Teddy

He hadn't seen her for four weeks. He'd not really seen her the last few weeks at Hogwarts anyway, and then he'd been on holiday with his grandmother, and then with the Potters, and she'd been away in France with her family. It was now two days after the Weasley family had returned, and Teddy was desperate to see his best girl friend.

He was happy to be able to finally use apparition to get to Shell Cottage, having passed his test a few months ago. He knocked on the door, excited to see her, but at the same time, nervous. His hair flickered, from green to red to purple. He wondered why he was nervous. He managed to get his hair to settle on turquoise. He knew it was her favourite, and it was his too.

Bill answered the door. "Teddy!" he exclaimed. "Good to see you! How've you been?"

"Fine, fine. Good holiday?" Ted replied, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, good thanks. Lots of sun, as you can probably tell from the extreme freckles," he gestured to his face with a grin. "Victoire's up in her room," he added.

"Thanks Bill," Ted said, and began to climb the stairs. He stopped outside the room with the blue sign, decorated with shells that he and Victoire had collected, which read her name in an elegant, fancy script. He knocked, and heard a delicate, musical voice say, "Come in."

He opened the door and walked in. The room was small, but pretty, the walls painted a calming sea blue, with pretty blue curtains and a dark blue bedspread. There was a white desk in the corner, covered in a mess of quills, parchment, framed photographs and school textbooks. The wall beside her bed was covered in more photographs, many of which featured Teddy himself, along with the vast number of Weasley cousins, and Victoire's many school friends.

Victoire was sat on her bed, wearing a pair of very short denim shorts, and a t-shirt bearing the legend, The Weird Sisters. He couldn't help noticing that her long legs were tanned, and a smattering of cute freckles had spread across her nose. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and she wasn't wearing any make-up at all, yet she still managed to look gorgeous.

She was reading a copy of Witch Weekly, but as soon as she saw that it was Teddy at the door, she threw the magazine aside and ran towards him. "Teddy!" she cried, launching herself at him.

Teddy stumbled slightly as the tall, slim fifteen-year-old threw her arms around him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, inhaling the soft, flowery smell of her perfume. "Hey Vic," he laughed. "Pleased to see me?"

"Well duh of course!" she said, slapping him playfully on the arm. "I haven't seen you for weeks! I've just spent two weeks with only Dom and Louis for company! Of course I'm pleased to see you!"

Teddy grinned. "Pleased to see you too. Good holiday?"

"Yeah, not bad," she said, as they sat down on the bed. "It was really sunny there, I spent nearly every day on the beach, it was great. And Mamie took us shopping and bought me some lovely French perfume as a present." She babbled on about her holiday, while Teddy listened contentedly.

She asked him about his own holidays, and he told her about the fantastic Spain vs. Italy Quidditch game he had been to with the Potters whilst on holiday just outside of Madrid, and the week he'd spent with his Grandma in Calais.

Their conversation continued as they went for a walk on the beach. They never seemed to run out of things to say, the easy relationship they had had since childhood hadn't faltered with age. If anything, it had become stronger. So much so, that when asked if he wanted to stay for dinner, Teddy was genuinely sorry to say "I promised I'd go to Harry's."

Victoire walked Teddy to the gate, and hugged him goodbye fiercely. Teddy couldn't help but hold on, desperate for it to last a little longer. What was happening? He had never felt that before. That tug, that longing to stay where he was, in the arms of this girl.

He gently pulled away, promised to see her tomorrow, then apparated to the Potters. He already wished he could see her again, right that second.

And that was the moment when Teddy Lupin's feelings toward his best friend began to change.