So This Is Now

So This Is Now

He was two years old when Fleur proudly showed him a small pink-blanketed bundle. The thing inside was wrinkly and stared at him with wide blue eyes. He scrunched up his face and poked it.

The wrinkly thing let out a piercing wail and Aunt Ginny hurried over and scooped him up.

"No poking, Teddy," she said, sharing a grin with Uncle Harry.

Teddy leaned over her shoulder trying to get another look at the still squalling bundle, wondering what exactly it was.

The word "baby" meant nothing to him.

*~*~*~*~*

She was seven years old and bored. She had been running all around the Burrow searching for Teddy since Maman refused to go back home and get the doll she had forgot to bring.

Stupid baby Louis. He got all the attention.

Then suddenly she spotted a bright bit of turquoise peeking out from behind a bush.

"Teddy!"

He held a finger over his lips and beckoned her over.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, crawling behind the bush with him.

He looked around, making sure none of the parents were nearby, and then reached into his pocket.

"Oh, Teddy...." she breathed. "Where'd you get it?"

He beamed at her, his hair changing from turquoise to cobalt blue - a color that showed up whenever he was particularly happy about something. "Uncle George gave it to me."

"What are you going to do with it?"

He chewed his lip, studying the firework carefully. "Set it of at dinner, I think."

"Let me help!"

"Shh, Victoire! They'll hear you!"

She ducked her head sheepishly. "Sorry." She took care to whisper. "But let me help."

"I don't know...."

"Oh, please Teddy!" she begged him. "I promise not to mess it up!"

"Well, I suppose you can distract them for me," he said a bit reluctantly.

She smiled at him and he grinned back at her. Then he changed his nose so that it was long and freckled, just like Uncle Ron's.

Laughing delightedly and clapping her hands she said, "Oh do a piggy!"

He did, and she laughed again, knowing there wasn't anyone as cool as Teddy Lupin.

*~*~*~*~*

He was eleven years old and there couldn't possibly be anyone more annoying than Victoire Weasley. How anyone could expect him to know what to do with a crying girl was beyond him.

"I w-want to go w-with you, Teddy! It's n-not fair!" The words were forced out between huge gulping sobs. "Everyone else is s-so boring!"

He looked to Gran for help, but she was talking to Uncle Harry. Uncle Bill was nowhere to be seen and Grandma Weasley was busy chasing after James and Al, who had insisted they be allowed to come along.

He tried once more to free himself to no avail. "I'll write to you, Victoire, I promise."

Her sobbing calmed for a moment. "Every day?" she asked, wiping her eyes on his sleeve.

"Well, not every day 'cause I'll have scho-"

"You're going to forget all about me!" she wailed.

He ducked his head. This was mortifying! The tingling of his scalp told him his hair was probably turning red, to match his mood, and people were beginning to stare. If she kept this up much longer he was going to miss the train and then he would never make any friends. Uncle Harry always talked about how he had met Uncle Ron that first day and how they have been friends ever since. He absolutely couldn't miss the train!

Uncle Bill finally reappeared and was now trying to convince Victoire to let go of him, but she only clung tighter. He caught Gran's eye and she hid a smile behind her hand.

He clenched his teeth in frustration. There had to be something, anything.... In a last act of desperation, he turned his hair back to brown and added a bright blond streak - the exact same shade of Victoire's hair.

"Victoire, look," he said, pointing. "I'll wear my hair like this everyday until I see you again. I won't be able to forget you, then. And I promise to write you tonight and tell you all about Hogwarts, yeah?"

She looked up at him with watery eyes and gave him a small nod. Uncle Bill took the chance to pull her away.

He quickly hugged Gran and let Uncle Harry ruffle his hair before dashing to the train.

"I'll never forgive you if you forget about me, Teddy Lupin!" Victoire yelled after him.

He waved back at her over his shoulder and then ducked into the first compartment he came to. He hid under the seat until the train pulled out of the station, just in case she managed to get away from Uncle Bill and come after him.

When he deemed it safe, he crawled out from under the seat to see four pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Err?" A blond boy questioned.

He ran a hand through his hair, turning the streak back to its usual color. "Yeah, sorry about that. Victoire can be kind of mental."

"Who's Victoire?" the blond boy asked.

"My godfather's niece. We grew up together and, well, she didn't want me to leave." He held out his hand to the boy, smiling. "I'm Teddy Lupin, by the way."

The boy grinned back at him. "Nathan McGuffy."

After the others had introduced themselves, the journey passed quickly. Hogwarts was everything he had dreamed it would be and with all the excitement the evening had held, he almost forgot to write to Victoire. But he remembered just in time and, using his wand as a light, wrote out a detailed description of everything that had happened since he had left her on the platform.

*~*~*~*~*

She was nine years old and cried herself to sleep for a week after Teddy left for Hogwarts.

*~*~*~*~*

He was twelve years old and had only been home from Hogwarts for a few days, but he already missed his friends.

And doing magic.

But Gran said he couldn't have anyone over for another week, so he contented himself with finishing his summer assignments and avoiding the Potter and Weasley kids.

He sighed and absentmindedly changed his hair to his house colors as he scratched out another answer.

It wasn't that they annoyed him so much, but compared to his friends from Hogwarts, they were very young and it got very frustrating when they bring themselves to sit still for more than a half hour. Not to mention endless amount of questions.

They had all been there when he got off the train, and ever since he hadn't had a spare moment to himself until now. Thank Merlin Gran said she wanted a few quiet days for just the two of them.

He threw down his quill and rolled over to stare at his ceiling. He was contemplating decorating it with some of the constellations he had learned about in Astronomy when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Hi, Teddy," a voice said softly.

He looked up to see Victoire standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"Oh, it's you."

She walked over and lay down on his bed next to him. "Maman had to take Louie to St. Mungos," she explained. "He fell out of a tree and broke his arm. Dad didn't think it was anything serious, but she insisted. Dominique went to the Burrow, but they let me come here instead."

He looked over at her and turned his hair blond to match hers. She gave him a small smile. "Thank you for writing me."

He shrugged, not feeling much like taking, and she added, "I saved them all. Dad made me a box to keep them in." She sighed. "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts with you."

He shrugged again, but she didn't seem to care about his lack of interest in conversing. She chattered away about all of the inconsequential things that had happened while he was at school - most of which he knew about from her letters.

At some point he began to actually listen to what she was saying and even deigned to comment once in a while. Before he knew it, Gran was calling them downstairs for dinner. She told Victoire that her mum had Floo'd to say that Louis's arm had been fixed without a problem, but that she was welcome to stay the night anyway, since Dominique was staying over at the Burrow.

Gran served dinner as the three of them talked and he couldn't help noticing that Victoire's inane chattering was a lot less annoying than the Potter kid's. He also found himself missing his friends a little less as each minute passed.

*~*~*~*~*

She was eleven years old and was finally (FINALLY!) going to Hogwarts.

Grandma and Grandpa Weasley had come with her family to see her off and Uncle Harry was there with Mrs. Tonks too. Teddy was already on the train, promising to let her sit with him if she couldn't find a seat anywhere else.

Maman gave her a tearful hug good-bye, kissing both her cheeks, and Dad hugged her tightly, looking a bit teary-eyed himself. Dominique and Louis hugged her too, but didn't seem too torn up to see her go. They would have their cousins to play with and she didn't think they would miss her being there to boss them around.

She got aboard the train and stood in a window to wave her family good-bye as the train began to move. When she couldn't seem them any longer, she wandered down the corridor, peering into compartments to see if anyone inside seemed friendly. She spotted Teddy, but didn't stay - he was busy catching up with his friends and only spared her a brief nod.

And then, a few minutes later, she heard it. Mudblood.

Her eyes widened in horror at the word and she pushed through a group of students to see a small girl with dark hair leaning away from a boy who was sneering at her disgustedly. He didn't look much older than Teddy.

"Things like you need to learn their place," he was saying. He reached into his robes and Victoire rushed forward without thinking.

"Leave her alone!"

Murmurs broke out around her, but she ignored them, focusing on the boy. He turned to her furiously. "Mind your own business you little-"

But whatever he was going to say was cut off by a loud gasp from the onlookers, followed by muffled laughter. The boys face had been covered in blue spots.

Victoire looked around bewildered. The magic definitely hadn't come from her. Her eyes widened when she saw the girl the boy had been threatening. Her face was scrunched up in anger and Victoire, knowing they only had seconds to spare, grabbed the girl's hand and ran back in the direction she had come from.

The two girls burst into Teddy's compartment, slamming the door behind them and breathing heavily.

"Err...Victoire?"

She whirled around. "Teddy, you have to help. It wasn't our fault, I swear!"

The boys in the compartment stared at her.

"What are you on about, Victoire?"

Victoire explained what she had heard the boy say and Teddy scowled. "That's a load of dragon dung. No one who matters cares about that pureblood nonsense anymore."

His friends nodded in agreement. "It's complete rubbish, if you ask me," one of them put in. Do you know who it was?"

Victoire shook her head.

"Well, there's nothing for it," Teddy concluded. "You'll just have to stay in here until he either finds you or forgets all about it."

Victoire snorted and sat down next to him. "That's not likely. He got covered in blue spots. Accidentally, I think," she said gesturing to the girl she had rescued.

Teddy looked at the girl curiously. "Do you speak?"

Victoire hit his arm, appalled. "Teddy! Don't be rude. Of course she does."

"Then why doesn't she say something?"

"Maybe because you lot can't shut up long enough for anyone else to get a word in edgewise."

Teddy gaped at the girl and Victoire laughed delightedly. "Oh, I like you," she said.

They introduced themselves, smiling. An hour later she and Anna were the best of friends. It was only natural that they were both sorted into Gryffindor.

*~*~*~*~*

He was thirteen years old and was beginning to feel like he didn't know who Victoire was anymore. He had thought her coming to Hogwarts meant that she would follow him around like she had when she was younger, become friends with his friends, and generally be a nuisance.

It had never occurred to him that she would easily become one of the most popular girls in school.

*~*~*~*~*

She was fourteen years old and having the best time of her life. She was rather sad to see her fourth year at Hogwarts coming to an end.

As she sat near the lake with her classmates, it was hard to remember that she had ever been worried about making friends. It was so easy!

Rebekah was giving them all the current gossip. Apparently the Head Boy and Girl were dating because Jillian had seen them snogging on the fifth floor near the statue of Barnaby Whigby. Nathan McGuffy had lost his Prefect badge when he yelled at Slughorn about something (and it must had been really awful because Slughorn was one of the most easygoing professors).

Someone called her name and she looked up to see Teddy and his friends walking over to join her group.

"Guffy, did you really loose your Prefect badge?" she asked once they had sat down.

"Naw, it's right here, isn't it?" he answered with a sly grin, pointing to the shiny badge on his chest. "Sluggy would never take a badge away from someone in his own house, let alone his club."

She laughed. "I suppose you're right. He is rather pretentious."

Guffy (a name only she was allowed to call him) continued to tell them all about his argument with Slughorn and the lasted meeting of the Slug Club -- something that she wasn't particularly interested in since she wasn't a member. Slughorn rarely 'collected' anyone below fifth year. Uncle Harry's mother was one of the few exceptions.

Anna moved to sit next to her as the others crowded around Guffy and Teddy, who was making sure Guffy didn't embellish his story too much.

"I heard something the other day that might interest you," Anna told her, smiling broadly.

"Oh?"

"Miles Rourbaugh was asking about you."

Her eyebrows shot up. "The beater in Ravenclaw? Really?"

Anna nodded excitedly. "Yes. He's sitting under the tree over there with Spencer Howell." She pointed. "He's been glancing this way since we got here, too. Give it a minute before you look over."

One minute dragged on for hours, it seemed. When Anna finally gave her the okay, she casually turned her head towards the boy. He was very good-looking, she noticed. His dark hair had a bit of a wave to it and fell dashingly over his forehead.

She smiled and waved when he looked over at her again, and after a moment's hesitation (and she thought with a bit of surprise, too) he waved back.

She turned to Anna, giggling. "Do you think...? Next year?"

Anna grinned ecstatically. "Oh, I'm sure of it!"

*~*~*~*~*

He was seventeen years old and sitting in the hospital wing, nursing a broken nose. He dabbed at it again with the bloody cloth before glancing to his left.

Miles Rourbaugh sported a black eye, a split lip, and was tenderly prodding at his jaw with his fingers.

Madam Pomfrey hustled over with some salve and began clucking over them like a mother hen, complaining about quidditch.

That was the only explanation Teddy had had for attacking Rourbaugh. It was a well know fact that Gryffindor been flattened by Ravenclaw during yesterday's match. So what if the whole point of the game was to keep the opposing seeker from catching the snitch. That didn't give him the right to beat bludgers at Victoire for the entire match.

He tried telling himself that he had only been upset because Victoire has almost fallen off of her broom. Not because two hours later he had come across the two of them snogging under the stands as though the match had never happened.

It was one thing to know that Victoire had a boyfriend. It was quite another to see it.

"That sport should be banned altogether," Madam Pomfrey was complaining. She frowned and pointed her wand a Rourbaugh 's jaw. "Just as I thought - one of your molars got knocked loose."

Teddy ducked his head to hide a grin.

The doors to the hospital wing burst open and Victoire came striding though, eyes blazing and her shiny hair streaming behind her. Teddy quickly adopted an injured look - something that wasn't difficult to achieve with his nose being broken.

"Teddy Lupin! I can't believe you! Who cares if we lost the match?" Before Teddy could even think of replying she rounded on Rourbaugh. "And you-"

"He punched me first!" Rourbaugh interrupted defensively.

"That didn't give you the right to hit him back!"

"Miss Weasley! Control yourself," Madam Pomfrey told her furiously.

Victoire huffed and sat on the bed across from them, glaring fiercely. He felt Rourbaugh shift nervously next to him and fought the urge to do the same.

It didn't take Madam Pomfrey long to finish healing Rourbaugh, and she shooed him out of the Hospital Wing. Victoire stood up to follow Rourbaugh, laying a consoling hand on his arm.

She did spare a moment to glare over her shoulder at him, though. It was a look that warned him to stay away from her if he wanted to avoid a thorough hexing.

Madam Pomfrey turned attention on him. The burning and scraping feeling as his nose healed caused his eyes to water. He looked at Madam Pomfrey for permission to leave only to see her staring at him with a disappointed look on her face.

"What?" he asked her rather defensively.

She shook her head and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I've seen my share of fights over quidditch, but this was not one of them."

"Yes, it-"

Her raised eyebrows silenced him. "Usually fights about quidditch end with boils or horns or any other kind of magical disfigurement." She patted his shoulder and propelled him towards the door. "But matters of the heart are a bit more personal. Don't let me see you back in here for at least another month, Mr. Lupin."

*~*~*~*~*

She was fifteen years old and wanted to hit Teddy upside the head with a Beater's bat.

She probably should have ignored him after he got out of the Hospital Wing instead of searching him out, but sometimes he just made her so angry. It was the worst fight the two of them had ever had.

He had absolutely no right to tell her whom she could and couldn't date. -She didn't care that Miles Rourbaugh had tried to unseat her from her broom during the last quidditch match. He was handsome and kind and when he had accompanied her to Hogsmeade last weekend he had taken her to Honeydukes and bought her a bag of her favorite sweets.

Quidditch was only a game after all, and she would have tried to knock Miles off his broom as well, given the chance.

She huffed and crossed her arms, slumping back into the armchair. Her mood, which had been ecstatic earlier that day, was deteriorating rapidly and it was all Teddy Lupin's fault.

There was a rustle as fabric as someone sat down next to her.

"Teddy's a git," Anna told her. "You shouldn't listen to anything he says."

She frowned at her friend. "It's none of his business who I date."

"Please, you're practically cousins."

"We're not related."

Anna gave her a knowing grin. "Exactly. Now all Teddy needs to do is realize it."

*~*~*~*~*

He was eighteen years old and really missed being at Hogwarts. He tried not to think about why that was. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy working at the Ministry, but sometimes the people here could be so stuffy.

A lock of blond hair fell into his eyes. He changed it back to turquoise with an irritated scoff. This was beginning to get ridiculous.

Victoire still had another year of school. After this one was over.

He sighed and turned back to the stack of papers in front of him. It was strange how much he missed her. He was very glad that the Christmas holiday was only three weeks away. Maybe he would finally....

No. Just because she had finally rid herself of that git, Rourbaugh, didn't mean she would be interested in someone else.

At least she had finally forgiven him. There was a drawer full of letters that proved it. He pulled it open and grabbed the one on top.

"...really isn't the same without you here. Especially with James Potter being such a little wanker. He put glue in my hair last week! Glue! It took me ages to get it all out. I've now taken to avoiding him whenever possible, which is rather hard since we're both in Gryffindor. Honestly, he's worse than all of my other cousins combined.

Oh, you will be happy to hear that I've split up with Miles. I finally caught him snogging, Sally Pinker in the fourth floor corridor. You'll remember I told you I had been suspicious that he was going around behind my back. Curiously, I'm more upset over the fact that he thought he could get away with it without me finding out rather than him actually doing it in the first place. Hmm, I'm afraid I made quite a scene in the Great Hall yesterday. Poor Sally was horribly embarrassed, and I doubt Miles will be forgetting about me anytime soon. Remind me to thank Aunt Ginny for teaching me that hex...."

He smiled at the last part. Aunt Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex was rather famous. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Three weeks seemed like an incredibly long time all of a sudden.

Three weeks had passed far to quickly. His palms started to sweat the moment he heard that she was back. It took him an hour to muster up the nerve to apparate over to Shell Cottage. His Gran gave him a misty smile when he told her where he was going, much to his confusion. He hadn't said anything to her about his feelings for Victoire. And it was a lost cause anyway. Victoire would never...

Well, his Gran must have known something he hadn't, because when Victoire answered the door she flung herself at him, planting kisses all over his face.

It would have been rude of him not to kiss her back.

"Oh, Teddy! I missed you more than everything else!" she said when they finally parted.

"You are everything, Victoire," he responded.

She smiled up at him and tugged at the blond streak in his hair.

"Yes, well," he said with a wry grin, "I'm afraid it's become rather permanent."

*~*~*~*~*

She was seventeen years old and snogging Teddy goodbye in front of the Hogwarts Express.

Until James Potter interrupted them, the little twerp.

Teddy rolled his eyes at her once they had gotten rid of him. Honestly, James must have been the only person not to know that she and Teddy were dating. Lily had even asked to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Of course, it was too soon to be thinking about that.

She conveniently forgot that she had been looking through bridal magazines with her mother the previous evening.

"When's the first Hogsmeade weekend?" His voice sounded a bit desperate to her ears.

"I'll owl as soon as I know."

Teddy nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot!" His face broke out into a grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small round mirror. "Uncle Harry gave it to me," he explained. "It's a two-way mirror. I have the other one."

Suddenly, going back to Hogwarts didn't seem as terrible. She wouldn't have only owls and the rare Hogsmeade weekend with Teddy. With the mirrors she could talk to him whenever she wanted.

She blew kisses at him as the train pulled away from the station. As soon as he was out of sight, she sat down in the first empty compartment she found and pulled out the mirror.

"Teddy Lupin."

It only took a second for him to appear.

*~*~*~*~*

He was nineteen years old....