The Birds and the Bears - Harry Potter Fanfic.

Chapter Ten. Easter Storms

Chapter Ten. Easter Storms

Teddy's P.O.V.

It is the day before Easter in Shell Cottage and everyone is milling around preparing. I bed down on the couch last night, while my grandmother slept in the guest room. Bill and Fleur have been excellent hosts, keeping the house full of laughter and love for the duration. I have not been alone with Vic since she kissed me on the cheek. We always seem to be 'chaperoned' by one of Vic's younger siblings or my grandmother. It is so artfully done that it doesn't look deliberate, but knowing Bill it probably is. I have taken to going down to the beach though it is quite stormy and looking out upon the sea. Vic told me once that there is nothing so beautiful as the ocean during the storm, and though I don't agree I can see what she means. With the constant ebb and flow of the waves, crashing in the great symphony of nature it is quite astonishing to watch. 

When evening comes the house quiets down and I find myself alone in the living room. My sleep is fitful and restless, disrupted by the claps of thunder in the distance. I know I must have slept a little because when I next wake the storm seems to be directly over head. I go out onto the tiny covered porch outside the kitchen and marvel at the immense strength of nature. Up on the cliffs facing the sea I spot a small white figure being buffeted by the wind. By some instinct I know it is Vic, and after jamming on a pair of wellys I sprint towards her. She wears nothing but a plain white ankle length night gown which is plastered to her by the deluge of rain. Her exceedingly long hair whips around her in wild tendrils and her arms are raised above her as if she is embracing the fury of the storm. This strange vision of Vic momentarily brings me up short, before I catch a couple of sweet notes born towards me on the wind. Vic is singing to the storm. She looks like some kind of erethral nature goddess unleashing her emotions in a magnificent tempest. 

Tentatively, I approach her, unwilling to interrupt her obvious enjoyment. Before I have touched her or made any sounds she turns towards me. Her eyes hold a hot blazing look, at odds with her lips which are faintly blue with cold. She dose not speak, and instead leaps surprisingly into my arms. She is feather light even soaking wet meaning it is not a challenge to hold her. Her icy blue eyes stare into mine as she kisses me hard on the lips. We are locked together in an impenetrable embrace, the storm howling around us.

By the time Vic and I have released each other and made it back to the cottage the rain has eased up a bit. We are both soaking and frozen, Vic more so than me. Her bare feet were so cold that they were pink and I insisted on carrying her down the rocky cliff path. We are also both dazed, the sensations of our first kiss stunning us both. Vic stands shivering by the flickering kitchen hearth for a moment before kissing me softly on the cheek and then running up the stairs to her bed room. I feel as if I've been confounded.

Victoire's P.O.V

Easter dinner arrives and the dinning table at Shell Cottage is weighed down by dishes of French food with names that no one but Fleur and her children can pronounce. I am seated between Louis and Teddy and I am blissfully happy. Teddy is holding my hand in secret beneath the table and we have been grinning like loons at one another all evening. The conversation is happily rowdy, Mrs. Tonks is in an amicable argument about broomstick safety with Bill, Dom is telling Maman about her Astronomy class, and Louis is regaling everyone with tales of how wonderful Griffindor is not really caring who is listening.

No words are needed for Teddy and I to communicate. Since I have never been that talkative, the no-speach-conversation was something Teddy and I worked out early. He winks at me, expressing his jubilation by turning his hair pure gold. I nudge him with my sock foot under the table, admonishing him slightly for his obviousness. I feel like he might as well have just stood up and yelled "WE SNOGED!" to the whole table, and strangely I don't mind much. I pull my hand away for a moment so I can at least make the impression that I am eating, then quickly intertwine my fingers in Teddy's again. I feel an uncharacteristic blush rise up my cheeks as Teddy shifts our joined hands into my lap and I can feel the warmth of his arm seeping through the fabric of my trousers into my thigh.

Dom drops her fork, and I am so distracted that I don't think to release Teddy's hand as she dives under the table. When she bangs her head hard on its underside, rattling the dishes, then returns to her seat cursing I realize my mistake. Once my sister's eyes stop watering she looks at me with wide curious eyes. 'Busted' I think.

Once desert has been devoured, Dom tugs me upstairs into our bedroom. "You and Teddy?" she whispers, her eyes bugging out. I nod while smiling sheepishly. "Teddy?" She repeats incredulously. "Yup. It just happened, Dom. We didn't plan it or something." I defend. "Blimey! He's practically our brother, Victiore. Isn't it weird?" I shake my head, smiling slightly. She is still looking at me as if I just announced my undying love for hinkypunks. She scoffs and makes some dubious sounds like "Pusshh." and "Pfff." then grumbles a bit more. "Teddy?" She says again under her breath before flumping down on her bed and announcing "I want details."

Teddy's P.O.V.

I am standing in the cramped kitchen at Shell Cottage drinking a midnight glass of water the day before returning to Hogwarts when Bill corners me. His heavily scarred face is difficult to read, but I am fairly sure it is scowling. "What are your intentions towards my daughter, Mr. Lupin?" I gulp down a sip of water that seems to end up in the wrong pipe, causing me to splutter. "Intentions?" I cough. "Intentions." Bill answers firmly. Mulling over this demand for information for a few long moments I discover the answer is not hard to find. "I love Vic, Mr. Weasley. I have for a long time. You know that." Bill's inscrutable face seems to soften slightly, the deep grooves of his scars relaxing a bit. "Well then... Hurt her and I will get my brother Charlie to feed you to a Horntail. Understand?" I nod emphatically, finishing the conversation. We part after Bill has given me a slightly painful slap on the back.

I love her. The answer was so easy, so simple. It is the reason my heart seems to soar like a phoenix each time I see Vic. Love. "Blimey..." I whisper under my breath. I hope Vic feels the same way. Thinking back to that moment on the cliffs, her burning eyes, her fiery kiss, it seems that way. The primal growly part of my heart purrs contentedly, some part of my longing for companionship fulfilled.