How Summer Started
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" It's for your own good Victoire, you know we just want what's best for you," her father explained Victoire Weasley for the tenth time tonight.
"It's not fair papa, I already had planned to spend my summer with Teddy and my friends! I don't want to go to France! I'll be so lonely there, " Victoire pleaded.
Usually, Bill Weasley gave in to his daughters' plea, but this time he refused to change his mind. Victoire had yelled, begged and even cried but he insisted she spends the summer with her grandmother in France.
"Victoire, we have waited as long as we could, but your Veela power are starting to surface and you have to go learn how to control them before something bad happens." Bill tried to justify his and Fleur's decision once more.
Victoire was standing in front of the dinner table where her parents were seated. She had her arms crossed, her cheeks were wet from crying earlier and her eyes were red and puffy. Fleur was holding her husband's hand on the table, looking miserable. Neither she nor Bill really wanted Victoire gone and they hated seeing their daughter in such a state.
"Why can't maman teach me? She's Veela too and had to go through this not so long ago." Victoire proposed, her voice shaking. She knew she was fighting a lost battle.
She had spent a summer in France when she had been 9, along with Dominique and Louis and she remembered it as her worst summer ever. It had been the first summer she spent away from her parents and most importantly from Teddy. They had sent each other letters almost every day during the two months she was away, but it just hadn't been the same as spending every hour with him, like they used to. And when she and her siblings finally came back to the Shell Cottage in September, Teddy left for Hogwarts for the very first time when she still had 2 years to wait. She had been miserable then and she knew she would be miserable this time as well.
What made it worth, if possible, was that neither Dominique or Louis were coming with her this time. It would be just her and her grand-mère. And even though Victoire loved her granny, the women could be very scary and strict at times. If she went to France, her summer would be very different than the one she had planned. No camping, no parties, no Quidditch and no Teddy.
"I'm zorry dear but your mamie will be able to teach way better than I would. Zhe is half-Veela and has been dealing with her power much longer than I have. If I could help you, I would, ma chérie, you have to believe me," her mom said.
"Victoire it's urgent you learn how to control your power. We have been lucky enough that your fire abilities were the first to manifest and not your enthralling one, " her dad said once more while squeezing his wife's hand.
Of course, her dad would think that setting shit on fire whenever she was angry was better than being attractive. Victoire didn't agree at all. The first time she had used her Veela firepower was when Ravenclaw, her House, had lost the Quidditch game against Slytherin after the Ravenclaw Seeker had been hexed by one of the Slytherin supporters. She accidentally sent her fireball toward the Slytherin team in the Quidditch pitch, but thankfully no one had been hurt.
After that first time, she noticed that she lost her temper more easily than before and got annoyed by the smallest of things. But the most embarrassing accident was definitely when she had set her own robes on fire. She had been eating her breakfast in the Great Hall when she saw Teddy holding hands with that slut of Freya Brownwood. Her and Freya had never seen eye to eye, probably due to the fact that Freya was constantly making fun of her, but the fact that she had gone after her Teddy was too much for Victoire. And without really thinking about it, some flames just burst from her hands and her robes caught fire.
So Victoire could definitely see her dad's point about learning how to control her power but she just didn't want to go. She looked at her parents sadly, not knowing what to do or say to make them change their mind. Her dad sighed and said slowly.
"We've made our decision Victoire. You will go to your grandmother."
"When?" was all Victoire manage to say.
"The sooner the better. On Monday." Bill told her.
Victoire immediately turned around, not wanting her parents to see her cry again. She quickly made her way to her room and locked the door behind her. She fell on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She knew her reaction might seem a bit extreme but her emotions were all over the place lately, probably because of those stupid Veela genes. She had planned to spend her summer camping in a wizard wood with her best friend Alice. Alice and she would have found themselves some cute holidays boyfriends, they would have partied every night, played Quidditch during the day and had fun. Teddy and his two best friends Jason and Nathan would have been there too, making everything so much better.
Teddy was Victoire's favorite person in the whole world. They had been inseparable for as long as she can remember, the two first children from the New Generation, as her parents liked to call it. She had many younger cousins but Teddy had always been special. Firstly because they weren't really related but also because he always took such good care of her. He treated her like she was the most precious thing on earth. He was her Teddy, her best friend, her confident and her protector. She knew she would always come first for him, just like he would always come first for her, no matter who they were dating or how far away they were from each other. Teddy was her perfect vision of prince charming. He certainly looked the part, even with his extravagant hair, but their relationship had always stayed platonic. But Victoire has always loved him, sometimes in a romantic way and sometimes just as a friend.
And know she had to let him know that for the second time since she was born, they wouldn't spend summer together.
Victoire got up, sat at her desk and started scribbling furiously on a letter.
Teddy, emergency meeting at the Burrow at 4 pm.
My parents suck.
I need you.
Love, V
She folded the letter, put it in an envelope and gave it her owl, Hecate, who flew out the window as soon as Victoire opened it. It was now 3 pm, which gave her just enough time to make herself look presentable. She knew Teddy would be at the Burrow at 3.50.
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Teddy had apparated at the Burrow 10 minutes after receiving the emergency owl from Victoire. He knew he was early but he didn't want to make Victoire wait. Teddy apparated in the living room where no one was to be found. As per usual, the Burrow was filled with noise, some music was playing somewhere in the upper levels, child voices were coming from the garden and adult chattering exited the kitchen. Teddy followed the latest and entered the room, where Molly was busy baking something, while George, Angelina, Hermione, and Ginny were seating around the table. "Hello everyone!" he said happily. They might not be related by blood but this was his family. He loved each one of them as much as he loved his grandmother Andromeda.
"Teddy! What a pleasant surprise!" Molly exclaimed. As fast as that, Teddy was in her arm being hugged. Ginny, Hermione and Angelina followed and George shook his hand while giving him a manly tap on the back.
"I have been summoned actually. Victoire wants to talk to me, she's having a bit of a crisis apparently." He said while seating down on an empty chair.
The adults around him exchanged glances. Of course, they must know what was the matter. News traveled so fast in the Weasley/Potter family.
Before Teddy could ask any of them what was happening, James, Albus, Roxanne, Fred, Rose, Lilly and Hugo came running into the room. The kitchen wasn't by any means small, but it still started to feel quite full with so many people in it.
"Teddy!" the children screamed and suddenly, Teddy was surrounded and had little girls climbing on his lap or pulling on his arms. Lilly was the one was now sitting on his lap. The adorable little girl turned around, almost falling, and gave him a hug. After that, she straightened and looked at her mum.
"When I grow up I want to marry Teddy!" she shouted with a certainty only a 6-year-old could have.
All the adults started laughing at her statement and Teddy smiled at her tenderly. However, Rose and Roxanne looked more than angry at this love declaration.
"You can't Lilly. Teddy will marry Victoire, not you." Rose stated, crossing her arms over her chest and Roxanne nodded her agreement.
Another round of laughter exploded around the table. Teddy was still smiling but he could feel his cheeks warming up. At this exact moment, the door to the living room opened and Victoire stepped into the crowded kitchen with a small smile on her face. Clearly, she wasn't a mood to laugh but having heard Lilly's and Rose's statement she couldn't resist smiling.
"Don't worry Lilly, you can have Teddy all to yourself, I'd much prefer to marry James," she said winking at her youngest cousin.
"Eek Victoire, that's disgusting, I'm your cousin!" James said. The 11-year-old boy would be starting as a first year at Hogwarts in September and seemed to finally be over his "I love Victoire" phase. In fact, he truly looked horrified at the thought of marrying her and had backed away behind George.
"James, you break my heart!" Victoire said, pretending to be hurt. "I feel so rejected that I might have to die from sadness."
Lilly was on her feet at once, running toward her cousin.
"Victoire no! I don't want you to be sad! I give you Teddy so you're not sad anymore. You can have him if you want." Lilly was hugging one of Victoire's leg now, looking worried.
Her words made Victoire look at Teddy. Their eyes locked.
You can have him if you want.
They both stood still for an instant, not knowing what to say. Thankfully the silence didn't have time to stretch as Ginny said:
"Lilly, you're being very generous. I'm sure Victoire will not be sad any more thanks to you."
The little girl smiled again and went to sit on her mother's lap. In the meantime, Victoire had pulled herself together and was smiling again.
"Yes, thank you very much, Lil. In fact, Teddy and I will go talk about our wedding right now." She said, extending a hand toward Teddy.
He took it, offered a friendly smile to the people in the room before following Victoire in the living room and up the stairs toward one of the guest room. Victoire quickly closed the door and let herself fall on the bed. She was looking at the ceiling, her legs hanging from the mattress. Teddy patiently waited for her to start stalking.
"My parents are sending me to France for the summer." She finally said, tears in her voice.
Teddy wanted to hug her, to make the tears go away. That was some bad news, he had been looking forward to their summer of camping. But he had to stay positive and help her put things into a perspective. They both knew that this was coming since she threw that fireball during the Quidditch game.
"Oh Vic, that's not so bad." He tried.
Apparently, it wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"Not so bad ?" she screamed, sitting back upright. "I'm going to be away for the whole summer alone with my grand-mère, in the middle of nowhere in France."
"I know, it doesn't sound as fun as what we had planned, but I'm sure there are some great things to do in France."
"I don't care if there are, I won't have anyone to do them with! I won't have you" she said, her big blue eyes looking straight at him.
Teddy sat next to her on the bed and pulled her in an embrace. She immediately rested her head on his shoulder.
"We will spend some time together before you go and when you come back. And then we will back at Hogwarts, both of us."
"We won't have time. They're making me leave on Monday and I will stay there for the whole 2 months." She whispered, her head still on his shoulder.
Indeed, that didn't leave them with a lot of time. Monday was in two days.
"Then I guess we have to organize something before you leave." Teddy said, knowing exactly what she needed.
"What do you mean?" she lifted her head and looked at him.
"We're gonna have a party on Sunday. A goodbye party of sort." He smiled at her. "We're gonna invite everyone we know and make it the best summer party ever."
Victoire finally smiled too, her eyes still shining from the tears she had shed. Even now she looked beautiful, Teddy thought. He had always thought as Victoire as his best friend and he had always found her extremely beautiful. But in the past few months, he had realized that he was attracted to her. He loved everything about her, but she was still so young and so innocent. Of course she had dated some guys at Hogwarts but he knew it never got serious and she didn't do more than just some kissing. And as much as he would love to start something with her, she was just too precious. He wanted to preserve her, protect her from all the ugliness of the world, let her keep her innocence as long as possible. And most of all he didn't want to risk their friendship. He was afraid that if they started dating, he would screw up and that it would end in them breaking up and not being friend anymore. That was of course if Victoire agreed to go out with him in the first place. If he told her about his feeling and she rejected him, he was sure their friendship would suffer. Eventually Teddy had decided not to risk their friendship and just stay as they were.
"You'll write to me, while I'm gone?" Victoire asked him softly.
"Everyday," he promised.