Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ His Greatest Fear ❯ Chapter 6

Chapter Six

 

All Victoire wanted to do at that moment was to run straight back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but it was as if she could not stop herself from moving forward toward Anne Paxton. She gave Teddy a look that said she would talk to him later. Before she had even given a thought to what she was doing, her hand reeled back all on its own and connected hard with the side of Anne's face. It felt so liberating, that she felt her other hand follow suit. The adrenaline was pumping through her so hard she was shaking with it and the rage at seeing another girl kissing her Teddy. Her fists balled at her sides and she honestly tried to constrain them, but they were flying before she could do anything about it. Teddy stood and watched in absolute awe as Victoire hit Anne again and again. When Anne fell to the ground, Victoire continued to pummel her. Teddy knew that he should go and get a professor, but he didn't want to get Victoire into trouble any sooner than possible, and his feet were rooted to the spot anyway.

“What on earth is going on here?” Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw, asked coming upon the two girls. Anne had begun to fight back a bit at this point, pulling Victoire's hair. The harder Anne pulled, the more Victoire hit her. Professor Flitwick, not having the physical abilities to pull the girls apart, pulled his wand out and cast a charm to separate them. Anne's face was beginning to swell and purple. Victoire's knuckles were cut, bleeding, and bruised. Both girls' hair was quite messed up and both were breathing heavily.

“Why is it,” Flitwick asked, turning to Teddy, “that I always find you in the midst of trouble?”

“It wasn't his fault!” Victoire exclaimed breathlessly. “It was mine. I followed them and saw Anne kissing him. I lost my temper.”

“Well, Ms. Weasley, I am going to take both of you to the hospital wing to get cleaned up, and I will deal with Anne. I will send Professor McGonagall directly to deal with you if Mr. Lupin will be so kind as to fetch her so as to redeem himself from this situation.” Victoire's eyes pleaded with him, but he nodded, and turned to go back down the stairs.

 

An hour later, Teddy stood just outside the door to the hospital wing, safely covered under the invisibility cloak. He had sneaked back up to the Ravenclaw entrance to nick it and ran all the way back to the hospital wing. Anne had already been released to return to her dormitory. Victoire had as well, but McGonagall was still talking to her. As Anne had come out looking fairly pleased with herself, he was sure she had not gotten more than a detention for fighting, since Victoire had even admitted that she had started the fight. He pulled out one of George's extendable ears and wedged it under the door frame.

“Well, Ms. Weasley, what do you have to say for yourself?” McGonagall asked in a tense voice.

“It was my fault, Professor. I realize that. I will take whatever punishment you see fit to give me. I am taking full responsibility for my actions. I am very sorry, Professor.” Tears filled her eyes, but not because of a punishment she was to be dealt. She was crying because her Teddy did not love her anymore. He had obviously moved on to someone else. “Professor, may I confide in you? I know it will make no difference regarding my punishment, but I want you to understand why it happened.”

“Of course you may. Just let me send an owl to your parents. I'm sorry to say that you are suspended from Hogwarts until next year. I cannot have students who are a threat to other students. That will give your parents ample time to make a decision as to what is to be done with you. I'll be back after I go to the owlery. Your things are already packed, compliments of the House Elves.” Victoire nodded numbly. When Professor McGonagall had left, Teddy went in the door, still under the cloak. Her eyes were red, her face tear-stained. A fresh bout of tears lingered on her eyelashes, threatening to fall. He pulled the cloak off, a concerned look on his face. He hated to see her cry more than anything in the world.

“What are you doing here?” she asked without even looking up.

“I came to say that I'm sorry. I didn't think they would suspend you. I would take the fall for you if I could. You know that.”

“It's too late for sorry, Teddy. What you did is unforgivable!”

“What did I do?” he asked, honestly confused.

“You kissed Anne! You could have at least told me we were over. I've waited for weeks to have you back. All you had to do was say the word and I would have said yes. But instead, you flirt with Anne right in front of me, and then kiss her for everyone to see. My God, you could have at least been discreet about it or just come out and told me. I thought you loved me, but now I see that you are not truly capable of loving anyone.” The tears that had been threatening now coursed down her cheeks. She turned her face away again.

“But you don't understand, Victoire. I didn't kiss her. She kissed me!”

“Oh, I'm sure you didn't want it!” she exclaimed sarcastically. “Teddy, if you want her, have her. Because you surely don't have me anymore. It's not going to matter now, is it? I'm suspended. You won't see me until summer holidays. And by then, I'm sure you will have my entire family believing your pathetic side of the story. I can just hear it now. `Oh, poor Teddy. Victoire left him because another girl liked him and all he wanted was to have her back.' Why don't you just face it, Teddy? You're scared. I don't know why you're scared, but you are. You're afraid, I guess, that everyone you love is going to up and leave you. So instead of letting that happen, you leave them and hurt them in the process. Is that it? You just wanted to hurt me because you had been hurt? Well, I'm just so sorry. Go ahead and hurt Anne, too. Poor girl won't know what hit her.” She laughed at her own pun, but it wasn't heartfelt. “I think you should leave now, Teddy, before you upset me even more. If it's all the same to you, I don't think I should see you during the summer holidays either. You'll be gone from here when I return to Hogwarts, so I really don't ever have to see you again.”

“Are you so eager to throw what we had away?” Teddy asked. His heart was aching like it never had before. Before, he thought he had a chance of winning her back. But now, he saw no future for them. She didn't want to see him again. How could he make her see that he didn't want Anne, or anyone else for that matter? He should never have tried to make her jealous. That was stupid. He should have just asked to talk to her and told her how he felt. Now his stupidity was costing him the best thing he ever had. “Please, Victoire, while you're gone, just think about it. You know where to find me.” Without another word, he slipped on the cloak and left.

She wanted to believe him so badly. Not one minute after he had left, though, Professor McGonagall returned with her parents. She poured out the whole story, including what had just happened. She knew it would probably only make things worse, but she also knew that they had to know why in the world she was beating the holy hell out of another student. She was crying steadily by the end of the whole story.

“Ah, young love,” Fleur said, taking Victoire into her arms. “We understand your decision to suspend her. We will finish schooling her for the year as long as she eez allowed to return here to take her O.W.L.S. And that Skeeter woman eez not to catch wind of these events, no?” McGonagall nodded. Bill slid an arm around Victoire's shoulder.

“May we have a moment in private?” Bill asked. McGonagall nodded again.

“Feel free to leave whenever. Keep in contact with me about her examinations. We will set it up.” With that, McGonagall left the hospital wing to return to her other duties.

“Victoire,” Bill said, turning her to face him. “I am going to lay down the rules here and now before we even get home. I think that it is a good idea that you and Teddy not have any contact until the summer holidays. It would only make things worse. I'm not saying anything was your fault other than hitting this Anne Paxton girl, but I know how men's minds work. He needs time. He will write to you when the time is right for him.”

“But Daddy, he wouldn't even talk to me when we were in the same room together. Why would he write?” she asked tearfully.

“That's just the way it is going to have to be. I promise that if he writes, we will give you his letters. But you are not to write to him otherwise. Perhaps he will explain himself. It's only another month before summer. You are not to go out to any of your friends' houses. In fact, you are not to go anywhere unless accompanied by myself or your mother. You will do your schoolwork during the day and help your mother at night. Otherwise, you are to be in your room. Understood?” Victoire nodded. She understood that she was practically grounded. This was not going to be a fun month. She would miss Rose, but maybe her mother would let her go and stay with her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron for a while during the month. This would alleviate the boredom of being grounded, but she would still be under adult supervision.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital wing burst open and Rose and Ross stood on the other side, Teddy standing sheepishly behind them. He was looking at Victoire apologetically, as if to say, “I'm sorry, but I had to tell them and they insisted on running up here before you left!” She gave him a cold look and turned to Rose to accept her embrace.

“Oh, Vicky, I'm so sorry! I wish you weren't expelled! Promise that you'll write every day!”

“If Mum will let me, I will. She told me that I'm not allowed to write Teddy because of all this. Find out as much as you can from him and write me and tell me what really happened. I don't know if he really liked Anne or not! I want to know if he still likes me. Not that I would take him back even if he did. I think that he is such a liar!”

“Vicky, you know that you would take him back if he asked you,” Rose replied with a knowing look on her face.

“No, I would not!” Vicky protested. “I don't want to be suspended. It's going to be so boring.”

“Hey, it's only for a month,” Teddy chimed in. Vicky simply ignored him and hugged Rose one last time before her mother took her by the arm and pulled her toward the exit.

The walk to Hogsmeade was silent and rather somber. Her parents knew that she had done wrong, but understood why she had done it. Her punishment was settled, but she still felt awkward with them. She felt she had no one that she could talk honestly about with about her problems. Her mother put her arm around her to comfort her, and it made her feel a bit better about things. Her father looked at her with caring eyes.

“Victoire, I think you need to know that we still love you, and we are not mad at you. We are just disappointed. We will help you finish this year at school, but you will need to think long and hard about wanting to return to Hogwarts next year. Don't think that they will take you back lightheartedly. They will have their eyes on you at all times. You will be more closely watched than any other student in that school. And Teddy won't be there to get you out of the messes you make.”

Teddy…Victoire's thoughts wandered to him. She missed him terribly already. There was an insatiable ache forming in her chest. She felt tears well in her eyes as she realized the gravity of what had taken place. She may very well never recover what little relationship she and Teddy had ever had together. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand just as she and her parents Disapparated from Hogsmeade.

 

It had been two weeks since Victoire's suspension. Her mother had finally consented to her spending a day or two at her Aunt Hermione's and Uncle Ron's. Victoire had taken to staring out the window constantly and not eating for days upon end. Her mother had tried everything, but the light seemed to have gone out of her. Hermione had tried desperately to cheer her up in the few hours she had been there, but it seemed hopeless and she had to leave for work. She kissed Victoire on the cheek and told her that Ron would be home soon.

Victoire watched her Aunt Hermione Disapparate, and turned resignedly back to the window. She saw a speck in the distant sky flying toward Ron and Hermione's house. She sat up straighter, because she realized it was an owl. She breathed a silent prayer that the letter it bore was for her. Her anticipation was about to kill her by the time the owl lit on the windowsill of the already-open window beside Victoire's hand. She had already fetched it a treat and she practically snatched the letter off of its leg. It squawked in protest but was satisfied by the treat. Sure enough, it was a letter from Hogwarts, but it wasn't from Rose. Her heart pounded in her chest as she opened it quickly. She couldn't breathe as she read the letter.

 

My Dearest Vicky,

Words cannot express the guilt that I feel for what I have done. Rose has been prying at me since you left, but I refused to tell her anything. I couldn't send a letter as long as you were at home, but I knew I could get away with it when Rose informed me that you would be at Ron's. Listen, I know you can't write back, so read this and then make a decision. I never liked Anne. Not in the least, and I only used her to make you jealous. I had no idea you were following. I just wanted to make it appear that I was flirting with her so you would tell me you wanted me back. I thought you liked her brother, and it killed me to think that you didn't want me anymore. She kissed me, even though I didn't want her to. I am sorry for everything. That's all I can say. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you! Please forgive me. Tell me when school is out. Meet me at King's Cross the day we arrive on platform 9