Victoire's POV

Let me get this straight: Teddy Remus Lupin was a git. A stupid, annoying, bloody git. But, dammit, he was a git that I missed more than I would've liked to admit.

Sure, I was used to him making mistakes, but at least he had always tried to talk to me about it. This time I wasn't even sure what I had done wrong.

*Flashback*

I had practically skipped down the corridors as I led Teddy to the Christmas feast that Teenah and I had prepared. When we finally got there, I swung the door open and threw out my hands dramatically, as if to say "Tada!". Inside the room was a table set for two that was covered with food, probably enough to feed all of Gryffindor. Candles were scattered randomly around, giving the room a golden glow.

"I figured since we can't have Christmas dinner at the burrow, why not have it here, like our own little family!" I explained as we walked in.

"Ted?" I asked when I noticed that Ted had stopped walking. "You okay?"

He stared off to the distance, muttering to himself. My heart swelled, He's at a loss for words! He must love it!

"Um, I've got to go," Ted stuttered out. Then he practically sprinted from the room and down the hall.

*End Flashback*

Thinking back, I guess I could see why he might get a little freaked out. The dinner was sort of romantic looking. But still, Ted knew that I'd never do something like that. Besides, we had been practically siblings for 15 years. If that had been why he was uncomfortable, he normally would have told me, or at least cracked a joke about it. But nope, he didn't. He just left me there to clean up a feast that had taken me all day to prepare. I hadn't talked to him since.

The few days leading up to New Year's were uneventful. Most of the students returned to Hogwarts, and the professors started preparing for lessons to resume on the first of the New Year. Dominique and Louis were back too, and had come to check on me almost as soon as they stepped off the train. I had assured them that I was fine. Mentally, I thought that I was. I hadn't suffered from a night terror for a whole week.

When New Year's Eve rolled around, Julianne convinced me to go to the annual Gryffindor party in the common room. It was for 5th-7th years only, so I was actually pretty excited to see what it would be like, although I tried to hide it.

I wore a simple dark green dress with cute pockets on the sides, along with brown tights and boots. Julianne insisted that we get there "fashionable late", so we spent the better part of our evening camped up in the dorm. Finally I escaped and rushed the stairs, almost colliding with an obviously wasted 5th year boy in the process.

"Heyy Vic, howz yew doin?" He slurred.

I laughed and gave him a light shove in the other direction. Searching the room for someone I knew, I ended up hanging out with a few girls from Hufflepuff that were in my transfiguration class.

"Did you hear about Landon?" One girl, I think her name was Emma, asked me.

My pulse raced in fear, but I tried to mask it by taking a big sip of my Butterbeer. "What about him?"

"Apparently," Emma leaned in dramatically, gesturing for us to do the same, "He's got some grudge against one of the 7th year Gryffindor boys, and he's planning to get revenge tonight."

I almost spat out my drink when I heard this. Teddy. "Would you excuse me?" I quickly left before they could respond. I weaved through the crowd looking for a place to sit, when a cold hand wrapped around my arm.

"Hello," Landon said, staring at me with his nostrils flared and his head slightly cocked to one side. "I do believe you owe me one."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I struggled to free myself form his grip, "Get away from me."

"10!" the crowd cheered as the countdown began.

"I'm here to collect," He whispered in my ear.

"9!"

I started to lean down to fetch my wand from where it was tucked into my boot, but before I could, I noticed Landon's pointed right at me.

"8!"

"Don't even think about it," he sneered, as he grabbed both my hands and held them behind my back.

"Ted!" I yelled, but my voice was drowned out by the crowd exclaiming, "7!"

Landon dragged me to the outskirts of the room, pushed me into a corner and pressed his body against mine uncomfortably.

"6!"

"When that clock hits twelve, you're going to give me what you denied me all those months ago."

"5!"

"Or what?" I squeaked.

"4!"

"Or I'll make you." His free hand grabbed my thigh and slid my skirt higher up my hips.

"3!"

"TED!" I screamed with everything in me.

"2!"

"CONFRINGO!" I heard Teddy's booming voice yell as Landon pressed his lips to mine.

Suddenly he pulled away, screaming. Heat exploded around me, and I realized with horror that Landon was on fire. His flames reached my dress and began to crawl up my side.

I started to scream, but was interrupted by cool water splashing me, distinguishing the fires. Teddy rushed towards me from where he stood in the crowd, most of whom are either too drunk to notice or kissing someone for the New Year.

He grabbed me around me waist and practically carried me up to his dorm, but not before he had given Landon a kick in the gut from where he lay in an ashy wet pile on the floor.

"Are you ok?" Ted asked me once we got to his room. He didn't look at me; he just stood looking out his window. When I didn't answer he whipped around to face me. I just looked up at him with wide eyes, rubbing my sore wrists nervously.

Suddenly he rushed over, grabbed my arms and shook me roughly. "Talk to me Vic," He asked through clenched teeth. I'm fine, I wanted to tell him, but his harsh attitude had frozen me in place.

"DID HE HURT YOU?" He shouted in my face. He had obviously been drinking; I could smell the fire whiskey on his breath.

"No . . . no I'm okay," I finally managed to stutter. He didn't look very convinced. He looked me over and touched my face, searching for injuries. Once he was convinced that I was unharmed, he turned away and looked back out the window.

Still baffled by Ted's behavior, I slowly walked up and stood next to him. "Thank you." He just looked me hard in the eyes and, for a long moment, neither of us could turn away.

He came over and wrapped me up in his long arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. I didn't say anything. Too be honest I wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, yelling at me or avoiding me the past few days? He pulled back and held me at arms length.

"I shouldn't have run off on Christmas," he started, "you were being thoughtful and I made a mess of it. I screwed up, I know."

Still I held my tongue. There was something he wasn't telling me. He wouldn't be this worked up over the Christmas dinner thing, would he?

He put one of his hands on my neck and brushed my cheek with his thumb. I wanted to lean into his palm, kiss it like I had done all those nights before. Uncertainty held me back. I was uncertain of his feelings, and, if I was g honest with myself, I was uncertain of my own feelings, too.

I waited patiently for him to continue. His mouth opened and closed a few times but no words came out. For a while he just held my face, watching his thumbs move across my cheek.

"I . . . care so much about you," He finally said, searching my eyes. "Honestly, I've never felt this way about someone before . . . " The way he said it made it sound like a BUT was coming. Ted winced, as if he hadn't meant to phrase it that way. "I meant that I feel protective over you more than anyone else. Like a little sister!" He winced again and looked away, trying to regain his thoughts.

Ouch. I didn't want him to think of me as his sister. That bothered me for some reason. Not that I wanted for him to think of me as a girlfriend or anything, that'd never happen. But being called his sister only reminded me of our age difference. It didn't make me feel like the valued best friend he was to me. However, Ted obviously had no problem categorizing me as just another one of his cousins that he was obligated to take care of.

As if his words had stung me, I drew back from his grasp. "It's okay, Teddy. I get it," I looked down at my hands. "I didn't mean to make you think I was suggesting that you were anything more than a brother to me. The dinner thing was a mistake. Lets just forget the whole thing happened. You can go back to hanging out with girls your own age, I didn't meant to get in the way."

"Wait, Vic, I di-" He started, reaching for me. But I was already halfway out the door.

"Goodnight," I mustered up a smile as I headed towards my room.

XxXxX

Ted's POV

I, Teddy Remus Lupin, was a git. I do stupid things; I messed up the best parts of my life.

Whack.

Bloody big mouth over here just had to say "little sister!", I scolded myself.

Whack!

Might as well start digging my grave now, it's not like I will have anyone to do it for me when I die.

Whack.

Maybe I can use this bedpost as my gravestone.

Whack.

Just then, Frank Longbottom sauntered in and stared at me in drunken confusion.

"I think that house elf friend of yours is a bad influence."

I pulled my forehead away from where I had been smacking it against the post of my bed. Now I understood why the house elves liked to inflict painful punishments upon themselves. Who better to discipline me than me?

I smiled sarcastically at him and snapped, "Go to bed, short ass." He collapsed on his bed, falling asleep and leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.

Why couldn't I just tell Vic the truth? I almost did, when she thanked me for defending her, but something held me back. She looked broken and confused; I couldn't bear to push her down even further. For the past 6 hours I had been mentally digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole of panic until I wasn't sure that I would ever see hope again.

The gravity of Snape's words from earlier than day still weighed heavy on my chest.

6 Hours Earlier:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lupin," Professor Snape said as I walked into his office.

"Professor," I nodded in acknowledgement. He gestured towards the chair in front of his desk, and I took a seat. "Have you found anything?" I got right to the point. Snape never did seem like the small talk type.

"Yes, but I'm not sure you will want to hear it."

My heart sank, but I had to know, "Please, don't leave anything out. I need to know it all."

"Very well." He sighed, "Unfortunately, I am still uncertain as to what has caused Ms. Weasley's condition, but I have learned a lot about its effects to her body. It seems that her limbic system has been infiltrated by a dark curse known as somnium alterum. This kind of magic uses dreams to pull back memories from dead martyrs. It has only been used by a handful of witches and wizards, one of those being Bellatrix Lestrange. I am not yet certain, but my guess would be that during the Battle at Hogwarts, Bellatrix cursed the Weasley's family line so that the next child to be born would carry this fateful magic. I doubt the witch herself even understood what kind of spell she had cast. Because of the massacre that occurred exactly a year before Victoire's birthday, her dreams are especially vivid and real. The deaths that she experiences are all memories of the dead men and woman who died that day."

"So it was Bellatrix Lestrange who cursed Victoire?" I asked.

"Most likely, yes."

"How can we cure her?"

Professor Snape sighed. "That's where it get's tricky. You see, in order to reverse the curse, we would need the wand and blood of the witch who cast it. This is obviously impossible, for you know as well as I that Ms. Lestrange was killed by Molly Weasley that night."

I threw my hands up in exasperation, "So then how CAN we cure Victoire?"

"Patience, Mr. Lupin," the professor hissed. "I was just getting to that. During my research, I came across the diary of a young man who was also cursed with somnium alterum. His name was Tobias Alphard. According to his entries, the curse only gets worse with time. He spent almost 4 years searching for a cure. His research is actually quite interesting, although none of his methods seemed to work."

"So what happened to him?" I asked.

"He died on his 26th birthday."

My heart skipped. Could anyone live through this curse?

"How did he die?" I asked.

Snape waited a few moments before responding carefully, "Tobias was believed to have died in his sleep."

The realization hat Vic could die in her sleep at any moment scared the shit out of me. I think that Professor Snape could tell, because he actually stood up and walked over to place his hand on my shoulder. As creepy as that was coming from him, it was actually comforting. At least he was helping Victoire in any way that he could. I knew I wasn't the only one working to save her.

"She is fragile, Mr. Lupin. She may seem strong and filled with the Weasley woman spirit, but do not let that deceive you. Her condition is worse than Tobias Alphard's was. He was not a victim until he was 19, and his birthday didn't fall on the anniversary of a wizard massacre. Anything that happens to her will be unexpected." I understood what he was saying. Vic could collapse in a bloody heap and we would not have any inkling as to what caused it.

"Keep watch over her," the graying professor said, as if he was bestowing upon me a great responsibility.

He was. I could feel its weight with every heavy step I took back to the Gryffindor tower.

6 Hours later:

Drinking had seemed like a good way to drown my sorrows at the time, but as soon as I took the first sip of fire whiskey at the New Year's party, I knew it would only make me feel worse.

Maybe that why I was so angry with Vic after I had burned Landon down. I had hoped she would know better than to even come to the party. But there she had been, looking beautiful in the green dress that she had begged me to buy for her birthday last year.

When she had screamed my name as the countdown ended, I thought my heart would leap right out of my chest. Suddenly imagining my life without her was not a life I was willing to accept. The reality that she could've died on that very spot caused something to click inside my head.

I would protect Victoire Weasley with my life.

I would find a way to cure her.