Author's Note: Happy Friday! First a warning: the third chapter is Not Safe for Work.

I would like to thank my beta, BurgundyHope, for her quick work on these chapters. This was written for The Valentine Making Station (Challenge) on the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges. The prompts were for a G-Rated love scene, a PG-13 Rated love scene, and an R-Rated love scene. You will notice that for the first time, I'm using an M-Rating on this collection, and it is well deserved. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters and world belong to JK Rowling.

Rated G

First Came Love...

Teddy Lupin stood at the top of a sandy slope in his bathing custom, towel slung over his shoulder, taking in the mass chaos on the beach before him. Twilight was rolling in on a warm breeze, a huge bonfire roared a few yards from where Teddy stood, well out of the reach of the waves. Children from eight to fifteen raced up and down the sand shouting at each other. But the person Teddy was searching for was sat by the flames.

"Teddy, you're here!"

James Potter ran full tilt at Teddy, who quickly stepped aside to avoid being tackled. For the last three days, since arriving home from Hogwarts, James hadn't shut up about the beach party Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur were having for all the returning kids. James had begged Teddy to come:

"It just won't be the same without you."

"Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of Hogwarts students?" Teddy asked, ruffling James's hair.

"We're not just some bunch of kids, we're your cousins. And, at least, me and Freddie are cool."

"'Freddie and I'."

"What?" James's brow furrowed, but he wasn't one to be bogged down by intellectual pursuits for long. "You gotta come!"

"I reckon," Teddy said with a long sigh.

While he may have made James work for it, Teddy had no intention of missing this gathering of the Weasley kids. Besides the dubious coolness of Freddie Weasley and James Potter, there was a much more attractive incentive for hanging out with a bunch of Hogwarts students, and she was smiling at him from her spot by the fire. Teddy didn't want to seem too keen, but he was going to ditch James at the first opportunity.

"Of course I'm here, mate," Teddy said to James, glancing at the kid whose head now came up to Teddy's clavicle. "I said I'd come, didn't I?"

James beamed at Teddy. "Me and Freddie—"

"You know what," Teddy interrupted, slapping the kid on the back, "I think I'm going to say 'hello' to Vic, I'll catch up with you later, alright?"

With a small twinge of guilt, Teddy left his godbrother standing on the ridge as he made his way across the sand to the bonfire. This was the first time Teddy had seen Victoire since January, since he realized that he was in love with her. He'd tried, and failed, to come up with an excuse that would allow him to meet her at King's Cross, or have dinner at Shell Cottage, or just about anything that allowed him to see her without seeming like a prat. Every fiber of Teddy's being wanted to be near Victoire, but he was scared senseless of telling her.

With eyes on Vic, Teddy didn't see the Quaffle coming until it crashed into his head. Landing in an inelegant heap in the sand, Teddy could only see stars for a moment—the metaphorical kind, not the astrological ones—then his vision was filled with Roxy's fierce glare and her halo of dark curls. Merlin save Teddy from overly competitive Gryffindors.

"Honestly, Lupin," Roxy scoffed, offering her hand. "This is why you weren't chosen for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team."

Teddy allowed himself to be hauled out of the sand, and brushed himself off. Behind Roxy were her usual cohorts, Mol and Dom, Lily sitting on Dom's shoulders. The three older girls were wearing bikini tops and cut-off shorts, looking like anything but his little cousins. Roxy was all curves, sinew, and brown skin, as opposed to Dom and Mol who were long-legged, freckled, and ginger. Teddy quickly averted his eyes. They were fifteen now, and a little too grown up for Teddy's likings. Were they hiding all that under their jumpers at Christmas?

"Er, here's your Quaffle?" Teddy said, not meaning for it to sound like a question. The female half of the population did not generally intimidate Teddy, unless those females were Weasleys.

Roxy grabbed the ball and ran off, but Dom eyed him carefully. She was nearly as tall as Teddy, coming up to his nose in fact. Shrewdly intelligent, with a flair for mischief and revenge. Nobody crossed Dom, or her siblings, without facing her wrath—including Rita Skeeter. What the Weasley Three had done to the old gnat at the Quidditch World Cup a few years ago was stuff of legend, and it was all in defense of Victoire. Teddy squared his shoulders, staring back at Dom. He was an adult, he was a year into Auror training, but most of all, he wanted the same thing as Dom: Victoire's happiness.

"She's been waiting for you all day," Dom said coolly. "In fact, she's been waiting for three days."

Teddy gave into his weakness, sneaking a look in Victoire's direction. She was watching them, her back straight and her delicate mouth pulled into a frown. Flicking his eyes back at Dom, Teddy kept his expression blank. He wasn't going to betray that his heart skipped a beat to know that Victoire was eager to see him, but he wasn't going to be indifferent either. He cared about Victoire, and that might make him nervous, but he wouldn't disrespect her by acting aloof.

"I didn't know," Teddy said simply, spreading his hands wide. "I came from Auror duty to be at the party tonight."

"If you don't know how Vic feels about you, then you are about as dumb as that haircut," Dom said, turning on her heel.

"What's wrong with my hair?" Teddy ran his fingers through his blue locks.

"Bye-bye, Teddy," Lily called from atop of Dom's shoulders. She craned around to wave.

"Lily, what's wrong with my hair?" At work, Teddy wore his hair boringly—black and conservative—so that he would be taken more seriously. But the grand thing about being a metamorphmagus, was that Teddy was not limited to one hairstyle. After work, Teddy wore a fade, black underneath, scruffy and blue on top. Since he got home, James must have told Teddy a dozen times how cool his hair was. Teddy nearly panicked when he realized he was taking style advice of a thirteen-year-old kid!

Lily giggled from atop Dom's shoulders.

Girls! They were the worst. Combing his fingers through his hair one more time, Teddy resumed his walk towards the bonfire, and Victoire, again. She was watching his approach, hands clenched atop her knees. Sadly, she was much more covered up than her sister or cousins, wearing a Ravenclaw jumper with her cutoff shorts. Strings were poking out of the neck, however, hinting at a bikini underneath. Teddy wondered how he could get her out of that jumper.

"Wotcher, Vic," Teddy said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"What did Dom want?" she asked, frowning.

"To be a pain in the arse, naturally."

"Hmph!"

Teddy sat on the log next to her, his thigh brushing against hers. The flush of heat that overtook his body had nothing to do with the roaring fire before them, and everything to do with the smoothness of Victoire's skin. He glanced at her pale face. She had little freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, but the rest of her was peaches and cream—except tonight she was sporting an unusually pink nose.

"Do you have a cold?" he asked.

Victoire snuffled inelegantly. "Yes. Maman says I'm not allowed near the water, and I am to stay warm."

"And of course, you told her that you're an adult now, and can make your own decisions."

Vic giggled. "Naturally, because that goes over just as well with my mother as it does with your Gran." She took his hand, looking at him earnestly. "I'm glad you came tonight."

Staring at their hands clasped together, Teddy couldn't quite find the words to reply. He had known Victoire Weasley since he was two-years-old. He had held her hand countless times, but this felt like the first time. He was aware of the warmth of her palm, the callous on her fingers from hundreds of hours spent playing the cello, the strength of her grasp.

"So am I," Teddy rasped. He looked up to find Victoire's face near his, her eyes staring into his. For a moment, he was frozen there, his mouth dry and his mind blank. "Um, do you wanna, um, walk? Or something?"

"Okay."

The two started up the beach in the direction of the house, still hand in hand.

"Where's your dad?" Teddy asked, taking a look around to see if anybody was watching their departure. There was Dom, standing a head taller than the rest of the cousins, staring in their direction. Teddy nodded, but Dom's eyebrows just lifted.

"In his library?" Victoire replied. "Maman said he is not to leave it short of fire or impending death."

Relief washed over Teddy, at least Bill Weasley wouldn't be watching out a window as Teddy led his daughter off to a more secluded area.

"So." Teddy cleared his throat. "You wrote about your classes in your letters, but did you…go to Hogsmeade with anybody?"

"I went with Ed Crudup in February, but just the girls in May."

Ed Crudup was a Ravenclaw in the year between Teddy and Victoire. A tall, good looking bloke full of book smarts. Teddy was no idiot—he'd been Head Boy, hadn't he—but it was more hard work than natural brilliance. If Victoire was looking for genius, she wouldn't find it in him.

"Going to Hogsmeade on a date is just so boring, isn't it?" Victoire continued.

Teddy perked up. That hadn't been Teddy's experience, but if Vic thought so then he was in full support. Whatever meant that she wasn't going off to kiss some berk who wasn't good enough for her.

"How so?" Teddy asked.

"I've never had a date who has more than five words to say to me, then he wants a snog. I'd much rather go with my friends than have to fend off another set of pawing hands."

"Who was pawing you?" Teddy demanded. He stopped, chest puffed out.

Vic looked at him, her face cast in shadows now that they were away from the bonfire. "Relax, Teddy, I know how to deal with an impertinent beau."

"I reckon," he grumbled, her words offering him no relief. There was a beast inside of him that wanted to rip apart any boy who dared to lay an unwanted hand on Victoire. Honestly, he kind of wanted to rough up the ones who made wanted advances, too.

Vic pulled on his hand to get him walking again, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "So what about you?"

"Um, I've not been seeing anyone, the Aurors keep me busy." That was a pathetic excuse. Sure, Auror training was intense, but plenty of the other trainees managed to have love lives. Teddy was taking the easy way out, and that sat cockeyed in his stomach. "Actually, there's been somebody special, but I don't know if she feels the same way about me."

They stopped by the garden gate. Teddy's heart was racing inside of chest, and his palms were starting to sweat. He wanted to pull his hand away from Victoire's so that she wouldn't be disgusted by his dampness, but he didn't. What if this was the last time he had the chance to hold Vic's hand? In the six months since Teddy realized he loved Victoire, he'd played this scene out in his head a million times. He'd composed his speech so many times, always ending with some variation of Teddy begging Victoire to remain friends no matter what. Now that the moment was at hand, it would seem that Teddy's words had dried up.

Victoire pushed her braid off her shoulder. "Oh? She-she'd be mental not to be madly in love with you, Teddy."

She tipped her face up so that she could look at him—putting her at the perfect angle to be kissed. All Teddy had to do was bend down slightly, close his eyes, and press his lips to hers. Should he confess first, kiss second? That seemed like the chivalrous thing to do, but he was no Gryffindor. He was, however, a Hufflepuff through and through, and Hufflepuffs believed in fair play. Victoire deserved the opportunity to tell him to 'bugger off' before foisting kisses on her.

"Well, she is a bit mental," Teddy said, his eyes were trained on the small mole by her left eyebrow. He reached out to trace his finger along her hairline. "But she's the sanest person in her family, so maybe she comes by it naturally."

Victoire clutched his t-shirt. "Does she have a name?"

"Eh, it's this silly French name that nobody can pronounce."

"Teddy." Victoire sounded annoyed. He flicked his gaze from her brow to her eyes. There was no way to tell their color in the dark, but they were blue, like the delphiniums that grew in his gran's garden. There was also no way to discern the emotion in them, but he could tell that her eyebrows had formed a deep V over her elegant nose, and her dainty mouth was pulled into a pout. Teddy imagined the evil glimmer in Vic's eyes, the one she got whenever Teddy nettled her, and he grinned.

"I love you, Victoire Wealsey," he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, it's about time," she replied tartly.

"If-if you don't feel the same way—wait, what?"

"I have loved you my whole life, Edward Lupin, and you've made me wait more than seventeen years for you to realize the same thing." She crossed her arms, one hip cocked out. "Dom says it's because your daft, and I'm inclined to agree."

Teddy stood, mouth agape. The last sixty seconds of his life replayed in his head: he'd confessed his love, and so did Victoire? She'd also called him daft, but maybe he should set that aside for now. Victoire loved him, Teddy?

"So. So, are you…in love with me?" Teddy asked, pointing first at Victoire, then himself.

"Yes!"

"Somehow, I imagined this moment going differently."

Victoire giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, Teddy, you can't have imagined it as many times as I have."

Some part of Teddy knew what she said was true. Falling in love with Victoire was frightening, but the idea of her rejecting his love was terrifying. Yet, some part of him had always known that would never happen. Small moments from their life together stuck in his mind, the kind that should have been long forgotten as insignificant, yet seemed to meld with Teddy's very essence. The way Victoire looked at him when he rescued a kitten from a tree. The way tears glimmered in her eyes when he told her she was a pest and to get lost. How she hugged him the day he left for Hogwarts for the first time.

Teddy looked at Victoire, taking both of her hands in his. "I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," Victoire whispered back.

"What do we do now?"

"I think you kiss me."

When Teddy imagined this moment, it often ended with Victoire stomping away in a huff. But there were other times, when he was feeling hopeful, when it ended with a kiss. His heart sped up again, not with fear, but with the quick tattoo of anticipation. Tingling heat flooded Teddy's body as he pulled Victoire into his arms. He only had a moment to register the rush of lust in holding her against him in a non-platonic manner. Guiltily, he acknowledged that this had felt good long before he understood why.

Then Teddy was kissing Victoire, and all other thoughts fled from his mind. This was where he was meant to be.