On September 1st of every year for 7 years of my life, I left home to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; and every year, on that September morning, I overslept and ended up tossing anything and everything in sight into my trunk.

My 7th year was no exception.

"Teddy Remus, you better be up and ready!" My godmother, Ginny Potter called from down the stairs. I leapt out of bed and quickly shoved all of my belongings into the big wooden trunk on the floor. It had RJL engraved on the outside; It had been my father's when he was my age. Harry had given it to me the fist year I went to Hogwarts. The inside looked normal besides the pictures of my friends and family held on by stinking charms.

I smiled as I looked at a photo taken of me, Harry, and Ginny when I was nine. I was floating above their heads on a broomstick while Harry smiled and Ginny waved her hands, trying to get me to come down. My nine-year-old face sported a wide grin and bright blue hair. According to Harry, my mother used to wear that same color when she was feeling rebellious. I have always felt honored to inherit have inherited my metamorphosis abilities from my mom, the brave woman who died for me. I only wished she could've lived to see me wear her signature hair color.

"Boo!" a voice exclaimed from behind me. I jumped but tried to hide it.

My oldest god-brother, James Potter, sauntered up to me from the door, laughing hysterically. "You should have seen your face!"

"Yeah, yeah," I waved him off, but he continued to laugh. "Are you going to help me carry this thing down the stairs or what?"

Never one to pass up a chance to prove his strength, the ten-year-old boy lifted the other side of my trunk and helped my carry it down the stairs and into the living room.

The moment we set it down, James ran off to fly around on his broom and I cautiously peaked into the kitchen. Ginny had a tendency to get a bit stressed on days like today, when we were running late. Last year her irritation sent a butter knife magically soaring through the air and straight towards my head.

After quickly scanning the room for any floating knives, I stepped in. Ginny was busy making breakfast for us on the stove.

"Teddy," she started when she noticed me standing there, "We have to leave for the train in an hour, please tell me you are packed and ready to go. This is your last year, and if you forget something, it will be too much of a hassle to owl it to you."

"I'm all packed and ready." I responded dutifully.

"Also, don't forget that I've knitted you some sweaters, a cap, and gloves for when it gets cold, but if you need any more just borrow some from Victoire, I'm sure she has plenty, knowing her mother." Ginny continued to ramble on and on; going through the same packing lecture she gave me every year. I just smirked and waited until she quieted down.

"I'll be fine," I assured her. "I have been doing this for 6 years, you know."

She stopped cooking and turned to face me, "Has it been 6 years already?"

I nodded and kissed her on the cheek, stealing a piece of bacon from the counter as I pulled away.

"I saw that," She commented as I walked out.

XxXxX

I arrived at platform 9 3/4 at exactly noon, with my godparents and their three children, Lily, Albus, and James. Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, and their kids were there, too. Victoire, the oldest daughter and first cousin of the next generation of Weasleys, was going into her 5th year, while her siblings Dominique and Louis were headed into their 3rd and 2nd.

Vic and I had been unusually close ever since we were kids. She was the first playmate I had, so despite our two year age difference, we had been forced to play together at family gatherings for the past 15 years.

I saw her as a little sister, of sorts, but less annoying. I liked to think that I had taught her everything she knew. Like how to trick Fleur and Ginny into letting us have two sleepovers in a row, or all the secret passages hidden in the Potter's house, 12 Grimmauld Place. I had even taught her how to fly.

When Victoire came to Hogwarts during my third year, I was ecstatic. Since then, Victoire has been a major part of my life. We were practically inseparable for her first two years at school. It took my friends some getting used to, (after all, when you're thirteen and an eleven year old starts to hang around you, it's a big deal) but eventually they all came to love Vic and accept our friendship.

During my fifth and sixth year, I started to notice girls besides Vic weren't as 'icky' as I had previously believed. I even dated (or whatever it was for 13 year-olds), only to dump or be dumped because I "spent too much time with that Weasley girl". But it didn't bother me much. I was captain of my house's Quidditch team, making my godfather proud. I had no time for girlfriends anyways.

I felt a light tug at my robes and looked down to see little Lily Luna Potter, begging to be picked up. She was almost seven but still only weighed around forty pounds. I knew she would grow up to be beautiful like her mom someday, but she would always be a little baby to me.

"Hello there, love!" I said as I picked up Lily and started tickling her stomach. She giggled, then sighed and rested her head on my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my neck tightly. I smiled and kissed her head lightly.

"Found a new favorite, I see?" said a familiar voice from behind me.

"Let's face it, Vic. I've moved on!" I teased, turning around and winking at Victoire, setting Lily down so I could hug my best friend.

I was at least seven inches taller than her, so when I leaned down and gave her a huge bear hug I practically pulled her feet off the ground. Victoire laughed and hugged me back happily.

After lengthy good-byes to the whole family, Victoire, Dominique, Louis, and I boarded the Hogwarts express. Louis and Dominique found their friends and quickly forgot about their sister, leaving Victoire and I searching for a compartment.

As I peacefully walked down the hall of the train, and blur of pink clothes and brown hair attacked me. A pair of small hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me down so I was face to face with my assaulter.

The girl in front of me had curly brown hair and hazel brown eyes. Her lips where too large for her face and her eyebrows looked like they had been drawn on with a marker. All together it wasn't a good mix.

Suddenly my head was being pulled towards those overly glossy red lips. I quickly drew away and held the girl at arms length.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You- you don't remember me?" The girl stuttered.

Being the smooth and suave guy I am, my response sounded a little something like "Of course I do, how could I forget you, uh … um …"

I trailed off, realizing with horror that I had absolutely no idea who this girl was. Frantically I look to Vic for help, but she only shrugged and covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW MY NAME?" The girl wailed incredulously, "Its me, Florence Brown. We met at a Hufflepuff party last year right before school ended? How could you forget, we spent the whole evening together!"

I had no recollection of even going to that party, but I imagined that telling Florence that might make her even more angry, so I simply said, "um, sorry?"

Not my best idea.

Florence drew her wand and started angrily throwing hexes. I would have been toast if Victoire hadn't quickly yanked me into the nearest compartment and locked the door behind her.

I heard Florence let out a loud huff before stomping down the hall. I let out a deep breath and turned to thank Vic, but she was busy clutching her stomach, laughing so hard she looked like she might cry. I started to laugh too, and soon enough we had both lost it and were leaning against each other just to stay standing.

Once we finally settled down, Victoire had an epiphany. "Brown, I recognize that last name. That's Lavender Brown's daughter! Merlin, Uncle Ron dated Florence's mom when he was at Hogwarts! He once told me that she was the reason he finally realized that he loved Aunt Hermione."

I chuckled and asked, "Why's that?"

"Apparently Lavender made him realize how much he appreciated Hermione. Who would've thought that Florence's mom would be the reason Uncle Ron finally mustered up the courage to ask out Aunt Hermione?" We laughed at this, knowing how big of a step that had been for our uncle.

XxXxX

I was in the midst of unpacking my bags when one of my best mates, Frank Longbottom, rushed into the room looking breathless, and plopped down onto his bed. Frank and I had been good friends since we were babies, because our parents (well, my godparents and his parents) had been friends at school. Frank was almost twelve months younger than me, but we shared the same year nonetheless, since he was exceptionally smart. Not to mention his father worked at the school and would likely be headmaster once McGonagall retired.

"Oi! Good to see you too, Longbottom," I said.

"Lupin!" Frank sat up and looked at me excitedly. "Thank Merlin your here! No one else has come in yet and I was starting to worry that I'd be all alone this year. I was just looking for someone to talk to; I'm bored out of my bloody mind! Mom made me come a week early, said something about Wrackpurts invading the privy or something."

I smiled at Luna Longbottom's words coming out of her son's mouth, and reassured him. "Well I'm here now, so just let me know if any Wrackpurts show up. I'll protect you."

By the time I made it to the Great Hall, the first years had all been sorted and the feast had begun. McGonagall gave my friends and I a stern look as we tried to slip in without being noticed. I looked around for Vic but couldn't find her pale blond hair in the crowd. Finally, I spotted one of her friends, Julianne Thomas.

"Hey, Juli!" She walked over to me and I asked, "Where's Vic?"

She giggled and said, "Oh, she's just taking care of some business. She will be back later. Nothing you need to worry your pretty blue hair about."

I smirked at her superior attitude, "Um, okay. Thanks."

Just then, a cute 7th year in front of me started talking animatedly about her summer, and I quickly became distracted.

XxXxX

The first week of classes had been busier than ever. I was bombarded with homework, Florence was stalking me, I hadn't been able to catch the name of that cute Hufflepuff girl at the feast, and I had only passed Victoire a few times in the halls. 7th year wasn't looking like it would be as much fun as I had hoped.

I finally got to spend some much-needed time with Vic when I caught her sitting alone in the common room. I walked around the couch and sat down next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

"Vic, this is sad. What is it? You think I'm too cool for you?" I tugged on a piece of Victoire's hair as I said this, knowing it would irritate her. She swiped my hand away and looked at me with a huge smile on her face.

"Ted!" Victoire exclaimed and hugged me. "Okay, so I've had the BEST week! Well, besides not seeing you, anyway. There's this boy, and he asked me to go out with him! Can you believe it? My fifth year and I already have a boyfriend! He's so wonderful and he kissed me before the feast last week!" She looked up at me with wide, excited eyes.

Vic had a boyfriend? My mind could barely process this thought.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there. A boyfriend? But your, you eh ... I mean ... Erm ... your just a girl!" I sputtered.

"You were fourteen when you had your first girlfriend, and I am almost sixteen," she replied, still giddy. This was true. I couldn't deny that.

"You're a girl though!" I argued, "And boys at your age, well ... You shouldn't be spending so much time with boys of any age, Victoire!"

"Well, that is hardly fair. I spend almost all of my time with YOU, and you're 17 for Merlin's sake!" Damn, she's good. I struggled to think of a comeback.

"But we are best mates, Vic! You know I wouldn't hurt you. At least let me meet this kid and then I will let you know if you can date him or not. You can't just date him without my permission, much less snog him!"

As soon as these words flew out of my mouth, I regretted them. Victoire had quite the little Weasley temper, and she hated it when I tried to control her.

I could feel the tension in the air as I watched Victoire's anger build up inside. Suddenly, I felt the urge to run to the sanctuary of my room before she went crazy.

Surprisingly, she just sat there; until finally she let out a long breath that I hadn't noticed she was holding.

"Yes, Ted, I bloody well can date him without your permission. And I will." She smiled the fake smile that she knew I hated, calmly got up, and headed for the girl's dorms. Merlin's pants, I thought. I'm in deep this time.

I panicked and quickly tried to fix it, "Wha-? Uhh! Vic! Come on, Little One, you know I don't mean it like tha-"

But my plea was interrupted when Victoire suddenly turned on her heel and screamed from halfway up the stairs at me, "TEDDY REMUS LUPIN I AM NOT YOUR LITTLE ONE SO YOU CAN SHUT THE HELL UP! In case you hadn't noticed, I am old enough to have a boyfriend, and I am old enough to not need someone like YOU watching my every step, understand?" She snapped.

"Victoire, I-"

"Just stop Teddy. I thought I would have your support and excitement on this, but I guess I was wrong." She gave me a disappointed look that made me feel like a small boy who hadn't lived up to his mother's expectations.

As she walked the rest of the way up the staircase, I thought to myself, When did she stop being a girl and start being a young woman? I shook my head and waited by the stairs, hoping that she would come back down so that I could talk to her again.