Teddy Lupin and the Full Moon Society

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted, only moments after touching the top of James's head. He beamed brightly in Teddy's direction before hoping off the stool and rushing towards the Gryffindor table where Fred was signaling. Teddy smiled back and waved, slightly disappointed to not have James joining him at the Hufflepuff table, but proud of him nonetheless.
"Louis will be last I think." Victoire muttered under her breath. Half to Teddy, and half to herself. Teddy could sense that she was nervous; the anticipation was practically humming off of her.
"He'll be fine." He muttered into her ear and placed his palm reassuringly on her knee. She stilled for a moment, taken aback by the touch of Teddy's warm hand against her bare knee. Teddy felt it too, and kept his hand there to prolong the tingling. She placed her hand on top of Teddy's, he turned his wrist slightly and pulled her delicate hand into his. She blushed and then squeezed it tightly. Teddy gripped her hand firmly in his and turned his attention back to the sorting.
In the midst of their moment the sorting hat had made it all the way through to W. Angus Waterby was strolling up to the stool and hat with a confidence that nearly screamed Slytherin. The hat was placed on Angus's head and after it pondered for a moment inside Angus's mind it let out a short laugh before shouting, "Slytherin!"
"He's next." She murmured as Teddy struggled to stay focused on the sorting.
"Louis Weasley." Professor Flitwick shouted as Louis, one of only three left wobbled nervously up to the stool. He sat down on the stool as Flitwick lowered the hat onto his head. The very tip of it flicked back and forth as it held a silent conversation with just Louis. Victoire had taken up to tapping her foot her nerves were so bad.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted before it was plucked from his head and Louis raced off to sit next to James.
Victoire exhaled, and Teddy imagined that she must have been holding her breath for the entire time the hat was on his head. "Good. Good." She said to herself before she lifted her pale delicate hand up to her face and wiped away a single tear before it was able to drop. Teddy stroked the back of her hand reassuringly with the pad of this thumb as the final two students were sorted into their houses.
Headmaster Sprout stood up and made a few announcements about general school rules, mostly for the benefit of the first years, before she clapped her hands together twice and the tables nearly exploded with food.
Teddy loaded up his plate with a few of his favorites, turkey legs, ham slices, and roasted potatoes before he took a big drink of his pumpkin juice and started eating. Periodically he snuck a few glances towards Victoire only discover that she was hardly eating her food.
"Hey pretty girl." He said, leaning over and whispering into her ear. "What's wrong?"
She smiled up at him, half-heartedly and shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I'm fine."
"I don't believe you." Teddy said before grabbing a nearby platter of rolls and setting two of them on Victoire's plate.
"I'm good."
He grabbed the bowl of his favorite potatoes and spooned a few hefty helpings onto her plate. "These are almost as good as Gran's potatoes."
"You should try my Grand-mere's potatoes."
"They're better than Gran's?"
"No!" She laughed. "They're terrible! She doesn't cook them all the way and they're terribly hard. She also puts way too much garlic on them. They're barely edible."
"Do you want to talk about Louis?" Teddy asked as he took the plate of turkey legs nearby and picked one out for Victoire, placing it on her plate for her before reaching for some green beans.
"I suppose I just got my hopes up that Louis would be with me in Hufflepuff. I sometimes feel lonely in Hufflepuff all by myself."
Guilt washed over Teddy, realizing that he was to blame for that. Up until a few weeks ago he'd had a tendency to avoid Victoire any chance he got.
"Louis and I are close. I had hoped that he would be here with me, and this year would be easier than years in the past."
"This year will be easier." Teddy insisted, grabbing hold of Victoire's hand again.
"Perhaps. I hope so at least."
Teddy shook his head, adamant to convince her otherwise. "I know I've been a bit of a tosser the last few years. But I've seen the error of my ways, and I want to show you that this year will be different. You've got me. And Aiden and Ethan who have always secretly loved you."
Victoire smiled and squeezed Teddy's hand. Teddy's heart did that strange flippy thing that it did whenever Victoire smiled at him like that and Teddy leaned in, the urge to kiss her right then and there stronger than ever.
Victoire's eyes got big and bright instantly and she ducked her head pulling Teddy's attention from her full pink lips to the spot on his hand she was running back and forth with her thumb.
"Not here, mon ange." She said, the flare of the French rolling off her tongue elegantly. "Not with everyone around."
"You're right." Teddy said, repositioning his body away from Victoire and back towards his plate, careful to keep his hand still locked with hers. "Eat silly girl, or you'll have to go back to the dormitory with an empty stomach."
Teddy watched in delight as she picked up her fork, stuck it in the heap of potatoes on her plate and took a big bite.
She moaned slightly under her breath, enjoying the taste of the potatoes in her mouth, as Teddy shifted in his seat, he too enjoying the way the potatoes must have tasted in her mouth. He loved the way she closed her eyes to savor something as small as a well seasoned potato in her mouth, and he particularly loved the sounds she made as she was eating.
It was difficult for Teddy to get through the rest of dinner, and the traditional Hogwarts song without wanting to pull Victoire into his arms and hold her close, let alone not stare at her the entire time, but he managed. She only caught him staring three times, but she never seemed bothered. Her eyes simply sparkled with a magic that only she possessed and she went back to whatever she was doing. Be it eating her dinner, singing the Hogwarts song to the tune of a lovely French lullaby, or bringing up the rear end of Hufflepuff students into the common room. Once everyone had found their trunks, and as Head Boy and prefect made sure that all of the Hufflepuffs belongs were tucked safely in their dormitories with them, Teddy locked up the common room and put out the fire.
"I should be getting off to bed." Victoire said as she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear looking down at the ground.
"Right." Teddy shuffled his feet.
"Well, er, goodnight." She turned and started to walk away in the direction of the girls dormitory.
Not able to wait another moment without the feel of her lips against his Teddy grabbed her hand and turned her to face him bringing her as close as possible to him before covering her mouth with his. Victoire wrapped her arms around Teddy's neck as she kissed him back. Teddy's hands found her waist and gripped it tightly as he moved her backwards until he had accidentally pressed her against the wall.
Without skipping a beat Victoire pushed on him and they fell on the couch.
"Sorry." She laughed before kissing him again. They adjusted themselves on the sofa comfortably continuing to kiss. With each time their lips parted they came back together as if controlled by two magnets that couldn't be parted.
A throat cleared softly behind them. "Excuse me?"
Teddy and Victoire jumped apart Teddy careful to get off the couch and stand up as quickly as possible.
"I was just wondering what I should do if I wanted a glass of water." The nervous first year asked. Victoire stood up anxiously and adjusted her appearance, fixing the seam of her skirt and her vest both of which were in complete disarray.
"I'll help you." Victoire walked over to the young girl and led her up the stairs to the girls dormitory.
Teddy stood up completely embarrassed. He adjusted his own vest and tie before leaning down to the pillows on the sofa to arrange them neatly.
"I'm sorry about that." Victoire half whispered. Teddy looked up and she was standing in the doorway. Even embarrassed, with her hair messed up and tangled around her face, and her clothes starting to wrinkle he was still sure that he was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
"Don't apologize." He hushed. "You didn't do anything." He smiled and hoped to hide the hint of disappointment he was feeling over being interrupted.
"Alright." She trailed off and shuffled her feet.
Teddy walked over to her getting as close as possible to her. "You are so incredibly beautiful."
She blushed and smiled and shook her head. "I'm not-"
"Don't." He put his finger over her lips stopping her from finishing the rest of her sentence. "You have no idea how mad I am for you."
She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed him softly. He cupped her cheek in the palm of her hand, enjoying the way her soft porcelain skin felt against the inside of his palm and kissed her back.
They stood standing for a few moments before he pulled away. "We should be getting off to bed. Classes start early tomorrow morning and you can't be too tired. You have a big day tomorrow." He finished leading her up the stairs and standing out side the girl's dormitory where they would part ways for the evening.
"I do?" She questioned.
"Oh yes." He smiled and leaned down kissing her again. "Goodnight beautiful, sweet dreams." He turned and walked up the final flight up the stairs to the seventh year boy's dormitory.