Nineteen Years Later, Part V: Granger Stubborn
Title: Nineteen Years Later, Part V: Granger Stubborn
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Deathly Hallows; Previous Chapters ( timeline)
Characters: Teddy, Victoire, James, Hermione Weasley
Rating: PG-13 for language and mild content
Summary: So what about Teddy and Victoire?
Notes: And we’re now reaching the end. This chapter and the epilogue are being posted at the same time so no one has to worry about a delay that I really doesn’t serve the story well.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Three Departures / Previous Chapters / After the Flaw Finale
Teddy Lupin had been thinking about Victoire Weasley a lot that day.
It had started out simple enough. Get to Shell Cottage. Help her finish her packing. Help her take a sweep of the house, which would be harder and easier without Bill, Fleur, or Matilda blocking their progress. Or helping them search unknown areas of the house, areas that only a mother would know. Areas where an extra sock, a set of scales, or a copy of Fantastic Beasts would be hiding.
And then Grandmum Tonks let slip that one little idea…
Ever since then, it was like some huge battle was waging inside Teddy’s head. Legions of troops clashing with conflicting thoughts, like some gigantic debate club meeting, only the debate club allowed swords and retorts and catapults and the occasional hormonally-charged image and giant transforming robot.
Peter Jackson would make a fortune.
Gran’s right, you know, one side would say. You should try to move on.
But I don’t want to move on! the other side would reply.
It’s not like she gave you much of a choice in the matter. And why not Victoire?
Because she’s not…
Because she’s not Hermione? You’re going to live a long lonely life if you hold your breath for one person. You’ll be turning blue from the lack of oxygen as she’ s strolling down the aisle with some other bloke.
I’m not holding my breath…
Victoire’s single. She’s one of your closest friends.
Yeah, because she’s like my cousin…
But she’s not your cousin. Never has been. No blood, remember? And she’s really cute…
Not as cute as…
Just as cute, the swarms of Victoire backers cried. Don’t lie. It’s not like you’ve never thought about what it would be like to kiss her.
Well…
Eh? There you go…
No! It’s stupid! It’s not… I mean…
For the love of God, there’s a reason she broke up with you! Move on, see other people! And who better to move on with than Vic!
The thoughts waged a fierce battle as Teddy wandered around Victoire’s bedroom, barely looking at her as they spoke of simple banalities like work, school, friends. Jerking his hand back from a misplaced pair of her knickers like it was a hot skillet, and then that hormone monster wondering if the knickers she was currently wearing were that… frilly…
The armies of Hermione Caroline Granger and Victoire Weasley fought valiantly as Teddy and Victoire took the Floo to a station near King’s Cross. Things seemed to be at a stalemate as they crossed onto Platform 9 ¾ and found Christine Hogan, Sam Welts, and Sarah Harvey. Teddy was so engrossed in his internal battle that he didn’t even notice the encouraging glance Christine gave Victoire as she and Sam boarded the train, hand-in hand. Nor did he notice the whisper in Victoire's ear by Sarah as she followed the couple close behind, leaving Teddy and Victoire alone in front of the first carriage of the Hogwarts Express.
The thoughts about Victoire Weasley had been plaguing him for hours. Which is why, when he was suddenly tasting her cherry flavored lip balm instead of receiving a sisterly hug goodbye, his first reaction was to finally return the favor.
The Weasley armies howled in victory, standing triumphant over the valiant troops from the Land of Granger.
“What the fuck?”
Teddy pulled away from Victoire, their lips separating with a tiny pop. They turned, wide-eyed, towards the source of the vulgarity, a short redheaded boy whose mouth was about an inch from touching the stone floor.
“James,” Teddy said, hearing his voice crack. “Hey.”
“Wha?” James Potter stuttered, his pointing finger moving helplessly between the two as if he were trying to draw some invisible line. “What… what… are… what…?”
“I’m just…” Teddy took a look back at Victoire, who was smiling despite herself. “Look, James, I’m just seeing her off.”
“With your tongue?”
“James, if you could give us a few minutes…”
“Why?” James blurted out. “So you can suck my cousin’s face some more?”
“James…”
“That’s…” James looked at the two of them in shock. “God, Teddy, that’s just…”
“James, will you just sod off already?”
James looked like he wanted to argue his point more vehemently. But the anger on Teddy’s face was a look seen so rarely that James instead turned and ran full tilt down to the other end of the train.
“Well,” Victoire sighed, her hands still on his shoulders. “We’re about thirty seconds away from going public, aren’t we?”
“I… I don’t know…” as Teddy looked back at Victoire, into her large brown eyes, reality crashed back down on him. He involuntarily took a step back, and Victoire’s arms dropped to her sides. “I don’t… What just happened there?”
Victoire took a deep, steadying breath. “I think what just happened,” she said slowly, “was that I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for years now.”
“Something… something for years?” Teddy said, leaning against a lamppost for support.
“About that,” Victoire said with a shrug. “Year and a half? Two years? Ever since I cast my Patronus and found out I was thinking of you and not Nate.”
“Oh,” Teddy said quietly. Victoire seemed to recognize his discomfort, and was avoiding his gaze, staring instead at the engine of the Hogwarts Express, the only other thing they could see though the mist. “So, um,” he stammered, knowing he needed to say something. “How was it?”
“It was okay,” she said with a small nod. “Could have been better.”
“Sorry,” said Teddy. “I guess… I guess I’m a little out of practice…”
“It’s just hard kissing someone who’s in love with someone else.”
Teddy nodded silently, but gave no other response. The two Gryffindors stood in silence. Part of Teddy wished that she would just get on the train so this awkwardness could end. Another part wished he could have another chance.
“I’m trying,” he said finally. “I’m… I love her. But I know…”
“Ted, you don’t have to explain,” Victoire said quietly. “It was stupid of me…”
“No, it wasn’t,” Ted replied, standing up. “Look, Vic… I… I do care about you.”
“Care’s a rough word,” Victoire said, and Teddy was stricken to hear a crack of sadness in her voice. “Care’s what you say about someone when there’s not enough there for more.”
“But I don’t mean it that way,” Teddy said. “Vic… I know I should be trying to move on. I know I should be trying to meet other women, try to see if I can find love somewhere else. And, quite honestly, whenever I think about moving on, you’re the one at the top of my list.”
“Waiting for the great big but,” Victoire replied.
“But… but not yet,” said Teddy. “I’m still not over her. And I intend to see this shit between me and Hermione through to the bitter end. Until she tells me she’s found someone else, or until I wake up someday and realize I love someone more than I love her…”
“That’s not going to happen until you start looking,” said Victoire sadly.
“That’s not true,” said Teddy, stepping forward. “You said it yourself, that night in the common room. One day they’re there, and one day they’re there.”
“You know I was talking about you and me when I said that, right?” Victoire sighed, leaning against the train.
“All I’m saying is that it might happen to me someday,” Teddy explained. “And when it happens, it might happen with you. But it hasn’t happened yet. I’m not ready to let her go.”
“So I suppose I just have to wait?” Victoire said in barely a whisper.
“No,” Teddy insisted. “No, for the love of God, please don’t wait. Live your life. Don’t make the same mistake that I’m making right now, please. If you find someone else, no one will be happier for you than I will.”
“And…” Victoire said in words that looked like they were paining her. “If… if you end up back with HC… Damn it, I’ll love you for it. I said it that night, and I still mean it. It’ll hurt a lot more, but I still mean it. If I can't have you, then I want you to have her.”
“Thanks,” Teddy said with a shy smile. “But… if things play out, and… I mean, if I suddenly wake up one day with her gone, or if I wake up one day with you more there than she is…”
“We’ll talk about that if it ever happens,” said Victoire.
“Just know that you’d make a hell of a girlfriend,” Teddy said. “I really wish I could say something more than that, something that would make all of this easier for you.”
“You can’t,” said Victoire with a shake of her head as she pushed herself back upright. “I’ll just have to be content with ‘If not for Hermione…’”
“Vic, I mean it,” Teddy said, stepping forward and taking her gently by the shoulders. “You’d make one hell of a girlfriend. Most of my friends would say I’d be mad to turn you down. Hell, part of me is saying I’m mad for turning you down.”
“Time will tell,” Victoire said. “If the time comes, and we’re both single…”
“Then we’ll take it from there,” Teddy shrugged. “That’s all I can really promise.”
Victoire nodded. “I’ll go with that.”
“Good,” said Teddy as the whistle blew for the Hogwarts Express.
“I’d… I’d better go,” said Victoire.
“Yeah…” Teddy said.
And Victoire gave him a great hug. And he hugged her back. And they pulled apart and looked at each other.
“If it helps,” he said in parting. “It was a great kiss.”
Victoire chuckled wetly. “Thank you,” she said with a grin.
And he kissed her on the forehead. And, because he felt like they both needed it, he kissed her on the lips. Just once. Chaste. Lips closed. Just because it felt like the right thing to do.
And from the smile on Victoire’s lips and a whispered “thank you,” Teddy knew that a parting, goodbye kiss was what they both needed despite the last few minutes of awkwardness. She squeezed his hand quickly, comfortingly, and ran up the steps and onto the Hogwarts Express as it began to pull from the station.
Carriage after carriage rolled past him. Smiling children leaned out of the windows, waving to their parents and to anyone who was watching. Three more passed, and he saw Victoire emerge beside Chelsea Lemming, and the two of them waved to him as they passed. His eyes scanned down the row, counting how many were left, and he saw another woman standing not fifteen feet away, waving to the last carriage, where James and Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, and Kayla Macmillan were waving furiously at them both. He raised his hand slowly to the children as they passed.
At last the Hogwarts Express had departed on its journey to Hogsmeade. The sound echoed into the distance through the archway out of King’s Cross, and the woman turned to Teddy for the first time.
“Hello, Teddy.”
“Hi, Aunt Jean,” Teddy said nervously. How long had she been standing there?
“So,” Hermione Jean Weasley said, leaning against a lamppost. “You and Victoire?”
“I don’t know,” Teddy said, dropping his gaze. “Maybe.”
“It looked like it,” she replied conversationally.
“How long… how much did you see?”
“I saw enough,” said Hermione Caroline Granger’s older sister. “James lovingly filled in the rest.”
Teddy flinched. Going public. “I don’t see what the big deal is,” he said. “I mean, I’m free to see whoever I want, right?”
“You are,” Jean replied.
“So if Victoire decided to kiss me, or I decided to kiss her…”
“Then there’s nothing wrong with it,” she said. “You’re free to snog whoever you want, to date whoever you want.”
“And so why are you here?” asked Teddy, as sharply and shortly as possible. The look in Jean’s eyes… As much as he tried to stand up for himself against her (after all, her sister was the one who made these rules), the look she was giving him made him want to sink into the ground and be alone for a long time.
“I’m here because we need to talk,” said Jean.
Teddy was taken aback by the sincerity of her tone. Aunt Jean had been in his life for as long as he could remember. She had been at every Christmas, every birthday. But for all of the times Teddy had sat down with Harry or with Ron or with any of the other Weasleys and had a real talk… Well, he couldn’t remember the last time that he had ever spoken to Aunt Jean alone. Maybe never.
“What about?” he asked warily.
“Do you want to sit down?” she asked, motioning to a nearby bench. The platform was emptying quickly as all of the families of the departing students were making their way back home, and the end on which they stood was becoming a ghost town.
“Yeah,” he said. “Sure.” And the two of them walked to the bench. As they made their way over, Teddy saw a middle-aged couple pass. The woman looked like she was trying to engage in a serious discussion with the man. The man, short and bearded, glanced over at Teddy and Aunt Jean with what Teddy sensed as recognition before returning to the conversation with his wife.
By the time Teddy sat down, the couple was gone, and there was no one left on this end but one Weasley and one Lupin. The last Lupin.
Aunt Jean sat down beside him, and sat in silence. Teddy wanted to just tell her to get on with it, with whatever lecture she was going to give him about fooling around with her niece, doing her sister wrong, whatever. But the struggle he could see going on inside her head, even as she stared at the now-empty tracks, let him realize that she would talk in her own time.
“Seven years,” she said at last.
“Seven… Seven years?” Teddy replied. “What about…?”
“Seven years I knew Ron,” said Jean. “Seven years of fighting, of snipping, of tearing at each other’s throats. There were times when we would go for weeks… months without speaking to one another. At times it got so bad that… When we were searching for the horcruxes we even…”
Jean trailed off.
“Aunt Jean?”
“Forget it,” Jean replied. “It’s really not important. What I’m trying to say is, for seven years we fought, seven years we would go between hating each other and being best friends. And through all of those years, the good times and the bad, there wasn’t a moment that I didn’t love him.”
Jean sighed, and closed her eyes. “There’s this… Lord, it’s almost hereditary,” she said with a shake of her head. “We Grangers have a stubborn streak in us. My Granddad and Grandmum would have extraordinary rows sometimes over the most trivial things. My Mum and Dad I guess were the same way when they were courting. And my Dad waited… God, he waited three years before he proposed to her. Carried the ring around with him every day for three years, just waiting for the perfect moment. To him, it wouldn’t do to just propose at any old time. He needed it to be just right. He was stubborn that way, and it kept him awake at night, wondering if the perfect moment would ever come.”
Teddy chuckled. “Dan?” he said. “Easy-going Dan Granger was kept awake because he didn’t want to just marry his wife?”
“He’s stubborn,” said Jean with a shrug. “They both are. Why do you think I have a sister with the same name? Because they both insist that Hermione is her name. It was the name they gave to her when she was born. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know that I existed and it didn’t matter that they didn’t know that Dan and Charlotte Granger existed. Hermione was her name, and Hermione it would stay, no matter how many confusing conversations would arise over the coming decades.”
Teddy smiled. How many times, how many Christmases and birthdays, had he called out Hermione Caroline’s name, only to have Aunt Jean come running? “I’m surprised she didn’t stay a Wilkins,” he said.
“Oh, and don’t think that they didn’t have that conversation, either,” said Jean, patting Teddy’s leg.
“You’re joking…”
“Before we even left Australia it started,” Jean said reluctantly. “In the end Kingsley, Ron, and I were able to talk them into at least changing her name to Granger. The Wilkinses were going to disappear, after all. We couldn’t leave any loose threads, couldn’t have one of their neighbors from Tottenham find a Hermione Wilkins in a London phone book twenty years later and get suspicious.”
“Right, because Hermione’s such a common name…”
“I said they should name her Judy,” said Jean. “But, what can I say? Stubborn.”
“Judy?”
“What?” Jean asked innocently. “Judy Dench is my favorite actress. I’m allowed to get away from familial connections occasionally, aren’t I?”
“Did the others have ideas?” Teddy asked, smirking. “Kingsley and Ron? I love the whole alternate reality idea of this conversation.”
“Kingsley wanted to name her Emma for some reason,” said Jean. “And Ron wanted to name her after one of the witches from Fountain of Fair Fortune.”
Teddy’s heart skipped a beat as he thought back to that one night…
“Probably better than Babbity Rabbity,” he said, his throat suddenly dry, trying to force the thought of Hermione hanging over him, hair framing her face, body...
“The point,” Jean continued, bringing Teddy back, “is that we have this way about us. This stubborn streak where we want things to be absolutely perfect, or want things to stay just as they are if they’re already perfect. And we also have this nasty habit of falling for people who are just as stubborn.
“The first time I knew I was in love with Ron was when he sacrificed himself for Harry and I on the chessboard in our first year. And he’s told me he loved me for at least as long as that. Maybe longer. Even after he left Harry and I, and after he came back, we still weren’t able to admit it to each other.”
“After he left you?” Teddy asked. “What are you talking about?”
Jean looked up, realizing that she may have said too much. “It…” she looked around to make sure no one was listening. “You’re old enough now. And I don’t think he’ll be upset if I tell you.”
“What?”
“He left us,” Jean said. “When we were hunting for the horcruxes, Ron was… Well, the three of us had problems. It’s a part of the journey we don’t talk about. But it built for a while. And we had a row. And Ron walked out on us.”
“He did?” Teddy had read all of the history books about Harry, Ron, and Jean. Had heard them all talk about their adventures since he was young enough to sit on their knee. But he had never heard this…
“It’s not something he’s proud of,” Jean said. “And that’s why you didn’t know. But he came back, on the night he destroyed the locket. And I was so happy to see him, and I knew that he was happy to see me. But I was still too stubborn. Still wouldn’t admit my feelings to him. Instead of telling him right there and then, I got angry and we had another row. It took seven years, a big bloody war, and imminent death before we were finally able to break through all of the shit.”
“Why did it take so long?” asked Teddy. “I mean, if you loved him...”
“Stubborn,” she said. “I wanted him to be just a little better. Or I wanted to love him just a little more. Or, I don’t know, I wanted to know for sure, for one hundred percent sure, that he would love me back. So I was stubborn, and I waited for him to make the first move, while he was waiting for me to do the same.”
“But eventually…”
“Yes, eventually,” Jean said with a shrug. “I only wish that eventually was a lot sooner. But we were both that way. All it would have taken was for Harry or Ginny or Neville or anyone to just come right out and say ‘Look, you stubborn bastards are made for each other, and you should stop fucking around and be in love already.’ And Ron and I could have done the same for Harry and Ginny. Sometimes love is so complicated that you just need someone else to step in and say ‘Enough already!’”
Teddy shook his head. “Right, because that worked so well for me and Herm… for Caroline.”
“You can call her Hermione, you know,” Jean admitted. “That is her name.”
“Two and a half years of Hogwarts we were best friends,” said Teddy, “and my friends kept saying ‘She your girlfriend? She your girlfriend? She should be your girlfriend.’ It never clicked.”
“Sure it did,” said Jean. “You eventually asked her out, so I’d think that they said enough to push you to where you needed to go. We can’t do it alone all of the time. Sometimes we need others to point out the obvious. Why do you think I came all the way over here when I could have been standing beside my husband and son waving to my daughter?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Teddy.
“I’m talking about bucking tradition,” said Jean. “I lived seven years in agony over Ron, and I don’t want to see it happen to you. Do you still love Hermione?”
“I…” Teddy stumbled, trying to think of a clear answer. “It’s kind of a tough question.”
“Actually, it’s not,” said Jean, turning to him. “Forget about everything that’s happening between you two right now. Forget about the rules, forget about the promises, forget about the forced separation. Yes or no?”
The way Aunt Jean put it, there really wasn’t any question…
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I still do love her.”
“That’s good,” said Jean, patting his hand.
“Not really,” said Teddy. “It’s… Well, yeah, I still love her. But, unfortunately, I can’t forget the rules, and the promises, and the separation and all of that.”
Jean sighed. “Teddy,” she said, taking his hand. “I don’t really… I not really as close to my sister as much as I wanted to be when I first found her in Australia. It’s hard to start any sort of rapport when you’re separated by almost twenty years and only see each other on holidays and the occasional family dinner. But the last year or year and a half, between emails, short times I’ve been with her, and everything I’ve heard from my parents, I think I can safely say that she’s still crazy about you.”
“Really?” Teddy said, straightening up.
“Really,” said Jean with a smile. “I think she made it about two months at Bristol before she realized that she couldn’t stand not being with you.”
“But… but why didn’t she tell me that?” asked Teddy. “If she’s…”
“Why do you think I just spent so much time talking to you about Granger Stubborn?” Jean asked. “Hermione had this idea. She still thinks it’s a good idea. It’s making her absolutely miserable, but she still intends to see it through to the end. She’s been on many horrible dates, and is hoping that you go on many horrible dates of your own. She’s so stubborn about making sure you two are perfect for each other that she’s ignoring the fact that you already are perfect for each other.”
“So what good does that do me?” asked Teddy. “If she’s so intent on seeing this through to the end…”
“Only until someone steps in,” said Jean. “And since you two haven’t been able to share friends like Ron and I shared Harry, it comes down to me: her sister and your… whatever I am.”
Teddy smiled. “You’re my family, Aunt Jean,” he said. “You all are.”
Jean cracked a small grin, and put her hand on the back of his neck. “You’re a special kid, Teddy,” she said quietly. “I know Ron and I probably don’t say it enough, since you’re more of the Potters than you are ours, but… We loved your parents, and we love you just as much. Always have. There’s a reason I’m putting so much effort into my sister’s love life, and it’s because you’re worth it. Both of you.”
“Thanks,” said Teddy. “I appreciate the effort, really.”
“Good,” said Hermione Jean Weasley with a nod. “Well, I’ve done my part. I’ve intervened. I’ve told you what you needed to hear.
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Three Departures / Previous Chapters / After the Flaw Finale