

Hey guys, this is my first ever attempt at writing anything longer than a short story so this is going to be a bit of a learning curve for me! I'm seeing this as a writing exercise to help me improve my writing style, so any reviews to help me along the way would be massively appreciated...the good, bad, ugly...let me have it :D Just a word of warning, I've played around with the ages of some characters in this story. Having done a great deal of research into the NextGen, I decided that to fit the story I had in my mind these changes were necessary. Hopefully this doesn't annoy you too much and I won't hear too many sets of teeth grinding! I hope you guys enjoy reading it! TGL x



















I chucked my tattered copy of ‘The Twelve Labours of Hercules’ onto my unmade bed. When I was young, Harry would spend hours reading it to me when I was wrapped up in the covers, I used to dream of being a hero like Hercules. It held little attraction to me now as I crossed the spacious bedroom to the rain battered window, resting my head against the cold glass.



I had always taken the good times for granted. I assumed like everyone else, that with Voldemort gone, we would be free to live our lives however we wanted. How could I have been so naive. With magic we were blessed with extraordinary power, power which people would forever abuse for their own personal gain. It was like Hercules second labour when he fought the Hydra, cut off one head and two grow back in its place.



And now suddenly I’m supposed to be some kind of hero. Their hero. Their Hercules. When I don’t even know what or who I am anymore. Why did these bastards have to choose me, a sixteen year old who’s biggest accomplishment in life is catching a flying golden ball on a broomstick. For all they knew, I was as likely to become another venomous head than a hero.



The bedroom door creaked open quietly and I heard her gently make her way up behind me. She wrapped her delicate arms around my waist and rested her cheek on my back. She held me, and I knew she would never let go.



Of course I had to be the hero. I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I was her hero.



~~~







I sat on the wooden jetty that stretched out into the Burrows shallow lake, enjoying the warmth radiating from the sun heated wooden panels. My legs dangled over the end so that my feet brushed against the refreshingly cool water below.







I picked up my glass of lemonade from beside me, enjoying the cool condensation that had formed on the outside against my skin. The ice clinked in the glass as I took a gulp, enjoying the warm breeze that rustled the tall trees that surrounded the lake. Could life get any better than this.







My head snapped up at the sound of pounding feet behind me. I barely managed to put the glass down, sloshing half its contents on the decking, before I was grabbed around the shoulders and pulled into the water below.







They had finally managed it, James and Louis my adopted brother and as good as cousin, had been trying to ‘dunk’ me all day. As it stood, the score was now six - one in my favour.







I broke the surface moments later, shaking with laughter as I wiped the water off my face. My hair, which was dark brown and cropped short today, dripped drops down onto my cheeks. One benefit of being a metamorphmagi was that I didn’t have to wait for my hair to dry when I got it wet, I just morphed it, and it was as good as new.







My two young assailants stood a little away from me, delightedly high fiving each other.







‘And you have been dunked Ted!’ shouted Louis, running a hand through his vivid mess of red hair. Louis was twelve, but judging from the way he acted most of time, you would think he was a lot older. It was nice to see him messing around like this.







James, who was the same age as Louis, was doing some sort of celebratory dance beside him. It ended with a poorly executed handstand under the water, you could barely see his ankles sticking out.







I shook my head slowly at them, had they learnt nothing over this summer. You don’t gloat so close to the king of dunking, James resurfaced, his cocky grin vanishing immediately, and his wide chocolate brown eyes widening with fear as I dived and headed straight for them.







I pushed hard against the water, feeling in rush against my face. I could see their legs flailing around in the water, typical panic reactions. Who tries to run away in water. If I wasn’t guaranteed to swallow a mouthful of water, I would of laughed.







My hands made contact with one of their legs, judging by how skinny they were, it was probably James. I wrapped my arms around them, holding him in place as I squatted down. With as much force as I could muster, I launched him out of the water and into the air, surfacing just before he splashed back down.







He broke the water, laughing his head off, I waded towards him and ruffled his jet black hair.







‘Truce little man’ I asked, holding my hand out. He shook it gratefully. No doubt the next opportunity, he’d be breaking this fragile truce for revenge.







I looked towards the bank, Louis had already scarpered, he was sitting on one of the wooden stumps we used as stools. When the girls were with us, we’d make a bit more effort and bring down sun loungers, but we didn’t need them today.







He took the towel he’d been drying his hair with away from his face, giving a cocky little smirk. He didn’t actually think he’d won?







‘You’re next Weasley’ I shouted, splashing water at him. He retreated further, taking himself out of range.







‘You see, I don’t think so Ted’ he smirked, bending over and picking something off the ground. It didn’t take me long to realise he was holding my entire set of clothes. What exactly did he plan to do with them, it wasn’t like I needed them to walk back to the house in.











His face dropped slightly as I didn’t stop walking, his eyes flashed to the nearest escape route through the trees, calculating if he could outrun me.







‘We both know that’s a bad idea’ I goaded, ‘So either put my clothes down, and admit I won, or you’re going in the lake’







Beside me James was sniggering, he was probably glad that his partner in crime wasn’t going to escape punishment, now that he’d been dunked.







‘Oh shut up James, it was your idea in the first place’ Louis called, narrowing his eyes at his former accomplice.







I was now on the shore, Louis retreated on the Jetty...he had nowhere to go.







‘One more step Teddy, and the clothes get it’ he threatened, holding them out over the edge.







‘So your threat is’ I replied, taking very deliberate steps forward, ‘throwing my clothes in the lake, when I can quite easily dry them. Standing on a jetty, where even if you do drop them in, you’re still going in the water’.







He stared at me, the last shreds of hope leaving his eyes.







‘Jump in the lake Lou’ I said, trying to keep my face straight.







‘Aw come on Ted really’ I saw his eyes wandering down to the water.







‘or, admit that you didn’t win’, I held my hands out for my clothes.







He stepped forwards and handed them over, ‘fine Teddy, you win’ he grumbled, looking down at the floor.







No sooner had the words left his mouth, James came flying past me and tackled him, sending them both flying in. I got caught in the resulting splash, and walked back down the jetty chuckling, leaving them to scrap it out .I couldn’t help feeling slightly proud of James, that was a very Teddy Lupin style move.







I took a seat on the stool Louis had vacated, adjusting myself so that the knot on top wasn’t digging into me. All in all this had been one of the better ‘babysitting’ days of the summer. Not that I really saw it as babysitting anymore, these two had grown up a lot recently, they were quite fun to be around.







After about five minutes they trudged out of the water, still bickering about who had beaten who. I looked up at the sun, it was starting to set behind the tree line.







‘Come on you two we need to start heading back’ I informed them, picking my stuff up off the floor. I chucked them their towels, and we started to make our way through the trees, onto the meadow that separated the lake and the house.







I walked slowly, listening to them talk about everything we’d done today. Getting up for some early morning Quidditch, hiking around the surrounding fields and woodlands, the hours spent around the lake.







‘Have you ever used the ‘Salto Lua Leap’ in a game before Ted’ asked Louis, turning towards me and walking backwards.







I let out a bark of laughter, ‘You’ve got to be kidding Lou, Ginny would kill me if she saw me do that’.







The ‘Salto Lua Leap’ was a particularly dangerous Quidditch move which involved jumping off your broom to catch the snitch. Once you've caught it, in theory your broom would continue travelling underneath you, so you could land back on it. I’d see it done once, by Sweetwater All-Stars seeker Basil Horton. In most cases, either the snitch was missed altogether, or the seeker would catch it before receiving an unhealthy helping of the pitch below.







I’d given Louis and James a scaled down demonstration earlier, jumping just a couple of metres off my brook before landing on it again shakily. Hopefully they wouldn’t mention anything to their parents.







I hurdled the wooden fence surrounding the Burrow’s paddock, narrowly avoiding a chicken and recovering just in time to see James fall flat on his ass trying to copy me. Trying to stop myself laughing was no easy feat, I knew how sensitive James could be when he felt embarrassed, and judging from his face, he was pretty embarrassed. ‘Maybe next time J’ I said, offering my hand to him, ‘when you’ve grown a foot or two perhaps, but still, a good effort’ winking at him as he took my hand and pulled himself to his feet.







I could hear the racket coming from the kitchen before I was halfway across the courtyard. I noticed that the windows were steamed up, and could only just make out the shadows of people moving behind them.







I walked cautiously to the door, giving Louis and James an apprehensive look over my shoulder. Slowly, I pushed it open, poking my head through the gap as soon as there was enough room.







It looked like a bomb had gone off. There were pots and pans everywhere, some empty, some containing steaming and bubbling concoctions I didn’t dare look into. I walked in, ahead of the others just in case something unexpectedly blew up in front of us.







Earlier this morning, the male members of the Weasley and Potter clans had gathered around the now unrecognisable kitchen table. We had discussed for quite some time how best to make a gourmet meal for the girls when they returned from their annual trip to muggle London.







After the best part of an hour, two high ranking ministry officials, one famous code breaker for Gringotts, the owner of the most successful wizarding joke shop franchise ever, and two full trained aurors, including the chosen one himself, had decided on...a muggle barbeque. It had been Harry’s suggestion, it was something the Potters did quite regularly.







It was so simple in theory, but when this family is involved, well...anything can happen. My suggestion to get the two eldest boys out the way had been a good call.







‘Guys?’ I called at no one in particular. It was impossible to make out who was who through the steam anyway. ‘Welcome back Ted’ came a faceless voice through the smog, I thought it was Bill, Louis’ dad, but couldn’t be sure.







‘Is that you Bill’ I asked, unable to stop myself laughing at how absurd this was. I saw a hand holding a wand swish through the air, and the kitchen windows flung open. The relief was immediate as the steam poured out, if anyone had been standing outside it would've looked like the whole house was on fire.







Bill stood in front of me smiling, his heavily scarred face curtained by a mass of long red hair. He usually wore it in a tight ponytail, but it looked like the stress had got the better of him today.







‘How’s it going’ I said, walking to the countertop and looking down at the countless chicken breasts he was dicing. Further down, his brothers Percy and George were pushing the cut meat onto skewers, along with peppers and tomatoes.







‘We’re getting there Ted’ he smiled. It was good to see he could appreciate how funny this looked. ‘We’ve got all the burgers and sausages ready’-, I fought to keep my face straight at how proud he looked, - ‘Charlies out getting the coal for the Barbeque, which dad swears is going to be safe’.



If it was like the usual junk Grandpa Weasley kept in his decrepit wooden shed on the far side of the paddock, it was going to be anything but safe. We had all heard the story about the old Ford Anglia he had once enchanted so that it would fly. Legend has it that it’s still roaming around in the Forbidden Forest.







‘Need any extra hands anywhere’ I asked, looking around to see if anything obvious needed doing.







‘You could finish off cutting up the salad if you want’, he gestured to where a lettuce lay half cut up on a chopping board. ‘Harry was in charge of that, but he went next door to look after the younguns, they were getting a bit restless’.







‘No worries’ I said, walking over to the chopping board. I looked down at the half mangled lettuce, had Harry actually used a knife on this, or ripped it with his bare hands. I picked up the knife he had been using. It was blunt.







I rolled my eyes, to say he’d achieved so much in his life; he really was clueless about some things.







I grabbed a sharper blade from the knife rack Grandma Weasley had sitting on the windowsill behind the sink. Before I turned back, I saw Ron and Grandpa struggling to put up some easy make tables and chairs. Ron seemed frustrated; I guessed that Grandpa was insisting on using no magic. He loved doing things ‘the old muggle way’.







I walked back to my chopping board, where James and Louis were surprisingly waiting for me. I had expected them to be out the door as soon as they had the chance.







‘What do you want us to do?’ asked Louis, looking up at me expectantly.







‘Oh, well you guys can cut up these tomatoes if you like?’ I suggested, shocked they were willingly offering to help.







I chucked a tomato into each of their waiting hands, and then pushed the bowl with the rest in towards them.







‘I’ll be right back with some knives.’







‘Thanks for today Teddy’ said James when I returned with the two small knives, handing them each one.







‘Yeah thanks Teddy’ added Louis as he began cutting the tomato into slices, ‘we had a great time’.







I looked around, checking if anyone else had heard what they had just said. Was this some sort of prank, had someone taken polyjuice potion and was now imitating James and Louis.







‘Thats...ok guys’ I said unsurely, still undecided on what was going on. They had never, in their whole lives, spoken like this to me.







‘So who do you thinks going to win the Quidditch cup this year’ Louis suddenly asked James. Good, we were back into more normal conversation. I couldn’t help but smile slightly as I began to slice up my lettuce. They really were starting to grow up.



~~~



I lounged in one of the rickety plastic chairs that Ron had finally managed to put together. My legs were crossed in front of me, and my arm was draped across the back as I watched them trying in vain to light the barbeque. Being a ‘muggle’ barbeque, Grandpa Weasley had been most insistent that they used only tradition muggle techniques. They couldn’t have that many matches left; they littered the floor around the barbeque.







I closed my eyes and titled my head backwards, letting the last of the days sun wash over my face. The girls would be back soon, probably with their usual hall of shopping and stories of what they had been up to. We had managed to get the food prepared, so providing we had something to eventually cook it on; it should be ready just before they arrived







‘Oi Teddy! What do you think?’







‘Think about what Lou?’ I replied to Louis, who was lying back in a white and yellow sun lounger. There hadn’t been enough plastic chairs to go round.







He rolled his eyes, ‘Do you think the Bulgarian’s have got what it takes to knock out Spain this year, I mean I know they’ve got Krum, but their chasers just aren’t what they used to be, and Dimitar Balakov in goal, he’s got one of the worst open play save rates this season!’







I considered his question for a moment. Louis was really into his Quidditch stats, he would probably end up being captain of the Gryffindor team one day, his analytical approach was perfect for it. Well, when he got on the team, he was only in his second year. I’d make the team in my third year, after beating the existing seeker in the start of year trials. Louis had every chance of threatening for a place based on what I’d seen earlier today. So did James.







‘I wouldn’t bet against Krum getting the Snitch Lou, against the best seekers in the world let alone Alonso, so it all comes down to how quickly he can get the job done’.







Louis played as a chaser, and was constantly trying to justify that they were the real deciders of the game, not the seeker.







He adjusted himself in his seat, leaning forwards so that his hands were clasped on his knees. I felt myself groan inside, I really wasn’t in the mood for a Louis style Quidditch debate, I was far too relaxed to give it my best.







‘I’m going to grab a drink guys’ I called out to the group, James and Fred Jr were also sitting with us, ‘does anyone else want one’. I took their orders and took off before Louis could get rolling. He hesitantly asked for a pumpkin juice before turning to Fred and continuing the conversation.







‘Everything alright Ted’ Harry called over as I ducked under the Burrows low kitchen door, my hands full of drinks. I carefully dropped them off with the guys, before walking back to him, taking a swig from lemonade bottle as I walked. I was always getting stick, especially from Victorie, for not drinking more traditional ‘Wizard drinks’. But to be honest, pumpkin juice tastes about as good as it sounds.







‘Not too bad thanks’ I smiled, ‘escaping before Louis gets into another ‘and this is why chasers are more important than seekers’ rants’.







He chuckled as he took a gulp of his butterbeer, shaking his head slightly as he swallowed.







‘You have to give it to him, the boys persistent’







‘Don’t I know it’ I laughed, you could never take that away from Louis.







Harry had been one of the best seekers in recent Hogwarts history; it was only natural that he had his fair share of debates with Louis on the subject.







‘So how’s this Barbie coming then’ I asked, taking a step closer so I could see inside the grill. There were flames licking up the inside, making the coals glow red.







‘There was...a little problem with the matches’; he gestured to the floor where the many failed attempts lay. ‘So we cheated a little bit’.







‘You do this all the time’ I said, half questioning half accusing, ‘didn’t you chip in with some advice?’







A sly grin spread across his face, ‘sort of takes the fun away though doesn’t it Ted’.







I smiled down at the floor; I could see where he was coming from. Watching magic folk struggle with the easiest of muggle tasks was always fun.







I spent so much time with the Potter’s that luckily I’d grown up knowing pretty much everything there was to know about the muggle world. They were one of the few Wizarding families which managed to find a good balance between the world of magic and the muggle world.







Harry is the closest thing to a father I’ve ever known. My parents had died in the Battle of Hogwarts fighting for a better future, and Harry was my godfather. I had lived with my Grandmother until I was twelve years old, but over the years she began to develop more and more health issues. When she went into permanent care at St Mungos, Harry and Ginny had been kind enough to take me in, and look after me as one of their own. I see them as my adoptive parents. James, Lily and Albus are like my brothers and sisters. I’d do anything for them. I’d do anything for any member of this crazy extended family of mine.







‘Uh-oh here comes trouble’ George shouted facing the house from behind the barbeque, I turned around and saw Lily running towards us in the adorable polka dot dress Ginny had dressed her in this morning for their big day out. Her vivid waist length red hair was trailing behind her like flames.







‘Daddy!’ she screamed as she launched herself into Harry’s arms, giggling as he spun her round, ‘Hello sweetheart’ said Harry, taking in his daughter with adoring eyes, ‘did you have a fun time with the girls in the big city?’







‘Uh-huh uh-huh, we did so much Daddy I can’t wait to tell you all about it’ replied Lily, her eyes darting to each of us as her excitement boiled over. ‘I just loved the show! I want to marry Marius and be his Princess’.







They had been to see the stage production of Victor Hugo's ‘Les Miserables’, I didn’t know too much about it, but I had the feeling there were no princesses involved.







‘Aunt Hermione got lots of pictures to show everyone, and Mummy bought me this beautiful new bracelet’ shaking her wrist in the air, ‘and me and Grandma got our picture drawn, and Victoire got proposed to by some silly man who was giving out roses and he gave me one too!’







We all laughed as she drew in deep breaths, Lily was the sort of kid you couldn’t help but love. She did everything with endless enthusiasm and still had that childlike innocence. She had a talent for releasing when you were feeling down, and wouldn’t stop trying to cheer you up until you were smiling again.







‘Well, once you have eaten your dinner, I want you to tell me all about it’ said Harry, lifting her slender wrist and carefully admiring the new bracelet. Ginny had just come through the kitchen door with Grandma Weasley, she waved at me, smiling warmly as she snuck up behind her husband. Ginny loved days like this, when she was surrounded by her friends and family. I knew she appreciated every moment she could spend with them like this, after the war had taken so much from them.







She wrapped her slender arms around his waist, tenderly kissing his neck as he turned his head to face her.







‘Hi there’, she greeted him simply, before accepting his short but sweet peck on the lips gratefully.







‘I was just admiring Lily’s new bracelet’ - he gestured down to it with a nod of his head, ‘it’s beautiful, just like her mother’. They were kissing again, I laughed as Lily pulled a face at me.







‘Here’ - I said opening my arms, ‘let me take this little one off your hands’.







‘Thanks Ted’ Harry replied as he passed her to me.







‘Don’t you look pretty today Missy’ I said as I walked back to my seat with her in my arms. She gave my one of her happy smiles, which showed off her entire set of slightly crooked teeth. ‘Thank you Teddy you look very pretty too’, she replied cheekily, patting my faded camo green t shirt. I’d thrown it on with some jean shorts after we’d finished the food earlier.







‘I want you to tell me everything that happened today, starting with his drawing of you and Grandma Weasley’, I said as I sat down with her on my knee. Lily was a small child, so carrying and sitting with her was easy.







‘I’ll show you it, wait right here’, she was off my knee again and skipping across the paddock before I could stop her, skipping around aunt Hermione who gave her a kiss on the top of her head before disappearing into the kitchen.







Looking over, I saw that James, Louis and Fred were all sitting forwards in their seats, their heads huddled together.







‘What’s the secret’ I asked, making them look towards me. They exchanged a glance between in each other, undecided if they could trust me.







‘You guys have got to be kidding, when do you ever keep stuff from me?’







There were a few moments of silence before Fred finally spoke up. ‘We’re planning Ted’ - he exchanged another uneasy look with the others - ‘there’s this girl I like’. Girl troubles, well, we’ve all been there.







‘Since when have you had trouble finding girls’ I laughed, Fred was a chip off the old block, he was the modern day Weasley twins rolled into one potent package.







‘It’s just that she’s quite a bit older than me...she’s in your year’.







I let out a bark of laughter, ‘Ambitious, I like it’. I ran through the list of potential names in my head, there was no one that really stuck out. I supposed it would most likely be someone within Gryffindor.







‘Well...who is it?’







He didn’t answer at first, suddenly the old tree that towered over the far side of the paddock seemed like the most interesting thing in the world to him.







‘Jessica’.







‘Jessica Winters!’ that really was ambitious, Jessica played as keeper for the Gryffindor team.











‘As far as I know’ I started reluctantly, ‘she was seeing someone at the end of last year, some seventh year guy in Ravenclaw’. I felt bad as I watched his face drop. ‘But I don’t know that for sure, it might not have lasted through the summer’. It was too late, he looked gutted.







James and Louis exchanged a nervous glance, maybe I should of kept my mouth shut.







‘But why Jessica anyway, I would of thought she was a bit girly girl for you’ I asked.







‘Are you kidding me, did you not see her play last year, she was badass Teddy!’ He was right, she had been badass. No one had been more surprised than me when she turned up to trials at the start of last year; I’d known her for six years and would never have put her down as the Quidditch type.







‘I think you’d be better off with someone like Faye Wilkinson in Dom’s year. She tried out for beater last year, now she was badass’.







In my opinion ‘badass’ was a bit of an understatement, she had almost killed one of our chasers with one particularly hard hit. Faye was into her heavy metal, and had the appearance to match it. Jet black hair with purple streaks, tattoos she hid under her uniform, the lot. It wasn’t my style, but you had to respect her for being herself.







‘You may be onto something there Ted’ he replied, looking off into the distance. I could definitely see it.







‘Come on Victoire! Come onnn!’ I looked at the kitchen door, Lily was on her way back. Being towed along, looking every bit as stunningly beautiful as the last time I saw her, was Victoire.







Even being dragged by an overly excitable Lily, she still managed to look elegant. The benefits of being one eighth Vela. Her blonde hair was pulled over her right shoulder today, it was light but natural blonde, not like the fake platinum blonde you see so often.







She walked towards me flashing her brilliant smile, as I looked into her dark blue eyes, I realised how much I’d missed her over the past two weeks. Her family had been on their annual fortnight long trip to France, it was the longest we had been apart since breaking up from school. We usually ended up doing something every couple of days during the holidays, especially as they started to drag on.







They would spend a week with Victoire’s aunt Gabriel in her Paris penthouse apartment for a week, before joining the rest of the Delacour's in their South of France Villa. She always came back with the most enviable tan, which brought out a scattering of freckles around her nose.







‘And what did Teddy have to say about your new dress’ said Victorie as she came to a stop in front me, putting her hands in the pockets of her fitted jeans. Lily had jumped back on my knee, and turned to Victoire looking very pleased with herself.







‘He said I looked very pretty’ she beamed. ‘Just pretty’ Victoire gasped, ‘I think someone’s holding out on you Lil’s, I think you look absolutely gorgeous in your beautiful new dress’. She flashed me a cheeky smile, I narrowed my eyes at her. Lily had given an embarrassed giggle, but looked over the moon with the comment. She practically worshipped Victoire.



‘Come on Lils’ I said as I bounced her round on my knee so she was sideways on to both of us, ‘you didn’t give me a chance to say what I really think’.







She giggled again as she looked up expectantly at me, loving the attention.







I brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, ‘I think, you are the most beautiful girl in the world -’ I took her wrist and held up the new bracelet, ‘and no matter how beautiful this is. It will never, ever compare to you’. I could tell immediately that I had won. She threw her arms around me, ‘Teddy you are the best brother in the whole wide world’, she declared, hugging me tightly.







I glanced up at Victoire, she was watching us with an affectionate smile on her face. ‘With lines like that Lupin, I have no idea how you don’t have a girlfriend’ she laughed.







‘Teddy could have any women he wants Victoire’ protested Lily, the pout on her face was adorable.







Victoireheld her hands up defensively, trying hard not to laugh in case it offended Lily. ‘I think deep down I know that Lil’s’ she sighed ‘what will we ever do when our Teddy’s got another woman and doesn’t have time for us anymore!’ she pushed out her lower lip, making her face look sad.







‘That will never happen! I’m his sister!’







‘That’s right Lil’s I’ll never find anyone more important than you!’ I smiled down at her, ‘you on the other hand Weasley, well, I suppose we’ll just have to see how things go’. Victoire gave me a sarcastic smile, I winked and immediately she was trying to maintain the pretence of being annoyed.



‘I’ve got an idea!’ announced Lily, shuffling off my knee. She grabbed Victoire’s hand and pulled her away. Victoire bent down so that Lily could whisper into her ear, she kept her lips locked as she listened. Every now and then she would look at me out of the corner of her eye, the corners of her lips twitching upwards.







‘I’m not sure he’ll go for it ’Victoire eventually said, straightening up and looking at my carefully formed casual face.







‘Just ask Victoire’ whined Lily. She was holding her hand, like she was encouraging her.







‘Teddy’, Victoire began, amusement lacing her tone, I raised one eyebrow expectantly. ‘Lily would like to know’ - she laughed as Lily squeezed her hand tightly - ‘I would like to know, if you would be my....’ I felt my smile widening as she squirmed uncomfortably, ‘my Marius’.







I slapped my thighs as I bent forward laughing, it wasn’t the words that got me, I’d never seen her look so awkward. She looked on, dropping Lily’s hand and crossed her arms across her chest.







‘I don’t see what's so funny Lupin, you wish you could be my Marius’. I wiped a tear from my eye. ‘Uh-huh. No Vic I really do. But I’m afraid I already have my own Courgette’.







Now it was her turn to laugh, ‘Its Corvette you troll!’ I looked on indignantly as she doubled over, it was an easy mistake to make. How was I supposed to know what the characters were called. ‘But hey, if you would rather go out with a vegetable, be my guest’.







‘Whatever Vic’ I mumbled. Lily was laughing along too, she probably didn’t understand what she was even laughing at.







‘Lily!’ came Ginny’s voice from the group of adults, ‘come and show Uncle Ron your new bracelet’.







‘Coming Mummm!’ She hugged Victoire's long leg and patted me on the knee before skipping off happily across the paddock.







‘Oh come on Teddy bearrr’ said Victoire as she closed the small gap between us, putting her hands on my cheeks and pushing them together. I shook them off and sat back in my seat, turning my face from her.







‘I don't know why you’re pretending to be upset, I’m the one that just got rejected’. She grabbed my chin with her soft hand, and turned my face round to face her. She took Lily’s old seat on my knee. ‘No Marius for Victoire’, she sighed, looking down at the floor. I watched her face, smiling when I saw her eyes dart up to my face and back to the floor.







I put a finger under her chin, ‘I’ve heard rumors that you could've bagged an Italian husband today’, I said as I tilted her face back up towards me. ‘These poor guys don’t stand a chance do they. You heartbreaker’.







‘Moi, a heart breaker, never’, she replied, blowing a stray blonde hair out of her face. When her first attempt didn’t work, she tried again and again, looking more and more dishevelled with every blow. She finally gave up, sweeping it across with her hand. She noticed that I’d been watching, and gave me a cheesy smile.







‘I see what you mean’ I grinned, earning me a playful slap on the chest.







‘It’s the Veela’ she shrugged, ‘they get a hit of it and lose their bloody minds, at least I’m only an eighth’.







It would be dangerous if she was any more, even being an eighth Veela was enough to have most guys throw themselves down at her feet. She genuinely disliked having Veela in her blood, like it was that and not her which people were attracted to.







‘And besides, It will take more than roses to bag me’.







‘Chocolates too?’







‘Pah, more creative than that’.







‘Blimey you don’t ask for much do you Weasley’ I joked, adjusting her so that I could reach down and grab my bottle off the floor. She slid a bit too far into my lap, I had to rearrange the positioning quickly. She let out an awkward laugh as she gave me a helping hand, taking her weight off me and shuffling back up my leg.







I ignored the questioning looks from Louis, James and Fred beside me.







‘Oh really. So you would be happy for me to marry any guy that gave me a rose and a box of chocolates’ she asked incredulously.







‘I suppose it depends what kind of chocolates’ I shrugged, putting my bottle up to my mouth, but it was gone before it reached my lips.







‘Oi!’ I protested, as she took the last mouthful, smacking her lips loudly.







‘You don’t even like Lemonade!’, I fumed as she tried to give me the empty bottle back, after several seconds of being ignored she put it on the ground.







‘I never said I didn’t like it, it’s just not my favourite’, she smiled innocently.







‘So will you be my best man when I marry the Italian rose man then?’







I didn’t want to justify this with an answer, so I just shook my head.







‘Not that it’s really your choice I suppose’ she said quietly, more to herself than me, ‘he gets to choose who his best man is doesn’t he. Oh I wonder if it will be another sexy Italian’.







‘Hopefully’ I murmured.







‘Teddy, you’re not jealous are you!’ she blurted out, my eyes snapped back to her.







‘Why on earth would I be jealous’ I snapped, probably a little too hard. I wasn’t jealous, her accusations were completely unfounded.







‘Oh I don’t know, all my these marriage proposals perhaps Mr Lupin, don’t you like that your Victoire is getting so much attention from other guys’. I’d always referred to her as ‘my Victoire’ in an affection kind of way, but I didn’t like how it was being used here.







She began playing with her hair, twirling one of her long strands around her finger. She didn’t take her eyes off my face, and when I turned to meet her gaze, she was looking pleased with herself.







I decided that I wasn’t going to bite. I leaned against the back of the chair, putting my hands behind my head as she waited expectantly for my reply. There wasn’t going to be one.







‘I’ll take it from your lack of a response, that I’m right and you don’t feel comfortable admitting it then’ – my mouth dropped open to reply, but I stopped myself at the last second. ‘It’s ok Teddy, It’s only natural to feel protective of your friends’.







In truth, I was incredibly protective of her. Of course I didn’t like all these idiots throwing themselves at her, it wasn’t anything to do with my feelings towards her, which as they always had been were as a best friend. Victoire had been hurt before and I didn’t want to see her risk that again with someone who was only interested in her looks.







‘Foods ready guys!’ came Bill’s voice from the barbeque area. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, talk about saved by the bell.











‘I’d love to stay and chat, you know I love a good conspiracy theory, but I’ve got some hard earned food to enjoy’.







‘Oh yes, I’m sure it must have been so hard to cut up some meat and throw it on a grill’. She stood up slowly, holding out both her hands to help pull me up.







I shook my head as I took her hands, ‘Vic you clearly don’t understand the intricate planning that goes into making a successful barbeque’.







Her eyes appraised me, trying to figure if I was being serious or not.







I laughed, ‘and for your information it wasn’t just meat, there were vegetables and salad we had to prepare too!'







We walked over to the table everyone was grabbing plates from. There was no point getting there quickly, so we sauntered across slowly







‘You know I’m just playing Teddy, everyone’s really touched that you guys offered to put this together’. She pushed me gently in the ribs, I returned the contact with a smile.







‘What did you make’ she asked with a smile, ‘I want to try that first’.







‘Oh you know...a bit of this...a bit of that’ – she grabbed my forearm and smiled encouragingly, ‘tell me Ted’.







‘...the lettuce...’







‘...the lettuce...’ she repeated, ‘the salad, or just...the lettuce’.







I coughed awkwardly, ‘yeah it was just the lettuce, Louis and James did the tomatoes, and we kind of mixed them together’.







Saying it out loud, it did seem like a pitiful contribution.







I could hear her silent laughter beside me. I shot her a dirty look, it was enough to send her over the edge. She didn’t stop laughing the whole time we queued for food. The biggest problem, was that when she was laughing, I found it very hard to not join in.







Several hours later, I sat against the tall elm tree massaging my swollen stomach. I looked up at the full moon, which was sitting in the clear sky with only the stars for company. For obvious reasons the moon always held a special place in my heart, when I was little I really wasn’t sure what that place was. Should I have resented it for being such a burden on my father? Harry had once told me that my father’s Boggart had taken the form of a full moon, I shuddered just thinking about how much he must of despised what he was if he felt that strongly about the instigator.







For me now the moon was more of a reminder of my father, a means of being reminded of him whenever I looked up at the night sky, because despite how much he hated it, I will always be proud of who my father was.







I smiled as I watched Ginny and Hermione putting Lily and Hugo to bed in what had been Ginny’s old room. It had been a great day. It was times like this that I missed the most when I was at Hogwarts, being around family was just easy.







I ran my hand down my stomach which felt like it might explode at any moment, the food had turned out not too disastrously, even the sausages which Harry and Ron had burnt to a cinder had been restored, just about, by Grandma Weasley’s expert touch. Hermione and George had decorated the paddock with Chinese lanterns which hovered obediently as we had eaten, they were still there now illuminating the place in their orangey glow as Louis came out to join me.







‘I’ve got to hand it to Percy, that was some potato salad’, I said as he sunk to the ground and propped himself up on one elbow, ‘you would know Ted, you ate half the tub you pig, I hope you’re not going to let yourself slide before Quidditch trials’.







‘You can talk, you must of eaten half a bloody cow tonight kid!’ I laughed at him, ‘and both you and I know, I’ve never let myself get out of shape before Quidditch season, and especially after what happened last year’.







Before the final game against Slytherin I’d been struck down by a mystery illness. There had been uproar from the whole house who automatically presumed that I’d been poisoned by some desperate Slytherin, but that theory quickly died out when Madam Pomfrey couldn’t diagnose or cure it for over a week.







I’d had a visit in the afternoon after the game had been played from Victoire, who gave me the devastating news that we’d lost the game, and the cup.







‘That’s enough about Quidditch you two!’ said Dominique as she sat down nibbling on a chocolate frog which they’d brought back from Diagon Alley. She was slightly shorter than Victoire, and had inherited the trademark Weasley hair. There was a covering of freckles on her face all year round which deepened when she spent time in the sun, and she was, in a completely different way, as attractive as her older sister.







‘We’ll be hearing enough about it when we get back next week’ came Victoire’s voice as she appeared out of the darkness with Lucy, the elder of Percy’s two daughters and James. James came and sat beside me as Victoire passed me down a glass of lemonade, smiling as I thanked her.







‘I wouldn’t worry about that Vic, I doubt you’ll have much time to pay attention to Quidditch talk this year what with your owls and all’, I said. She made a face like she was about to be sick, ‘please don’t remind me Ted, we can’t all be Quidditch players AND smart arses like you’.







I rolled my eyes, Victoire knew I wasn’t a natural academically. Sure there were certain subjects that I was better at that some people, but I needed to work hard at most of them to get decent grades. She was pretty much the same as me when it came to school work, she could do some of the most amazing charms and transfiguration work I’d ever seen, but to say she sucked at potions would be an understatement.







‘You’ll be absolutely fine Vic, you’re almost guaranteed O’s in charms and transfiguration, and I wouldn’t exactly want to cross you when it comes to defence against the dark arts either’. Our small group laughed as I said it, Victoire had become somewhat of a legend at Hogwarts for her third year duel with Alex Simmond’s, a 5th year Ravenclaw she’d been dating at the time. It’d taken Madam Pomfrey the best part of two days to get his swollen face back to normal.







‘Yeah but what about Potions Ted-‘, ‘We’re going to help you with potions, I’m going to help you with potions, I won’t let you fail Vic’ I smiled at her.







She returned my smile with interest, her dazzling set of pearly whites visible even in the dark, ‘I know you won’t Ted, you’ve never let me down before’ as she lay down resting her head against my legs, the moment was ruined by Louis pretending to gag into the grass like an idiot. We sat talking about the year that was coming as gradually people started to get up and go to bed, it was just me and Victoire left when Harry came out to tell me we were going home, I held out my hand and helped her to her feet.







She lost her footing slightly as I pulled and tripped into my waiting arms, ‘easy there Weasley, we wouldn’t want you breaking anything before you’re big return to Hogwarts, the boys would be heartbroken’. She just smiled at me and leaned in for a hug, whispering, ‘jealous’ in my ear as she turned and walked back towards the house.







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