A Year in the Life

"I'll see you later," Bill said, as he waved each one of his children into the fireplace to travel via the Floo Network. Victoire was the last to go; she took a large hesitant breath before stepping through. She called out her destination, and seconds later, she found herself stepping out of another fireplace in her aunt and uncle's home.

"Look who's here," called a voice.

"Hey James," Louis said with smile as Victoire noticed her brother and sister were already being greeted by a young boy with dark hair and eyes. He was grinning at the group and struggling to open a jar of pickles.

"Are you all here for the party?" he asked.

"What party?" Louis joked just as a man with dark hair and glasses entered the living room.

"Hey, Uncle Harry," said Victoire with a wide smile.

"Hey," he said smiling back at the group. He glanced down at his son. "James, are you playing host?"

James shrugged as a woman's voice called out from the kitchen, asking who had just arrived. She suddenly entered and smiled when she saw the three visitors.

"Aunt Ginny," Victoire said as she walked over to hug her, "how have you been?"

"Wonderful," she said stepping back to get a look at her before glancing at Dominique and Louis. "Look at you all. You're so grown up!"

"That they are," Harry said as he walked over and took the jar that James was still struggling to open and popped the top off.

"Where are Albus and Lily?"

"At Ron and Hermione's with the kids," Harry said. "James wanted to stay here." James nodded his head to this as he snacked on a pickle.

"Everyone is outside in the garden," Ginny said as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Feel free to go out and have fun."

Victoire's eyes drifted towards a window that showed a glimpse of the backyard. It didn't reveal much, but from what she could see, several people were standing around laughing and chatting.

"I want to go outside," James said grumpily. "It's my yard."

"No one's stopping you," Harry said as he sat himself down on the sofa. "We just don't think you'll have much fun out there."

"Fine," he said as he screwed his face up in disappointment and sat himself down on the sofa next to his father.

"We should probably go say hi," said Dominique as she nudged her sister.

"Don't let me stop you," she took a seat on the sofa across from Harry. "I was going to visit for a bit."

Dominique and Louis exchanged looks before both staring skeptically at Victoire.

"I just saw most of those people at school the other day," she added dismissively as she tried to avoid her siblings' eyes. "I'll go out in a bit."

"All right," Dominique said as she and Louis made their way towards the back garden. Victoire turned herself back towards where Ginny had now sat on Harry's other side.

"How are things?" Ginny asked. "How'd your O.W.L.s go?"

"Really good, I think. I know I did well in Charms and Potions. Transfigurations I'm a bit worried about though," Victoire responded.

"Do you think you failed?" asked James.

"Oh no, I just don't know if I got an 'O' in it or not."

"Is 'O' the best?" he asked with a glance around the room.

"That it is," Ginny said. "You'll learn all about that when you get to school."

"I was just happy to pass the majority of my O.W.L.s," Harry said. "Getting an 'O' was just an added bonus."

Victoire smiled. "My dad got a few 'O's. I'd like to rival him at least."

"Didn't Bill get twelve O.W.L.s total?" Ginny asked.

Victoire nodded and grinned, "It's something he likes to remind all of us. Mostly as a joke of course, but still...I only sat ten subjects though, so we'll see how I do."

"I wouldn't doubt for a second that you don't get all ten," Ginny said as a door was heard opening a closing somewhere close. A boy with light hair appeared in front of them; he looked confused.

"Toilet?"

Harry and James pointed in unison to a nearby door and the boy smiled appreciatively.

"I'm going to earn twelve O.W.L.s," James said.

"Excellent," said Harry with a glance at Ginny. "We can retire early because James will support us when his good marks get him a good job straight away out of school."

"Fantastic," Ginny said as she smiled as her eldest son. He shook his head quickly at the pair of them.

"You start Hogwarts this year, don't you, James?" Victoire asked.

"Yup," he said. "I want to go and get my wand now, but Dad said I'll probably break it so he's making me wait until it gets closer to September."

"The way he and his brother wrestle around the house," Harry said to Victoire, "I can only hope he doesn't break his arms, let alone a wand."

"What house do you want to be in?" she asked as the boy from the toilet reappeared and made his way back outside.

"Gryffindor," he said without hesitation.

She smiled. "Good choice."

"You're in Gryffindor aren't you?" he asked. "Mum and Dad were both in Gryffindor too."

"It's the place to be," Harry said as he stood. "Not that it matters what house you end up in, really."

"Ted says I should be in Hufflepuff," James continued, "but I don't want anything but Gryffindor."

"Your dad's right," Victoire said as the back door opened and shut once more. "It really doesn't really matter what house you're in because--"

"Hufflepuff is best," said a familiar voice from behind Victoire. She turned and saw Ted Lupin entering the room. He was tall and lanky and his shaggy hair--which happened to be a dark shade of blue at the moment--hung in front of his eyes. He smiled at Victoire as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You're saying that to a room full of Gryffindors!" James laughed.

"Which means I need to get the truth out," Ted joked as he came and sat on the arm of the sofa Victoire was sitting on. "What's up, Vic? I saw Nicki and Lou outside so I figured you had to be around here somewhere."

"Just visiting," she said as she gestured around the room.

"Do you all have everything you need out there?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, we're great," he said with a smile towards his godfather.

"There's more food in the kitchen," Ginny added. "So just help yourself."

"Will do," he said before standing back up and glancing at Victoire. "Well, party's outside if you do feel like coming out of hiding and joining us."

"I'm not hiding," she said. "I just hadn't seen them in ages and--"

"Don't let us keep you," Harry interrupted. "We're old and boring."

James made a face. "Speak for yourself, dad."

"Come on then," Ted said, nudging Victoire in the shoulder. She glanced up at him and almost wondered if he realized how awkward she felt, but stood none the less. Taking a deep breath, she followed him out into the back garden where several people were sitting and standing around in small groups. A radio was playing; it was a popular wizard rock band from somewhere. Most everyone turned to see the new arrival.

Several people smiled and waved to greet her, while some didn't seem interested at all and continued on with their conversations. One group in particular--just as Victoire had suspected--turned and stared at her. At the center stood a petite girl with long brown hair and very soft features. It was Celia Ward, Ted's long time girlfriend. Her displeasure at Victoire's sudden presence was clear, and Victoire made a point to look anywhere but at her.

"You know everybody," Ted said as a stocky boy with blonde hair suddenly came happily rushing over towards the pair of them. Victoire smiled at the sight him.

"You! You look amazing," Simon Reed said as he hugged her and lifted her off the ground. "We're still getting married, right?"

"Perhaps," she said with a friendly smile.

"You'll come around," he added as Louis came over as joined them. "I mean, now that I'm done with school, our chances of seeing each other are becoming fewer and far between." He sighed overdramatically. "I don't know what I'm going to do to get through the day."

"You could start by fawning over a girl who's actually interested in you," Ted suggested as he patted Simon on the back before turning to walk over to where Celia was standing. Victoire couldn't help but notice she was trying to make her face look as annoyed as possible for Ted to see.

"He's just jealous," Simon joked as Victoire smiled. "Come and sit." He gestured towards several people at a nearby table. "We can catch up."

"Oh, OK," she said as her apprehension lessened once she was greeted positively by the rest of the group. Perhaps this night wouldn't be as bad as she had thought...

**

Two hours later, Victoire sat enjoying herself with Dominique, Louis, Simon, and some of his friends as they all traded various stories that poked fun at one another. Victoire couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard, and for once, it was genuine and sincere fun. This was something she hadn't experienced in a long time. If she had been with her usual crowd, and she had told some of these embarrassing stories about her other friends, she'd be afraid of the repercussions and the tears that would follow. Not to mention that her usual friends would go straight for the jugular, rather than light-hearted fun.

As it were, Celia and her friends thankfully seemed to want as much to do with Victoire as she did with them. They kept to themselves and only proceeded to look in Victoire's direction if Ted happened to be anywhere within the vicinity of her. It was when he came near to chat with her that she could suddenly feel the presence of several pairs of eyes burning into her. It was a feeling that she happened to be experiencing at that exact moment.

"He had no idea," Dominique said as Ted rubbed his head and smiled. "He thought it was juice or something, and so, he just goes over to it and throws it back in one swig."

"You thought firewhiskey was juice?" a boy named Caleb asked with a boisterous laugh.

"I was what?" He glanced at Victoire. "Seven?"

"Probably," she said with a smile. "Anyway, the look on his face," she started laughing as she puffed out her cheeks in an attempt to imitate. "It looked just like that and he turned bright, bright red and he just started yelling that his throat was melting."

"It was hilarious," Dominique added. "He just suddenly started yelling like a madman and no one could figure out why, until my uncle realized that he's misplaced his drink and put two and two together."

"Your grandmother pitched a fit," said Victoire. "Oh, and you were sick in the bushes all night."

"I honestly remember none of this," Ted said, "Obviously, because I was apparently drunk."

"Getting pissed at seven," Simon said patting Teddy on the back. "This one started young."

"I still hate firewhiskey to this day," he said, standing up and pushing the hair out of his eyes. "I won't touch it." He laughed before he walked off to where Celia was staring at him; a look of relief crossed her face as he approached. Everyone else took the lull in the conversation as an opportunity to stretch and walk around as well; leaving just Simon and Victoire sitting there.

"It's good to see you and T.R friends again," he said. "To be honest, I didn't know that you had made up after that mess last year."

"We only did about a month and a half ago," she said as she sipped the drink in her hand.

"I bet Celia loved that," he said as both he and Victoire happened to chance a look in her direction. She and Ted we talking in whispers, and she seemed to be talking very fast.

She rolled her eyes. "If she had had her way, it would have never happened."

"How do you mean?"

She smiled. "Well, it's kind of a tale."

"I've got time," he said. "Let's hear it."

She took a deep breath before she began recounting the incident to him.

She had been running as quickly as her legs could carry her down the central staircase at Hogwarts. Even then, that didn't seem to be fast enough. As she finally reached the bottom, she rushed out of the double doors at the front entrance and was hit head-on by the bright light of the afternoon. She blinked in an annoyed manner as she made her way down the front steps and out onto the lawn. Several people were playing on the grounds and enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon, but she couldn't help but feel anything but resentful towards the lot of them as she wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robes and continued walking at a fast pace.

"Hey Vicki!" a voice called from nearby. She stopped and looked around to see a group of fourth-year girls waving at her to come join them on a sunny spot of the lawn. She was standing far enough away that they couldn't notice her puffy eyes and red cheeks, but she didn't dare venture any closer. She waved back, but continued on her way toward the lake. She just wanted to be alone.

She pushed onward, making it a point to keep her eyes down until she found herself trailing the edge of the great, black lake. She stopped and glanced out upon it. Having grown up on the water, she felt a very calming reaction to it, and she often sought out this spot in particular when she needed a place to think. A strong, chilly breeze was blowing her hair back as she stood there, staring at the mountains and the tree tops that were running along the lake's opposite bank. She sniffled. A part of her wished she could run off to the other side and then just continue running; she wanted to get away from the stress of exams and of stupid, stupid people.

She felt her body shake. She wasn't sure if it was because of the chill in the breeze or because she felt so weary, but whichever it was, it triggered a release in her that wouldn't allow her to hold back the tears any longer. She had managed to keep most of it in over the last few minutes, but finally relented as she slid down the length of a nearby tree into a sitting position and began sobbing into the sleeves of her robe. Why was everything so hard lately?

She heard laughter and playful screams coming from somewhere nearby and looked up. This part of the lake was also popular for couples who frequented the area for some alone time, so she wasn't entirely surprised by the sounds. She just hoped that they were keeping themselves busy enough to not find any reason to come across her anytime soon. However, it was in that moment that she heard the nearby sounds of branches and leaves cracking, as if a handful of people were walking in her direction. She wiped her face quickly; fearing that if someone did turn up, she'd look distressed. The last thing she felt like doing at the moment was explaining herself and her mood.

"You're good at Potions though," said a female voice as two figures came into view just down the bank. They were staring out by the lake. "You shouldn't have to worry about your N.E.W.T."

"I'll worry about it until it's over," said a male voice as they grew closer to Victoire, seemingly not noticing her. "I just wish it was over already."

"Soon enough," said the female with a laugh as she turned her head and looked directly in Victoire's direction. It was in that exact moment that both Victoire and the girl recognized the other. Their faces both fell.

"Of all the people..." Victoire mumbled to herself as she turned away and stared out at the lake once more. "This day just goes from bad to worse."

She could hear Celia and Ted's quiet voices talking amongst themselves and knew that they were probably conversing as to why Victoire was sitting out here alone. She almost hoped they weren't. She hoped they'd feel a sudden pang of awkwardness upon discovering her and then turn and walk the other way. Was that too much to ask for?

"Why!?" Celia's voice yelled as Victoire made a point of putting her head down between her knees. Why won't they just go?

"Hey," said Ted's voice from somewhere nearby. His sudden closeness startled her so much that she lifted up her head just to check that she wasn't imagining things. Sure enough, he was standing about six feet away with his hands in the pockets of his robes staring down at her. His face had been blank until he caught a full look of her when they made eye contact. His eyes grew concerned, but he said nothing.

She didn't return the greeting, but merely glanced over towards Celia, who was still standing in the same spot she had been in before. She looked extremely annoyed and was pacing in a small circle.

"How are you?" he asked suddenly. Victoire turned her attention back to him.

"Fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Look again then," she said as she felt the tears well in her eyes once more.

He nodded thoughtfully as he continued to watch her. Did he really expect her to sit here and talk to him as if nothing had ever happened and they were still the best of friends? As if they hadn't spent the last year not speaking to each other?

"I know it's been awhile," he said, "but if something was wrong you know I'm still here to--"

"Are you?" she asked as her tear-filled eyes focused intently on his. "Because last time I checked, the last thing you said to me was how I needed to mind my own damn business and that you didn't care about whatever it was I thought!"

He sighed.

"T.R," called Celia. "Come on!"

"You'd better go," she said bitterly. "I'd hate for my mere presence to cause yet another rift in your relationship."

He stood there for a moment before he turned away and stared walking back towards Celia. Victoire put her head back down and a strange mixture of relief and sadness overcame her. She was happy he had gone, but at the same time she now felt worse than before he'd come over. She wasn't even sure how that was possible seeing as she had felt pitiful before, but she had somehow managed it. She stared crying harder and wondered why she even bothered with people when she was suddenly startled once again by the presence of someone beside her. She looked up and was shocked to see Ted sitting down.

"We need to talk," he said without looking at her.

She stared at him wide eyed as a stagnant tear hung off of the corner of her nose. She was utterly confused as to what was going on at that moment. She glanced back to where Celia had been standing and noticed she had gone. Turning back to Ted, she saw that he had picked up a random twig and was absently breaking it in his hands.

"I thought you had--" she stopped and pointed towards the spot he and Celia had been standing in.

"I just went to tell her that I needed to talk to you and that she may want to head back up to school without me." He still wasn't looking at her.

The tear on her nose dropped off as she stared at him. "Why?"

"Because I think we needed to talk."

She made a doubtful face. "I told you I was fine."

"Yeah, you obviously seem like it."

"What does it matter?" she asked as she turned away from him. "Since when did you start caring again?"

He said nothing. He broke the twig in his hand once more.

"Trust me," she continued. "Whatever you're trying to prove here by doing your good deed for the day or whatever it is, it isn't going to achieve anything and isn't worth the lecture you're going to get from Celia. Just go."

"Yeeeah..." he said slowly. "I probably am going to hear about this later."

"Wish I could say I was sorry about that," she said looking off at the lake.

"I know," he said. "I know. You think I'm a prat."

She stared at him in surprise. This was the last thing she had expected him to say. "Well, you said it, not me."

He made a pained face. "Fair enough. But you know, I was thinking about you the other day," he broke the twig once more, "and about how shitty things are between us now and I realized that I did the same thing to you that I always gave you shit about doing to me."

She stared at him.

"I mean, when you started hanging out with those stupid girls," he made a face, "I gave you so much shit about ditching me and only caring about what they thought...About becoming one of them. Then, I would sit there and tell you how much I disliked them, but when I started dating Celia and when you did exact same thing to me, instead of trying to work through it, I just gave up."

"Sounds about right," she mumbled.

"I'm trying to apologize. This isn't easy."

"Well, neither is spending the last year having people think that you're the bad guy in all of this," she spat. "Having people just assume that I'm a bitch who needs to bash their friend's girlfriend for no good reason other than I'm just a mean and hateful person."

"I know," he said as he watched her. "And a lot of that was Celia's fault for pushing that."

Her jaw dropped. Did she just hear him correctly?

"I'm not saying I agree with your opinion of Celia," he continued. "Obviously that's not the case. I've just realized that she didn't help things between us much when things were falling apart."

She actually laughed at this. It was at this point where she wanted to lecture him on not only how she didn't help matters, but rather how she encouraged the dissolve of their friendship enthusiastically--but she didn't. Her laugh seemed to convey the point clear enough.

"I've realized some things about her in respect to all of this over the last few weeks," he said as he cleared his throat. "But anyway, this isn't about her. This is about us."

"Is there even an 'us' anymore, Ted?" she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Is there anything worth saving from this friendship if you and she are going to keep dating? When you're around her you're not even the same person I used to know."

He stared at her. "I like to think there is," he said quietly. "We've got so much history. I'd really hate to throw that away, Vic."

She blinked. There were only a handful of people in the world who called her Vic, and she'd been used to hearing it from only her family over the last year. It was almost strange to hear it uttered from Ted's mouth.

"Celia and I will never get along," she said quietly.

"I know that. I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to get along with me."

She stared at him.

"Look, I know I was a little punch-drunk in love or whatever you want to call it for awhile there when she and I started dating. I was a bit much to deal with..."

"A bit?" she asked.

"OK, I was a different person that was horrible for you to be around," he said. "Happy?"

"Yes, actually."

He sighed. "You've got to cut me a little slack here, Vic. I mean you weren't exactly a treat to be around when Colleen and Penelope were breathing down your neck trying to turn you into one of their mindless clone." He took a deep breath. "That is if they haven't succeeded."

She looked insulted.

"I'm just saying that we both have been a bit much sometimes," he added. "We've both made dumb mistakes and I'm willing to forgive and forget because of how much I miss you being around." He looked out towards the lake. "Whether you feel the same way, I don't know. For all I know you're happy to be rid of me."

She didn't say anything right away. The truth was that she hadn't really thought much about missing Ted since she had all but mourned their friendship as dead months ago. A part of her knew she did miss him. She knew she wouldn't be sitting out here on her own crying her eyes out if she had had someone to truly confide in about how stressed O.W.L.s were making her, or how a horrible rumor started by Colleen was really getting to her, or how she wasn't sleeping well at night. That person had always been him. She hadn't consciously realized that his absence was taking its toll on her, but just seeing him sitting across from her at this very moment had lifted her bad mood considerably.

"You know that's not true," she said finally.

He smiled. "Well, that's a relief. I was afraid I might have had to beg."

"You would have begged?" she asked.

"I've been known to do some pretty stupid things," he said, seemingly amused. "But since you've already forgiven me, I guess we'll never know."

She laughed before taking a deep breath and staring at him. For the first time in a long time, she felt like things were normal between them. "It's weird to be talking to you again."

"It's weird that you called me Ted. Only you, my Grams, and Harry and his family call me that these days."

"I'm never going to call you T.R," she said making a face.

He laughed. "I prefer you calling me Ted to be honest. It'd be weird if you didn't."

She smiled. "Glad that's cleared up then..."

Simon nodded as Victoire finished telling her story. "I remember him and Celia arguing that night," he said. "I mean, it might not have been that night, but it had to do with you and it was about a month and a half ago, so I wouldn't doubt it."

"What were they arguing about?"

"I didn't really pay attention," he said. "I just assumed that you two had talked and she found out and flipped out." He glanced over at Celia who was laughing with a friend about something. "I've never understood why she's had it out for you so badly. She acts as if you're some ex-girlfriend or something. She's just an insecure person."

"That doesn't surprise me," she said just as Louis returned and sat down next to her.

"I made fun of her hair when were twelve," he continued. "And Maggie over there told me she cried for an entire afternoon. She's never worn her hair in pigtails again and gets really edgy if people comment on her hair."

"Who's this?" asked Louis.

"Celia," Simon said gesturing over towards her in a way that Victoire wished he had made more subtle. Had Celia actually been paying attention, she would have known they were talking about her. "I'll be honest with you though, T.R really does bring out a better side of her. I know it's something you've never seen, but she does actually lighten up and have fun because he encourages her to."

"It's too bad one can't say the same thing about her effect on him," she mumbled.

"Ouch," Louis said with a laugh. Simon grinned as well.

"You're a funny girl, Vicki," he said as he stood and made a gesture to leave. "I have to get going, but we'll have to hang out when you've got holidays from school. If you deem me worthy, that is."

"Stop hitting on my sister," Louis said.

"As friends," he added quickly. Victoire laughed.

"Ignore him," she said as she stood up and hugged him. "He likes to pretend to be overprotective."

"Pretend?" Louis asked. "Who's pretending?"

"We'll definitely get together when we can," she said. "Good luck at the Ministry."

"Thanks. See you around, Louis," Simon said with a wave that Louis returned. They both watched as he walked off towards several other people to say goodnight.

"Are you almost ready to leave, too?" Louis asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's get Nicki and tell her we're going."

"And you didn't want to come," he said with a smirk. "At least that's what Nic was saying."

"It didn't turn out as bad as I thought," she said as she approached Dominique and the girl she happened to be speaking to.

"Are we leaving?" Dominique asked.

"Yeah," Victoire said as she started walking back towards the house. Both Dominique and Louis hesitated.

"Don't you want to go and say bye to Ted?" Louis asked.

She glanced over to where Ted was sitting with his arm around Celia and chatting with a group of people. Dominique seemed to read her thoughts. "I'll go over and tell him we're leaving."

"No, wait," Victoire said as a sudden surge of courage overcame her. "No, I'll go with you."

"Really?"

"I'm not going to keep avoiding him just because of her anymore. He's my friend. Let her squirm for a bit if she doesn't like it."

"Hear, hear," Louis said as he pumped his fist and laughed as they all made their way towards the larger group. Nobody seemed to notice them approaching until Victoire spoke.

"Hey, Ted."

No one's head turned faster than Celia's at the sound of Victoire's voice. She looked shocked to see her standing there.

"We're taking off, mate," Louis said gesturing towards the house.

"Oh," he said as he stood and excused himself. "Already?"

"Yeah," said Victoire, "but it was a really good time."

"Glad to hear it," he said happily as he started walking towards the house with them. "I'm really glad you guys could come. You know when I get some time off from training at the hospital we'll have to get together."

"Absolutely," said Victoire as the three of them stood just outside of the backdoor. "Good luck with that by the way, the training and all."

"I'll need it, that's for sure." He smiled a little as he put out his hand to shake Louis's. Dominique gave him a playful punch in the shoulder, which he returned with a small hug. He turned towards Victoire as they both stood there awkwardly staring at each other. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was. Was a hug too much with Celia sitting just feet away? If they so much as shook hands, she had a feeling Celia would probably explode.

"Night," he said as leaned forward and hugged her. "And honestly, thanks for coming."

She hugged him back, but let go rather quickly. She didn't dare chance a glance in Celia's direction even though she secretly wanted to.

"Night," Louis said as he opened the door and stood aside for his sisters to pass. Victoire turned to leave and couldn't help but smile widely as she heard Dominique laughing behind her. Once again, she had a feeling that she already knew what she was thinking.