out and had muttered a silent shield charm. The Omnicular bounced against it and clattered to the floor, mostly undamaged.

"James," she said quietly, pocketing her wand. She looked at her son with tired eyes. "You need to understand. We had no choice on the matter. Harry and I tried, we really tried, but Percy just wouldn't listen to us. He wasn't willing to wait for anything."

It had been the day before Teddy and the younger Weasley and Potter children had gone to Hogwarts. Lucy was scheduled to be buried that afternoon. Early in the morning, Harry and Ginny had gone to Percy's house along with Teddy, trying to convince him not to let the funeral take place without James. Percy had been furious with their suggestion.

"Percy, James was her boyfriend," Ginny pleaded. "He has a right to be there."

"Absolutely not!" her brother huffed. "I will not let my daughter's murderer be at the funeral."

"It hasn't been proven yet," Harry tried to say, but Percy had silenced him with one look.

"I've had enough of this," he answered coldly. He glared at Harry and Ginny. "He's the reason my daughter's dead and my wife's become barely responsive in shock. I'm saying this the last time. That boy will not be there. And unless you want to be struck off the guest list too, I'd suggest you leave right now. You are invited there as my daughter's aunt and uncle. I do not want Lucy's killer's parents to be there."

Ginny stared at her brother, her eyes hard. "You'll regret this someday, you know."

"Are you threatening me?" Percy asked loudly.

Ginny shook her head. "No. Just telling you as your sister."

That afternoon, Lucy Weasley had been buried in the graveyard in the village near the Burrow, her entire family present for her funeral, except for James.


James sat down on his bed, bending over so that his face was in his hands and his elbow resting on his knee. "You couldn't even stop them from burying her..."

Ginny went and sat beside him, putting an arm around her eldest son. "James, you don't know what you're saying. How could we? She's their daughter."

James looked up at his mother. "And she was my girlfriend! I had a right to be there. To see her face once for the last time."

"How do you suggest we should have stopped them?"

"I don't know!" he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I don't care. I just want to see Lucy again." he simply leaned against Ginny, shuddering slightly.

Harry decided to enter the room, going up and sitting on the other side of his son. "You... you still can, you know," he told his son.

James and Ginny both looked at him, curious. "How," James asked dully. "In case you forgot, she's six feet under."

Harry wasn't fazed by his derision. "You can visit her grave."

James's eyes widened. "I - I can?" he stuttered. He looked up at his father, his eyes looking a bit hopeful.

"Of course. No one can stop you now. Percy can't; after all, you're innocent, and he knows that."

James nodded, and Teddy swore he could no longer see the haunted look in his eyes that was present just a while back. "I'll go tomorrow morning."

"Take Teddy with you," Harry told him. Teddy tensed. He wasn't sure that it was the best idea, considering what had happened. There was still quite a bit of tension between them. After all, he was the one who had got him in this situation in the first place... He looked over at James, who was frowning at him, his lips pursed together. No, it definitely wasn't a good idea.

"Why?" James finally asked, his eyes to moving away from Teddy. The Metamorphmagus could see a vindictiveness in his god-brother's eyes that made him slightly weary. "I can manage myself, Dad."

Harry's face was impassive. "You can, I know," he said. "But I'd be happier if you took an Auror with you. We still haven't caught Zachary. What if he tries something?"

Teddy could sense the lie behind Harry's words. He was sure that Harry only wanted him to go so that they could talk to each other for some time. Teddy appreciated it, he really did -- he was just worried whether James would be okay with it or not.

"I think you should take Teddy along too," Ginny spoke up, glancing at Harry. A silent communication passed between them, and Harry gave her the tiniest of nods. He was thanking her.

James sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "Fine," he agreed. "I'll take him with me."



By the time Teddy reached home, he was exhausted. He kicked off his shoes the moment he walked in through the door, nudged them out of the way with his foot, and pulled off the jacket he was wearing. He threw it on the sofa in the living room, where it landed in a crumpled mess. He would simply pick it up later. Still in his socks, he padded up the stairs while opening the buttons on his shirt one by one. He finally reached his room and, turning the door knob, he opened the door and entered.

The room was dark. Pulling out his wand from his back pocket, he waved it. The lights turned on. Sighing in exhaustion, he made his way to his bed and collapsed on top of it, closing his eyes.

It was a very eventful day, to say the least. They had proven James's innocence, got Williamson off the case, figured out who the culprit was, and had hopefully made some headway with James's emotional turmoil. James was suffering. He just hoped that by the next morning, after seeing Lucy's grave, he'd get some sort of closure.

He knew it would be difficult for him to get over it. Dealing with the pain of losing someone was not easy. Losing Lucy was still a raw pain even for Teddy -- he could only imagine how painful it would be for James, who had been in love with her. He couldn't even think about that happening to Victoire.

Victoire. Just thinking about her made him feel elated. He opened his eyes. Now that they were almost done with the case, he thought that he could write to her, let her know everything that had transpired that day. She'd be so happy to know they'd found out who had killed Lucy. Just a few more days, Teddy thought. A few more days at the most before the team of Hit Wizards would have Zachary Williamson in position. The best of the best were out there scouring the entire British Isles looking for him. He couldn't get away. His lips curled into a grimace. When they caught him, he would have hell to pay.

Teddy pulled himself off of the bed and shuffled over to his desk. He pulled out the drawers, rummaging through them until he found what he was looking for: writing stationery. He dipped the quill into the ink bottle, and spread out the parchment. Putting the quill tip to the paper, he wrote:

Dear Victoire,

I hope this owl will reach you by morning, so first things first: good morning, love. Hope you slept well and dreamt about your dashing boyfriend.

Anyway, I have some good news for you. We have found out who killed Lucy. You'll never guess who it was. Williamson's son, Zachary Williamson. I couldn't believe it -- Auror Williamson's son! Harry is a genius, I must say. He remembered that Zach Williamson had killed his girlfriend with Croton Oil. Do you remember Alison MacDougal? The girl killed in Hogwarts around a year back? The public was never given the full case details, so I guess you don't know how she died. It was the same as Lucy: Croton Oil poisoning. Zach killed her after he found out about her pregnancy.

At first we thought he was framed. He was supposed to be in Azkaban when Lucy was poisoned, so he couldn't have been the one to kill Lucy, right? And if Lucy and Alison's killer had the same Modus Operandi, we assumed that they were the same killer, which would mean that Zachary had been framed for killing his girlfriend.

Harry went to Azkaban to free him, where he found out Zachary had escaped, and Williamson had known. Turns out, it was a big plot from the beginning. Williamson has been placed under house arrest, Hit Wizards are searching the whole country for his son, and, best of all, James has been released and is finally back home.

I feel terrible for him, though. He missed Lu's funeral while he was in lockup. He is grieving and I can't help but feel it's my fault that he's in this mess. He hates me. I went to their house today and he won't even look at me. Harry said he could go to her grave, and he wants me to go along with him. I hope to try talk to him about it tomorrow. I just hope he understands. We will go to the cemetery tomorrow morning.

Speaking of which, I should go sleep now if I want to be up early. I haven't even changed yet. Goodnight, Vic. I love you.

-- Teddy.


Teddy set the quill down and stretched. He looked at the watch; it was past midnight. He folded the letter and put it in an envelope, scribbling Victoire Weasley, Shell Cottage. on top of it. Hurriedly, he went down to the living room where he kept his owl.

Apollo was a tiny little Scops owl, not much bigger than Teddy's fist. He cocked his head to the side as he saw Teddy come up to him. He hadn't really used Apollo for much delivery the last few days, Teddy realised. As he neared the cage, the owl ruffled his feathers angrily and hopped to the opposite side of the cage, his back towards Teddy.

"Aww, don't be like that," Teddy mumbled, opening the cage door, which creaked a little.

Apollo hooted loudly, clearly annoyed at him.

"I'm sorry, mate," Teddy said, putting his hand inside and gently wrapping his fingers around the owl. "I've been very busy lately and haven't had to write any letters." Apollo nipped his fingers as Teddy picked him up, but not hard enough to actually cut him, just hard enough to make Teddy wince. He took the owl out and turned it towards him. "I promise I'll let you out more often." he said. He placed the letter on the table the cage sat on and, with his now free hand, fed some owl treats to Apollo. The bird hooted softly this time, his tiny head bobbing as he ate the treat.

Once he was done, he held out his left leg expectantly, waiting for Teddy to tie a letter to his leg. He looked at Teddy with his tiny yellow eyes, the feathers on his head sticking up cutely, like tiny ears. Teddy smiled. He loved the little owl.

Once he was done tying the letter, he carried Apollo to the windowsill, where he hopped onto the ledge. "Go take it to Victoire, okay?" Teddy instructed.

Apollo hooted and stretched his wings, flying out of the window and into the night. Teddy watched him go until it was nothing but a tiny speck in the sky. Sighing, he closed the window and locked it, and then made his way up the stairs, desperate to catch some much needed sleep after the long day he'd had.



Chapter Endnotes:
Mostly a filler chapter, once again, but I needed to show a bit more of James. I'll be starting on the next chapter asap.

Please review! I'd like to know your thoughts. I'm not sure if I've written him well enough, though. Do you think he's okay or does he sound to whiny? I'm slightly nervous, to be honest.

--Nadia