Dream Interpretations (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 21)
Title: Dream Interpretations (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 21)
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language and sexual situations
Summary: You'd think a Diviner would be able to tell you what to do.
Notes: If you haven't already, please take my reader's poll regarding my posting schedule.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
In Hogsmeade / Previous Chapters / Eleven Winter Days
"Would you stop bouncing?"
"Sorry," said Ted, with a brief smile before slipping back to his nervous agitation.
"You're making me nervous, stop it," Victoire muttered, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. The two were in standing on the front stoop of Seamus and Lavender Finnigan's house in Wolverhampton, but the way Ted kept looking up and down the street he seemed to expect HC Lupin or Charlotte Granger to turn the corner any second.
Not that Victoire was feeling any better about the situation. After their brief (yet incredibly hot, she reluctantly admitted) encounter in Clapham Common two weeks ago, she and Ted had been trying to keep a safe distance from each other. Victoire had been the one to contact Mrs. Finnigan for counsel, and the only face-to-face communication with Ted was once, via Floo, to relay Lavender's instructions for the meeting: Write down everything you remember about the dream and owl it to her in advance.
Well, that's not quite right, Victoire thought. That was their only face-to-face communication in the real world. Victoire had, of course, dreamt about Ted at least five more times since that night. The most mind-blowing of those was that first night, where she dreamt that they had continued their explorations to its logical conclusion: her back against a tree, jacket and shirt torn open, bare breasts exposed to the chill night air, legs wrapped around his hips...
That was a good one...
Victoire shook her head quickly, trying to clear her mind's eye. She thought she saw Ted shiver a bit beside her, and wondered what kinds of thoughts were going through his head right now. Had they been sharing more dreams? Was he thinking about one of them right now?
Stop! This isn't helping!
No, it wasn't. Victoire had to remind herself what exactly was happening: She and Ted were standing on the front steps of an at-home Diviner to find out what was happening between them. They were trying to stop a mental affair while Ted's wife, unknowing, was at work. They were sneaking around behind Hermione Caroline's back.
The thought that Victoire was doing this to her friend sickened her a little. Unfortunately, the thought of the danger was turning her on a little bit and--
Stop it!
Gratefully, Lavender Finnigan chose that moment to answer the door.
"Oh, hello!" said cheerfully. "You're right on time. Please, come in!" As Mrs. Finnigan motioned them inside Victoire noticed that, as usual, Mrs. Finnigan's neck was wrapped in a silk scarf over her knit red sweater. Victoire had never seen her without a scarf or a turtleneck sweater in all the times she had met her. Victoire wasn't sure if she was put off by this touch of self-consciousness or not. She supposed, having been raised by her father, she had seen much worse werewolf scarring than Lavender was hiding beneath that cloth. But then again, she also had a sneaking suspicion that Lavender might have a more difficult time handling the constant stares and questions that Bill Weasley had received from both friends and strangers since his injury at the hands of Fenrir Greyback.
"I apologize taking so long to schedule this meeting," said Lavender, closing the door behind them. "Oh, let me take your coats. The holiday season is always such a busy time for the Divination field." She took the two jackets and hung them in the closet, continuing to talk the whole time. "So many people wanting to know how their dearly departed are feeling so they can update people in their Christmas cards or wanting to know what fate has in store for them in the coming year. This year is busier than most, what with the new decade just ahead of us. Oh, and the gift certificates I've been selling! It's been a madhouse."
"It's alright, Mrs. Finnigan," said Ted nervously.
"Please, Teddy," said Mrs. Finnigan with a smirk. "You're a big boy, you can call me Lavender."
"This is a lovely house, Mrs. Fi--Lavender," Victoire quickly corrected.
"Well, thank you, dear," said Lavender. "It's not much, but we make do."
Not much? Victoire thought as they entered the large drawing room. It was hard to strike a decorative balance between the masculine simplicity of the Head of the Auror Department and the flair of someone who Uncle Harry had once described as "the girliest girl in Gryffindor House," but the Finnigans seemed to be pulling it off well. The room stuck the perfect balance of classy and colorful without falling into gaudy or extravagant. Victoire was far from the girliest girl in her own Gryffindor House. But she was also her mother's daughter, and therefore had enough fashion sense to know that most of the decorations and furniture in the room would be hard to afford with anything less than a high-ranking Ministry salary.
"So where would you two be the most comfortable?" Lavender asked. "We could meet in here, or in my office? Or possibly the kitchen?"
Victoire looked at Ted, who only gave a non-commital shrug.
"Here works," said Victoire.
"Wonderful," said Lavender with a smile. "Well, why don't you two make yourselves comfortable, and I'll be back with some tea."
As Lavender walked into the Finnigan's kitchen, Victoire and Ted stood for an uncomfortable few moments, looking around without quite looking at each other, before sitting down on opposite couches. Victoire wanted to say something, anything to break the tense silence that had was developing. Wanted to try to calm Ted down, as he spent the following next minutes alternately glancing between the front hall and the clock hanging on the wall. She knew what he was thinking: What if this goes long? What if HC comes home early? What am I doing here? Why am I not leaving right now?
But she couldn't say anything, because she was as nervous as he was. Nervous? She was terrified. There were too many things going wrong in her life, in all of their lives, lately. And no matter what answers they got from Lavender today, she knew that things weren't going to get any better. This wasn't just their dreams they were talking about anymore. Now, despite their best intentions, two friendships and a marriage were at stake here.
And the worst part? The absolute worst part? Since that night two weeks ago, there was that small part of Victoire that hoped that she would win out over HC. That the dreams were some sort of wakeup call to Ted Lupin, a sign that he and Victoire were soulmates in ways that Hermione Caroline could only, well, dream of. That Ted would leave the girl that he had known since they were in diapers for the girl that was connected to him body and mind.
She hated that thought. But she also couldn't quite let it die...
"Alright, then," said Lavender a few minutes later. In one hand, she carried a tray with a teapot and three cups. In the other was her wand, floating ahead of her a three books and a few rolls of parchment, which she landed gently onto the coffee table, setting the tray beside it.
"First off," she said, tapping the pot with her wand, "did either of you take Divination at Hogwarts?"
Both Ted and Victoire shook their heads. "My friends Chelsea and Sarah took it," Victoire added, "so I have the basic gist of stuff. But not, you know, anything huge."
"And that's fine," said Lavender. "It's a tough subject to get into, and an even tougher one to stick to. I'll try to keep the terminology basic, then."
She broke off as the teapot, cold just moments before, began to steam and whistle. With a hotpad, she picked up the kettle and poured the contents into the three cups.
"Now take your time with these," she said, handing one to each of them, and taking the third for herself. "I won't be needing them right away, and I might not be needing them at all."
"Needing what?" asked Ted.
"The leaves, dear," said Lavender, tapping the bottom of her own cup. "Their readings might be useful for our meeting, or they might not. Either way, well, tea's good for company. So enjoy."
"Thanks," said Ted, his hands shaking only slightly as he took a sip.
"Alright," said Lavender, spreading out the books and parchment on the table. "I'm going to cut right to the point: I don't have any answers for you, at least not when it comes to the why of your shared dreams." She paused briefly, untying one of the rolls and pulling it open to study her notes. "Unfortunately, the study of Divination very rarely touches upon interpersonal psychic phenomena.
"Oh, please, don't get me wrong," she quickly added as Victoire and Ted exchanged a glance. "I'm glad you two came to me. While I haven't studied the subject myself, it is closer to Divination or, more specifically, Seeing than anything else. It's just that there aren't nearly as many witches and wizards who focus on the areas of Legilimency, Occlumency, and the like. I was able to speak to some of my comrades who pointed me in the right directions, and I think I've been able to pull enough together to paint a broad picture. To give us some options about what's happening to you, and what can be done to stop it."
"So this is Legilimency, then?" asked Ted. "Professor Squall mentioned it in Defense, but we never got very deep into it."
"Possibly," said Lavender, "but I doubt it. Legilimency involves face-to-face contact, which you two rarely have had during these incidents, correct?"
"Right," said Victoire. "I was in Poland when this one hit."
"So this has happened more than once?"
Ted and Victoire again exchanged a nervous glance, but fell silent.
"Look, we need to make a pact here," said Lavender, leaning forward. "I promise that absolutely nothing leaves this room without your say. And I can't tell you how big of a promise that is, considering this dream might be evidence for a criminal investigation being run by my husband. But my lips remain sealed until you tell me otherwise. But, in return, you have to swear to honesty and openness. You two turned to me because you have nowhere else to go, and I want to help you as best as I can. But I can't do that if you hide from me."
"I've dreamt about him before, yeah," said Victoire, her face turning pink. "A lot, I guess. But I don't know if any of the others, you know, line up."
"Ted?" said Lavender, who leaned forward and set his head in his hand. He was grimacing as though fighting an internal battle.
"I have, too," he said quietly. "It's wrong, I know. I feel horrible about it, when I wake up and see Hermione sleeping next to me, but... um... yeah, I do."
"Okay," said Lavender. "But can you definitively say that you've shared other dreams? Any that stick out for either of you as particularly vivid, particularly strong, particularly important?"
Ted cleared his throat loudly. "Alright, honesty, yeah," he said with a shuddering sigh. "There was one, happened around Christmas about two years ago. Hermione and I, we were back together, engaged, and had gone on a date. Got into things pretty, you know, hot and heavy. But it was her time of the month, you know? So we called it an early night and I went home. I had a dream that night about Victoire and me, and it was... it was really... yeah... Um, we were at Shell Cottage--"
Victoire gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. "On the couch," she whispered. "On the couch in the sitting room."
"Yeah, that's right," Ted nodded. "You had it, too?"
"Yes," Victoire said, her heart hammering. "That was the night I... That was the night I lost my virginity. And I dreamt about you afterwards."
"Oh!" said Ted, his face turning beet red. He looked away fast, as though afraid he was going to burst into flames from the admission.
"Well, that answers at least one question," Lavender said, thankfully not embarrassed by their admissions. At least, that is, not showing it on the surface. "It shows that what happened to you that night in October wasn't an isolated incident. It's been happening for at least two years."
"But why?" asked Ted. "Why is this happening?"
"Well, that's the question, isn't it?" said Lavender. "And it's one that doesn't have a good answer. As I said, we can only narrow down our possibilities. To start, this is a rare occurrence to begin with. When two people connect mentally over great distances, it's usually because of additional circumstances. The most famous of those being, of course--"
"Harry and Voldemort," Ted nodded.
"And Voldemort and his snake," said Lavender. "And Harry and the snake. Together, the connection happened because they were all sharing the same soul, so they could travel back and forth into each others minds. They could read each other's thoughts, feel each other's emotions, and exert control over the others, both physically and mentally. And, unless I'm horrifically mistaken, that's not the case here. Neither of you have tried creating any Horcruxes, right?"
"Not lately," said Victoire with a small smile.
"Which leaves two other theories," Lavender continued. "There's the ever-available sheer coincidence, which I'm willing to write off. Sure, it's possible that you two just happened to dream exceedingly similar dreams on the same night. But I find that very unlikely. Your dreams reveal personal details that the other simply shouldn't know, yet they do."
Ted and Victoire looked at each other, and couldn't help blushing. It went beyond knowing things they shouldn't know. It went beyond the cat woman. The two had never seen each other naked in real life, yet they knew, with perfect clarity, the most insignificant details of each other's bodies. The tanlines and the shaving nicks, the moles and the birthmarks, had been revealed in such detail...
"The other theory, which is the hardest to grasp, is actual psychic activity. Now, unfortunately, that means things get a lot murkier. It might mean that one of you has actual telepathic abilities, which means that you can connect to minds at any distance, without the use of magic."
"Is that possible, though?" asked Ted.
"Oh, of course," said Lavender. "But it's an extremely rare ability. It can take many different forms. Some Telepaths can cover great distances, while others can link to many different minds at once. Some can communicate with the dead, while others can communicate well with animals."
Ted's eyes widened, and he looked over at Victoire. "Buckbeak," he gasped.
"It might be one of you reading the mind of the other," said Lavender. "It might be one of you invading the mind of the other and instilling your dreams into theirs. You might both have some ability. This would be, well, even more rare, but from what I've read and heard from you both I'm not going to write it off. But it might not be something you want to hear, either. Your dreams are extremely vivid, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you're meeting somewhere in the middle. Creating your own fantasy world separate from yourselves, consciously or unconsciously."
"But... But they're just dreams," Ted said, his face turning pale. "I mean, yeah, they might be mutual, but they're still imaginary. Not under our control."
"That would depend," said Lavender. "If this is telepathic ability at play, mutual telepathic ability, then you might have more control than you think. It might simply be your brain clearing it self off at the end of the day, yes. But you said it yourself in your dream logs: all five senses were involved. You could touch and smell and taste. That suggests more than you might think."
"But what about the cat woman?" asked Victoire. "Where does she come into all of this?"
"It sounds to me like you picked up some loose signals that night," Lavender said, flipping to another piece of parchment. "The wording that was in your dream in particular, Victoire, suggests that you were listening in on your attackers before the attack took place. Some of the words were more out of place than others, like orders being given. This cat woman, the one that woke you up, asked who you were, then attacked."
"So you think they caught on to me?"
"I think she knew there was someone else listening in, so she broke the communication."
"But what about the mask?"
"Could be anything," said Lavender apologetically. "It could be a symbolic figure speaking the words, just as the Fat Lady and Caroline did earlier in the dream. It could be a last-second mental creation by the communicator to hide her true face. Or it could be her true face. Without finding her in person, we may never know."
"So it's not of any help," Victoire sighed.
"Oh, it absolutely is!" said Lavender, scribbling notes on her parchment. "First off, we know that whoever was behind the attacks probably has telepathic abilities. And the cat... hmmm... well, whether it's symbolic or whether it was an impromptu mask, it says a lot about the person. They might have a connection to felines. Maybe an animagus? Or someone with a catlike name.... Tabby? Kitty?"
"Sylvester?" Ted chuckled.
"I don't know that one," said Lavender blankly.
"Muggle thing," he shrugged.
"Well, wouldn't hurt to add it to the list," she said. "Halfbloods and Muggle-borns might find the connection. Any others you can think of?"
"Hmmm," said Ted, counting off on his fingers. "Well, there's Felix, there's Tom, there's Garfield, Meowth, Salem, Miss Kitty Fantastico..."
"Probably not that," Lavender said with a quick shake of her head, scratching out the last one. "But it's a good start."
"Or it might just be someone who likes cats," Victoire sighed. "Which eliminates all dog lovers. This is getting us nowhere."
"You're talking to someone who's married to an Auror, Vickie," said Lavender with a smile. "If I've learned anything in the last ten years, it's that there's no such thing as insignificant evidence.
"So, I'm going to ask you," she said, re-reading her notes, "if you'll let me to pass this information onto Seamus and Hermione -- um, Hermione Weasley. Sorry, Ted," she quickly added as Ted tensed up.
"What information specifically?" asked Victoire carefully.
"Just the pertinent pieces," said Lavender. "I'll tell them that you both dreamt about this same cat person on the same night. Try to give them the description that you gave me from your dream writings, as well as the words that you heard, Victoire. The orders that were being given."
"Won't they get suspicious, though?" Victoire asked. "Won't they want to know more information? Or, um, they won't want to know why you know all of this?"
"Here's the beautiful thing about coming to me," said Lavender with a sly grin. "As a registered Diviner, we have now created confidentiality clauses that can't be broken without proper cause. That's why all of the prophecies in the Department of Mysteries can't be touched: it's a binding contract between the Seer and their subjects. If you let me tell them about the cat woman, I will. If they ask for anything else, I can tell them that it's not relevant. Because it's not. They can't press any further, and I don't think they would feel a need to.
"So, do I have your permission?"
"Um, sure," said Victoire after a quick look at Ted to see him nod in agreement. "Sure, that should be fine."
"Good," said Lavender, making a note. "Now the big question: What can we do about what's happening to you? If what is happening to you is completely voluntary, then my answer would be 'stop doing it.' But I don't think that it's completely under your control."
"It's not," said Ted quickly.
"No," said Victoire, a little more slowly and quietly. "No, it's not..."
"Then here's what I'm going to suggest," she said, pulling two small cards from one the pages of one of her books and handing one to each of them. "I would like you two to meet with a witch by the name of Tamera Fisher. She is a personal friend of mine, and also one of the most accomplished Occlumens in London."
"Occlumency?" asked Ted, studying the card, upon which the witch's name and address was written. "How would that help us? This isn't Legilimency."
"It's close enough," said Lavender, "especially if this isn't a mutual occurrence. If one of you is invading the other's mind, even subconsciously, then Occlumency will help to protect against it."
"And if it is mutual?" asked Victoire.
"Then think of Occlumency as a bit of meditation before sleep," Lavender said. "If you clear your mind of all thoughts and all emotions before you go to sleep, your brains will be less likely to slip out in the middle of the night."
"Okay..." said Ted, sounding a little unsure.
"She can make appointments during the day," Lavender assured. "You can go in and get out without having to tell Caroline, if that's your concern. Also, I'm fairly sure this can be fixed with one-on-one meetings; you won't have to go in together if you don't want to."
"Sure," said Victoire, nodding slowly. "Sure, I can, um, I can make an appointment."
"Great," said Lavender, collecting the cups back onto the tray. "Well, in that case, then this meeting is finished, and I wish you both luck in your Occlumency."
"Thanks," said Ted, standing up quickly.
"Wait, Teddy," said Lavender, holding her hand up. "If you could stay for a few more minutes, I wanted to talk to you about some Christmas stuff. I'm trying to figure out something to get Harry and Ginny, but I can't narrow it down. Mind if we slip into my office for a few minutes?"
"Sure," said Ted.
"Vickie, you can leave if you want," said Lavender. "Or you can just wait out here until I'm done talking to him?"
"I'll wait," said Victoire. "If you want, I can help clean up our mess."
"Oh, thank you, dear," said Lavender, collecting her parchments. "It won't be too long. Teddy, if you would follow me?"
"I'll be out in a few, Vic," said Ted, following Lavender down the hall into her 'office', which looked to be nothing more than a spare bedroom converted with a desk and a few drawers and bookshelves.
"Take a seat," she said, closing the door behind them. Ted did so, sitting in one of the cushiony chairs opposite her desk.
"Alright," said Lavender, putting the papers on her desk and leaning on the desk to face him. "The Christmas gift thing was a lie. I wanted to talk to you, in private, away from Vickie, about these Occlumency lessons."
Ted paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What about them?" he asked.
"Well, if they're done properly, they'll probably solve all of the issues happening with you and Vickie. At least, that is, when it comes to the dreams. But there are some... complications."
"Like what?"
"Well, you're going to have to put a bit more effort into the lessons than she will," said Lavender, pulling one particular parchment from the pile, "For one thing, she's part Veela. While her power might not be as strong as her grandmother's, or even her mother's, Tamera agrees that it's only going to make her dreams more difficult for you to fight off, since her Veela powers are going to, well, make you want her more than if she was a pureblood witch."
Ted nodded slowly, understanding. So that's why he had acted the way he did in the park! That's why he had felt the way he did when he was with her this morning! He had heard stories (mostly from George, who wanted to embarrass his younger brother as much as possible) about how Ron and a lot of the other boys at Hogwarts had acted around Vic's mother when she was in the Triwizard tournament. He had felt much the same way that night. Victoire's powers were going full-blast at that time, they had to have been; they had rendered Ted's self-control useless against her advances.
"Also," Lavender continued, "I have no reason to think that Vickie is going to put all of her efforts into her own Occlumency."
"Why would you think that?" Ted asked, already knowing the answer.
"Because she's in love with you," Lavender said, a little sadly. "She's trying to fight it, but these dream notes are particularly telling. As much as she wants to end them because she knows that she can't have you, the fact that you two are sharing these dreams throws a monkey wrench into the works, because it gives her hope that you feel the same way about her. That there's a bond between you two that she doesn't have with anyone else. It's very difficult to give up on someone if you think there's hope that you'll win out in the end. Trust me, I know from experience.
"So, here's my question," she said, leaning forward on her desk, "and I want you to be completely honest with me, and with yourself:
"Do you want the Occlumency to work?"
"I... I don't..." Ted stammered. "what?"
"Hear me out, please," Lavender said quickly, holding up both hands in warning. "and please, Teddy, please don't take this as any kind of judgment on you or your marriage--"
"What about my marriage?" Ted said, heating up. "What does that have to do with--"
"Have you ever had any involvement with Victoire?" Lavender asked. "Romantically, I mean?"
"No!"
"Have you ever had any interest in her in that way?"
"No, of... I mean..." Ted stumbled. "I mean, okay... yes, there was interest. But we only kissed once, once, like, two years ago. I mean, not counting what happened in the park--"
"What happened in the park?" Lavender said, her eyebrows raised in surprise, and Ted stopped in mid-sentence, his face and hair turning red. He and Victoire had come to Lavender Finnigan to discuss the dreams. They had both, however, decided that what had physically happened that night wasn't information that Lavender would need to know.
Well, now she knew, Ted thought bitterly.
"The night in the park," he said slowly, "the night we found out we were sharing these dreams, things got... um... well, we-- But, no!" he quickly added, seeing her all-too-understanding nod. "No, it was... Look, you said it yourself, she's a Veela! Her powers were making me snog her the way that I did!"
"That's not what I said," said Lavender. "I said that her powers would make her more difficult to resist. I never said that they were the sole cause of your infatuation."
"There's no infatuation!"
"Is there?" Lavender asked. "Veela's powers don't create physical or romantic attraction. They merely enhance it. Put a Veela in front of a gay man, and he won't feel a thing. And as their bloodlines thin the powers become less effective against those who don't feel as much attraction. Fleur, for instance, had an incredible effect on Ron, and probably a large effect on Bill. But it's not like every man that ever came into contact with her became a drooling idiot. Also, it's an effect that wears down with time. That's why Bill's still as interested in Fleur as before, because they're in love. But you don't see Ron tripping over himself whenever he comes into contact with her.
"Victoire's powers are weaker than Fleur's, because they've been thinned by another generation of non-Veela blood. Also, you've known her her entire life. Even if a Veela's powers don't manifest until puberty, you've been in range for a good five or six years, which would have been more than enough time for you to acclimate yourself towards its hold. If anything happens between you two, it's as much your choice and her choice as it is her powers controlling you.
"So I'm going to ask you again," she repeated, watching Ted's face turn paler and paler by the minute, "are you still interested in Victoire Weasley? I'm not necessarily saying love, and I'm absolutely not asking you to rank her against Caroline. I'm just asking if there's an attraction."
"I'm married," Ted said, his throat dry. "I love Hermione, and she's my wife, and--"
"And that's perfectly fine," said Lavender, pulling out another page, upon which Ted recognized his own handwriting. "But I also know that your dream log is very telling. It's wrought with symbolism, the both of you. You're unsure about the choices that you've made, which is natural at your age. You feel that you've made mistakes in the past, and that you're fighting a personal catastrophe. But you also know that there's still time to resolve them, and that you need to resolve them."
"So are you telling me," Ted said darkly, "are you telling me that I think my marriage to Hermione was a mistake?"
"I'm not saying that," said Lavender. "You might think that Hermione Caroline was a mistake, or you might think that Victoire was a mistake. Or maybe the mistake is not being open with Caroline about your feelings for Victoire, or maybe not being open with Victoire about your feelings for her."
"I... I... no!" Ted said. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds? Tell them what? Tell my wife, that I'm dreaming about another woman? And as for Vickie, I don't know what I can say to her--"
"Then that's something that you have to resolve with yourself," said Lavender. "You're twenty-one, Teddy. That's an extremely young age to make a kind of decision about how the rest of your life is going to go. And I think your brain is trying to tell you that."
"I love Hermione," Ted repeated quietly. "Yeah, we got married young, sure, but so did Harry and Ginny, so did Ron and Jean--"
"Well, that's them," said Lavender. "But look at the rest of the Weasleys; they married a lot later. And, I don't mean this as any personal affront against you, but they had all dated others before they ended up with each other. Harry dated Cho, Ginny dated Michael and Dean, Hermione dated Viktor, Ron and I dated for a few months--"
"You did?" Ted blinked.
"He doesn't like to talk about it much, does he?" Lavender said with a smirk. "Yes, we dated for most of our sixth year. But in the end it fell apart. I was jealous of his friendship with Hermione, and got too clingy because of it. And I still think he was in it more just to make Hermione jealous than anything else. But, still, he tested the waters, even if our relationship was more snogging and groping than anything else--"
"Ick," said Ted pointedly.
"--but what I'm trying to say," said Lavender, "is that not all romance is instantaneous. Most aren't. Let me guess: Caroline was your first girlfriend, right?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
"How old?"
"Thirteen," he said, now staring at his hands, which were clamped on his lap.
"Anyone else?" Lavender asked. "Ever?"
Ted shook his head. "Just kissed Victoire once."
"But no more dates. No more relationships."
"No."
"And Caroline?"
"Nothing past a few single dates when we were in our seeing other people phase," said Ted. "Nothing that stuck, though."
"I think your mind and your body are telling you something through these dreams," said Lavender. "There's a part of you that's still not ready to settle down. I mean, look at this Muggle character that made an appearance, this Indiana Jones. I looked him up, asked Seamus about him. Apparently the character was a bit of a womanizer. Never had a solid relationship through any of his stories--"
"But he did get married," said Ted. "Crystal Skull, remember?"
"That's true," Lavender admitted, reading one of her notes. "Of course, he was in his sixties and had a teenage son out of wedlock before it happened, but it is true that he eventually found who he wanted to be with."
"But that's just a film," Ted argued. "It's a fictional character."
"We often dream of fictional characters because they exemplify something in ourselves," Lavender countered. "Or because they exemplify something that we want to see in ourselves. Now, it might be that you dream of Jones because you seek out some adventure, some excitement in your life, but Seamus and Harry told me about how you acted following your infiltration of the Death Eaters, and your subsequent encounter with Antaeus Carrow in Japan, so I think we can eliminate that."
"Yeah," Ted said reluctantly. "Yeah, I like the quiet life."
"So maybe he's telling you that you settled too soon," she said. "Maybe it's saying that you want more experience before you know who you really want to be with. Or maybe that you're simply not ready to stop sowing your wild oats, to stop being single. Plus you dreamt that Jones was dancing with Luna, the one woman in your life who didn't get married. Maybe you think Caroline isn't ready to settle, either, or that she may have the same feelings for another man as you do Victoire."
Ted groaned, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. "I... I don't know," he said. "I don't know how I feel about Victoire. I thought I did. But... But these dreams... They've gotten me all... This is too much, Mrs. Finnigan, I'm sorry..."
"And I'm sorry, too, Teddy," said Lavender. "But I want to help you both as much as I can. And from the current situation, I don't think I can help as much as I would like to. Neither can Tamera. Your mind's too conflicted, and so is Victoire's. These conflicts need to be resolved before the Occlumency can have its full effect. And, quite honestly, if these conflicts do get resolved, the Occlumency might not be needed. If Vickie doesn't feel you reaching for her, then she'll be less likely to reach back."
"Or if I decide that I do want to reach," he said, his stomach feeling sick, "then that means I should rethink my relationship with Hermione."
"I can't answer that question."
"You're a Diviner," Ted said with a chuckle that sounded too much like a sob to his ears. "Can't you tell me what I'm supposed to do?"
"I'm not in the business of ending marriages," she said carefully. "I am, however, in the business of helping people to see the truth. To unfog their vision. If that's what you think is best for you, then that's your future. If you think that you will live your life with Caroline, without Victoire, then that's your future. If you think your future lies with neither of them, or with both of them, then that's your future. You'll just have to deal with the consequences of any of your decisions.
"In the end," she shrugged, "Diviners can only tell you what might be. They can give you your options. The future, for better or worse, can be altered. Your future is yours to control."
In Hogsmeade / Previous Chapters / Eleven Winter Days
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language and sexual situations
Summary: You'd think a Diviner would be able to tell you what to do.
Notes: If you haven't already, please take my reader's poll regarding my posting schedule.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
In Hogsmeade / Previous Chapters / Eleven Winter Days
"Would you stop bouncing?"
"Sorry," said Ted, with a brief smile before slipping back to his nervous agitation.
"You're making me nervous, stop it," Victoire muttered, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. The two were in standing on the front stoop of Seamus and Lavender Finnigan's house in Wolverhampton, but the way Ted kept looking up and down the street he seemed to expect HC Lupin or Charlotte Granger to turn the corner any second.
Not that Victoire was feeling any better about the situation. After their brief (yet incredibly hot, she reluctantly admitted) encounter in Clapham Common two weeks ago, she and Ted had been trying to keep a safe distance from each other. Victoire had been the one to contact Mrs. Finnigan for counsel, and the only face-to-face communication with Ted was once, via Floo, to relay Lavender's instructions for the meeting: Write down everything you remember about the dream and owl it to her in advance.
Well, that's not quite right, Victoire thought. That was their only face-to-face communication in the real world. Victoire had, of course, dreamt about Ted at least five more times since that night. The most mind-blowing of those was that first night, where she dreamt that they had continued their explorations to its logical conclusion: her back against a tree, jacket and shirt torn open, bare breasts exposed to the chill night air, legs wrapped around his hips...
That was a good one...
Victoire shook her head quickly, trying to clear her mind's eye. She thought she saw Ted shiver a bit beside her, and wondered what kinds of thoughts were going through his head right now. Had they been sharing more dreams? Was he thinking about one of them right now?
Stop! This isn't helping!
No, it wasn't. Victoire had to remind herself what exactly was happening: She and Ted were standing on the front steps of an at-home Diviner to find out what was happening between them. They were trying to stop a mental affair while Ted's wife, unknowing, was at work. They were sneaking around behind Hermione Caroline's back.
The thought that Victoire was doing this to her friend sickened her a little. Unfortunately, the thought of the danger was turning her on a little bit and--
Stop it!
Gratefully, Lavender Finnigan chose that moment to answer the door.
"Oh, hello!" said cheerfully. "You're right on time. Please, come in!" As Mrs. Finnigan motioned them inside Victoire noticed that, as usual, Mrs. Finnigan's neck was wrapped in a silk scarf over her knit red sweater. Victoire had never seen her without a scarf or a turtleneck sweater in all the times she had met her. Victoire wasn't sure if she was put off by this touch of self-consciousness or not. She supposed, having been raised by her father, she had seen much worse werewolf scarring than Lavender was hiding beneath that cloth. But then again, she also had a sneaking suspicion that Lavender might have a more difficult time handling the constant stares and questions that Bill Weasley had received from both friends and strangers since his injury at the hands of Fenrir Greyback.
"I apologize taking so long to schedule this meeting," said Lavender, closing the door behind them. "Oh, let me take your coats. The holiday season is always such a busy time for the Divination field." She took the two jackets and hung them in the closet, continuing to talk the whole time. "So many people wanting to know how their dearly departed are feeling so they can update people in their Christmas cards or wanting to know what fate has in store for them in the coming year. This year is busier than most, what with the new decade just ahead of us. Oh, and the gift certificates I've been selling! It's been a madhouse."
"It's alright, Mrs. Finnigan," said Ted nervously.
"Please, Teddy," said Mrs. Finnigan with a smirk. "You're a big boy, you can call me Lavender."
"This is a lovely house, Mrs. Fi--Lavender," Victoire quickly corrected.
"Well, thank you, dear," said Lavender. "It's not much, but we make do."
Not much? Victoire thought as they entered the large drawing room. It was hard to strike a decorative balance between the masculine simplicity of the Head of the Auror Department and the flair of someone who Uncle Harry had once described as "the girliest girl in Gryffindor House," but the Finnigans seemed to be pulling it off well. The room stuck the perfect balance of classy and colorful without falling into gaudy or extravagant. Victoire was far from the girliest girl in her own Gryffindor House. But she was also her mother's daughter, and therefore had enough fashion sense to know that most of the decorations and furniture in the room would be hard to afford with anything less than a high-ranking Ministry salary.
"So where would you two be the most comfortable?" Lavender asked. "We could meet in here, or in my office? Or possibly the kitchen?"
Victoire looked at Ted, who only gave a non-commital shrug.
"Here works," said Victoire.
"Wonderful," said Lavender with a smile. "Well, why don't you two make yourselves comfortable, and I'll be back with some tea."
As Lavender walked into the Finnigan's kitchen, Victoire and Ted stood for an uncomfortable few moments, looking around without quite looking at each other, before sitting down on opposite couches. Victoire wanted to say something, anything to break the tense silence that had was developing. Wanted to try to calm Ted down, as he spent the following next minutes alternately glancing between the front hall and the clock hanging on the wall. She knew what he was thinking: What if this goes long? What if HC comes home early? What am I doing here? Why am I not leaving right now?
But she couldn't say anything, because she was as nervous as he was. Nervous? She was terrified. There were too many things going wrong in her life, in all of their lives, lately. And no matter what answers they got from Lavender today, she knew that things weren't going to get any better. This wasn't just their dreams they were talking about anymore. Now, despite their best intentions, two friendships and a marriage were at stake here.
And the worst part? The absolute worst part? Since that night two weeks ago, there was that small part of Victoire that hoped that she would win out over HC. That the dreams were some sort of wakeup call to Ted Lupin, a sign that he and Victoire were soulmates in ways that Hermione Caroline could only, well, dream of. That Ted would leave the girl that he had known since they were in diapers for the girl that was connected to him body and mind.
She hated that thought. But she also couldn't quite let it die...
"Alright, then," said Lavender a few minutes later. In one hand, she carried a tray with a teapot and three cups. In the other was her wand, floating ahead of her a three books and a few rolls of parchment, which she landed gently onto the coffee table, setting the tray beside it.
"First off," she said, tapping the pot with her wand, "did either of you take Divination at Hogwarts?"
Both Ted and Victoire shook their heads. "My friends Chelsea and Sarah took it," Victoire added, "so I have the basic gist of stuff. But not, you know, anything huge."
"And that's fine," said Lavender. "It's a tough subject to get into, and an even tougher one to stick to. I'll try to keep the terminology basic, then."
She broke off as the teapot, cold just moments before, began to steam and whistle. With a hotpad, she picked up the kettle and poured the contents into the three cups.
"Now take your time with these," she said, handing one to each of them, and taking the third for herself. "I won't be needing them right away, and I might not be needing them at all."
"Needing what?" asked Ted.
"The leaves, dear," said Lavender, tapping the bottom of her own cup. "Their readings might be useful for our meeting, or they might not. Either way, well, tea's good for company. So enjoy."
"Thanks," said Ted, his hands shaking only slightly as he took a sip.
"Alright," said Lavender, spreading out the books and parchment on the table. "I'm going to cut right to the point: I don't have any answers for you, at least not when it comes to the why of your shared dreams." She paused briefly, untying one of the rolls and pulling it open to study her notes. "Unfortunately, the study of Divination very rarely touches upon interpersonal psychic phenomena.
"Oh, please, don't get me wrong," she quickly added as Victoire and Ted exchanged a glance. "I'm glad you two came to me. While I haven't studied the subject myself, it is closer to Divination or, more specifically, Seeing than anything else. It's just that there aren't nearly as many witches and wizards who focus on the areas of Legilimency, Occlumency, and the like. I was able to speak to some of my comrades who pointed me in the right directions, and I think I've been able to pull enough together to paint a broad picture. To give us some options about what's happening to you, and what can be done to stop it."
"So this is Legilimency, then?" asked Ted. "Professor Squall mentioned it in Defense, but we never got very deep into it."
"Possibly," said Lavender, "but I doubt it. Legilimency involves face-to-face contact, which you two rarely have had during these incidents, correct?"
"Right," said Victoire. "I was in Poland when this one hit."
"So this has happened more than once?"
Ted and Victoire again exchanged a nervous glance, but fell silent.
"Look, we need to make a pact here," said Lavender, leaning forward. "I promise that absolutely nothing leaves this room without your say. And I can't tell you how big of a promise that is, considering this dream might be evidence for a criminal investigation being run by my husband. But my lips remain sealed until you tell me otherwise. But, in return, you have to swear to honesty and openness. You two turned to me because you have nowhere else to go, and I want to help you as best as I can. But I can't do that if you hide from me."
"I've dreamt about him before, yeah," said Victoire, her face turning pink. "A lot, I guess. But I don't know if any of the others, you know, line up."
"Ted?" said Lavender, who leaned forward and set his head in his hand. He was grimacing as though fighting an internal battle.
"I have, too," he said quietly. "It's wrong, I know. I feel horrible about it, when I wake up and see Hermione sleeping next to me, but... um... yeah, I do."
"Okay," said Lavender. "But can you definitively say that you've shared other dreams? Any that stick out for either of you as particularly vivid, particularly strong, particularly important?"
Ted cleared his throat loudly. "Alright, honesty, yeah," he said with a shuddering sigh. "There was one, happened around Christmas about two years ago. Hermione and I, we were back together, engaged, and had gone on a date. Got into things pretty, you know, hot and heavy. But it was her time of the month, you know? So we called it an early night and I went home. I had a dream that night about Victoire and me, and it was... it was really... yeah... Um, we were at Shell Cottage--"
Victoire gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. "On the couch," she whispered. "On the couch in the sitting room."
"Yeah, that's right," Ted nodded. "You had it, too?"
"Yes," Victoire said, her heart hammering. "That was the night I... That was the night I lost my virginity. And I dreamt about you afterwards."
"Oh!" said Ted, his face turning beet red. He looked away fast, as though afraid he was going to burst into flames from the admission.
"Well, that answers at least one question," Lavender said, thankfully not embarrassed by their admissions. At least, that is, not showing it on the surface. "It shows that what happened to you that night in October wasn't an isolated incident. It's been happening for at least two years."
"But why?" asked Ted. "Why is this happening?"
"Well, that's the question, isn't it?" said Lavender. "And it's one that doesn't have a good answer. As I said, we can only narrow down our possibilities. To start, this is a rare occurrence to begin with. When two people connect mentally over great distances, it's usually because of additional circumstances. The most famous of those being, of course--"
"Harry and Voldemort," Ted nodded.
"And Voldemort and his snake," said Lavender. "And Harry and the snake. Together, the connection happened because they were all sharing the same soul, so they could travel back and forth into each others minds. They could read each other's thoughts, feel each other's emotions, and exert control over the others, both physically and mentally. And, unless I'm horrifically mistaken, that's not the case here. Neither of you have tried creating any Horcruxes, right?"
"Not lately," said Victoire with a small smile.
"Which leaves two other theories," Lavender continued. "There's the ever-available sheer coincidence, which I'm willing to write off. Sure, it's possible that you two just happened to dream exceedingly similar dreams on the same night. But I find that very unlikely. Your dreams reveal personal details that the other simply shouldn't know, yet they do."
Ted and Victoire looked at each other, and couldn't help blushing. It went beyond knowing things they shouldn't know. It went beyond the cat woman. The two had never seen each other naked in real life, yet they knew, with perfect clarity, the most insignificant details of each other's bodies. The tanlines and the shaving nicks, the moles and the birthmarks, had been revealed in such detail...
"The other theory, which is the hardest to grasp, is actual psychic activity. Now, unfortunately, that means things get a lot murkier. It might mean that one of you has actual telepathic abilities, which means that you can connect to minds at any distance, without the use of magic."
"Is that possible, though?" asked Ted.
"Oh, of course," said Lavender. "But it's an extremely rare ability. It can take many different forms. Some Telepaths can cover great distances, while others can link to many different minds at once. Some can communicate with the dead, while others can communicate well with animals."
Ted's eyes widened, and he looked over at Victoire. "Buckbeak," he gasped.
"It might be one of you reading the mind of the other," said Lavender. "It might be one of you invading the mind of the other and instilling your dreams into theirs. You might both have some ability. This would be, well, even more rare, but from what I've read and heard from you both I'm not going to write it off. But it might not be something you want to hear, either. Your dreams are extremely vivid, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you're meeting somewhere in the middle. Creating your own fantasy world separate from yourselves, consciously or unconsciously."
"But... But they're just dreams," Ted said, his face turning pale. "I mean, yeah, they might be mutual, but they're still imaginary. Not under our control."
"That would depend," said Lavender. "If this is telepathic ability at play, mutual telepathic ability, then you might have more control than you think. It might simply be your brain clearing it self off at the end of the day, yes. But you said it yourself in your dream logs: all five senses were involved. You could touch and smell and taste. That suggests more than you might think."
"But what about the cat woman?" asked Victoire. "Where does she come into all of this?"
"It sounds to me like you picked up some loose signals that night," Lavender said, flipping to another piece of parchment. "The wording that was in your dream in particular, Victoire, suggests that you were listening in on your attackers before the attack took place. Some of the words were more out of place than others, like orders being given. This cat woman, the one that woke you up, asked who you were, then attacked."
"So you think they caught on to me?"
"I think she knew there was someone else listening in, so she broke the communication."
"But what about the mask?"
"Could be anything," said Lavender apologetically. "It could be a symbolic figure speaking the words, just as the Fat Lady and Caroline did earlier in the dream. It could be a last-second mental creation by the communicator to hide her true face. Or it could be her true face. Without finding her in person, we may never know."
"So it's not of any help," Victoire sighed.
"Oh, it absolutely is!" said Lavender, scribbling notes on her parchment. "First off, we know that whoever was behind the attacks probably has telepathic abilities. And the cat... hmmm... well, whether it's symbolic or whether it was an impromptu mask, it says a lot about the person. They might have a connection to felines. Maybe an animagus? Or someone with a catlike name.... Tabby? Kitty?"
"Sylvester?" Ted chuckled.
"I don't know that one," said Lavender blankly.
"Muggle thing," he shrugged.
"Well, wouldn't hurt to add it to the list," she said. "Halfbloods and Muggle-borns might find the connection. Any others you can think of?"
"Hmmm," said Ted, counting off on his fingers. "Well, there's Felix, there's Tom, there's Garfield, Meowth, Salem, Miss Kitty Fantastico..."
"Probably not that," Lavender said with a quick shake of her head, scratching out the last one. "But it's a good start."
"Or it might just be someone who likes cats," Victoire sighed. "Which eliminates all dog lovers. This is getting us nowhere."
"You're talking to someone who's married to an Auror, Vickie," said Lavender with a smile. "If I've learned anything in the last ten years, it's that there's no such thing as insignificant evidence.
"So, I'm going to ask you," she said, re-reading her notes, "if you'll let me to pass this information onto Seamus and Hermione -- um, Hermione Weasley. Sorry, Ted," she quickly added as Ted tensed up.
"What information specifically?" asked Victoire carefully.
"Just the pertinent pieces," said Lavender. "I'll tell them that you both dreamt about this same cat person on the same night. Try to give them the description that you gave me from your dream writings, as well as the words that you heard, Victoire. The orders that were being given."
"Won't they get suspicious, though?" Victoire asked. "Won't they want to know more information? Or, um, they won't want to know why you know all of this?"
"Here's the beautiful thing about coming to me," said Lavender with a sly grin. "As a registered Diviner, we have now created confidentiality clauses that can't be broken without proper cause. That's why all of the prophecies in the Department of Mysteries can't be touched: it's a binding contract between the Seer and their subjects. If you let me tell them about the cat woman, I will. If they ask for anything else, I can tell them that it's not relevant. Because it's not. They can't press any further, and I don't think they would feel a need to.
"So, do I have your permission?"
"Um, sure," said Victoire after a quick look at Ted to see him nod in agreement. "Sure, that should be fine."
"Good," said Lavender, making a note. "Now the big question: What can we do about what's happening to you? If what is happening to you is completely voluntary, then my answer would be 'stop doing it.' But I don't think that it's completely under your control."
"It's not," said Ted quickly.
"No," said Victoire, a little more slowly and quietly. "No, it's not..."
"Then here's what I'm going to suggest," she said, pulling two small cards from one the pages of one of her books and handing one to each of them. "I would like you two to meet with a witch by the name of Tamera Fisher. She is a personal friend of mine, and also one of the most accomplished Occlumens in London."
"Occlumency?" asked Ted, studying the card, upon which the witch's name and address was written. "How would that help us? This isn't Legilimency."
"It's close enough," said Lavender, "especially if this isn't a mutual occurrence. If one of you is invading the other's mind, even subconsciously, then Occlumency will help to protect against it."
"And if it is mutual?" asked Victoire.
"Then think of Occlumency as a bit of meditation before sleep," Lavender said. "If you clear your mind of all thoughts and all emotions before you go to sleep, your brains will be less likely to slip out in the middle of the night."
"Okay..." said Ted, sounding a little unsure.
"She can make appointments during the day," Lavender assured. "You can go in and get out without having to tell Caroline, if that's your concern. Also, I'm fairly sure this can be fixed with one-on-one meetings; you won't have to go in together if you don't want to."
"Sure," said Victoire, nodding slowly. "Sure, I can, um, I can make an appointment."
"Great," said Lavender, collecting the cups back onto the tray. "Well, in that case, then this meeting is finished, and I wish you both luck in your Occlumency."
"Thanks," said Ted, standing up quickly.
"Wait, Teddy," said Lavender, holding her hand up. "If you could stay for a few more minutes, I wanted to talk to you about some Christmas stuff. I'm trying to figure out something to get Harry and Ginny, but I can't narrow it down. Mind if we slip into my office for a few minutes?"
"Sure," said Ted.
"Vickie, you can leave if you want," said Lavender. "Or you can just wait out here until I'm done talking to him?"
"I'll wait," said Victoire. "If you want, I can help clean up our mess."
"Oh, thank you, dear," said Lavender, collecting her parchments. "It won't be too long. Teddy, if you would follow me?"
"I'll be out in a few, Vic," said Ted, following Lavender down the hall into her 'office', which looked to be nothing more than a spare bedroom converted with a desk and a few drawers and bookshelves.
"Take a seat," she said, closing the door behind them. Ted did so, sitting in one of the cushiony chairs opposite her desk.
"Alright," said Lavender, putting the papers on her desk and leaning on the desk to face him. "The Christmas gift thing was a lie. I wanted to talk to you, in private, away from Vickie, about these Occlumency lessons."
Ted paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What about them?" he asked.
"Well, if they're done properly, they'll probably solve all of the issues happening with you and Vickie. At least, that is, when it comes to the dreams. But there are some... complications."
"Like what?"
"Well, you're going to have to put a bit more effort into the lessons than she will," said Lavender, pulling one particular parchment from the pile, "For one thing, she's part Veela. While her power might not be as strong as her grandmother's, or even her mother's, Tamera agrees that it's only going to make her dreams more difficult for you to fight off, since her Veela powers are going to, well, make you want her more than if she was a pureblood witch."
Ted nodded slowly, understanding. So that's why he had acted the way he did in the park! That's why he had felt the way he did when he was with her this morning! He had heard stories (mostly from George, who wanted to embarrass his younger brother as much as possible) about how Ron and a lot of the other boys at Hogwarts had acted around Vic's mother when she was in the Triwizard tournament. He had felt much the same way that night. Victoire's powers were going full-blast at that time, they had to have been; they had rendered Ted's self-control useless against her advances.
"Also," Lavender continued, "I have no reason to think that Vickie is going to put all of her efforts into her own Occlumency."
"Why would you think that?" Ted asked, already knowing the answer.
"Because she's in love with you," Lavender said, a little sadly. "She's trying to fight it, but these dream notes are particularly telling. As much as she wants to end them because she knows that she can't have you, the fact that you two are sharing these dreams throws a monkey wrench into the works, because it gives her hope that you feel the same way about her. That there's a bond between you two that she doesn't have with anyone else. It's very difficult to give up on someone if you think there's hope that you'll win out in the end. Trust me, I know from experience.
"So, here's my question," she said, leaning forward on her desk, "and I want you to be completely honest with me, and with yourself:
"Do you want the Occlumency to work?"
"I... I don't..." Ted stammered. "what?"
"Hear me out, please," Lavender said quickly, holding up both hands in warning. "and please, Teddy, please don't take this as any kind of judgment on you or your marriage--"
"What about my marriage?" Ted said, heating up. "What does that have to do with--"
"Have you ever had any involvement with Victoire?" Lavender asked. "Romantically, I mean?"
"No!"
"Have you ever had any interest in her in that way?"
"No, of... I mean..." Ted stumbled. "I mean, okay... yes, there was interest. But we only kissed once, once, like, two years ago. I mean, not counting what happened in the park--"
"What happened in the park?" Lavender said, her eyebrows raised in surprise, and Ted stopped in mid-sentence, his face and hair turning red. He and Victoire had come to Lavender Finnigan to discuss the dreams. They had both, however, decided that what had physically happened that night wasn't information that Lavender would need to know.
Well, now she knew, Ted thought bitterly.
"The night in the park," he said slowly, "the night we found out we were sharing these dreams, things got... um... well, we-- But, no!" he quickly added, seeing her all-too-understanding nod. "No, it was... Look, you said it yourself, she's a Veela! Her powers were making me snog her the way that I did!"
"That's not what I said," said Lavender. "I said that her powers would make her more difficult to resist. I never said that they were the sole cause of your infatuation."
"There's no infatuation!"
"Is there?" Lavender asked. "Veela's powers don't create physical or romantic attraction. They merely enhance it. Put a Veela in front of a gay man, and he won't feel a thing. And as their bloodlines thin the powers become less effective against those who don't feel as much attraction. Fleur, for instance, had an incredible effect on Ron, and probably a large effect on Bill. But it's not like every man that ever came into contact with her became a drooling idiot. Also, it's an effect that wears down with time. That's why Bill's still as interested in Fleur as before, because they're in love. But you don't see Ron tripping over himself whenever he comes into contact with her.
"Victoire's powers are weaker than Fleur's, because they've been thinned by another generation of non-Veela blood. Also, you've known her her entire life. Even if a Veela's powers don't manifest until puberty, you've been in range for a good five or six years, which would have been more than enough time for you to acclimate yourself towards its hold. If anything happens between you two, it's as much your choice and her choice as it is her powers controlling you.
"So I'm going to ask you again," she repeated, watching Ted's face turn paler and paler by the minute, "are you still interested in Victoire Weasley? I'm not necessarily saying love, and I'm absolutely not asking you to rank her against Caroline. I'm just asking if there's an attraction."
"I'm married," Ted said, his throat dry. "I love Hermione, and she's my wife, and--"
"And that's perfectly fine," said Lavender, pulling out another page, upon which Ted recognized his own handwriting. "But I also know that your dream log is very telling. It's wrought with symbolism, the both of you. You're unsure about the choices that you've made, which is natural at your age. You feel that you've made mistakes in the past, and that you're fighting a personal catastrophe. But you also know that there's still time to resolve them, and that you need to resolve them."
"So are you telling me," Ted said darkly, "are you telling me that I think my marriage to Hermione was a mistake?"
"I'm not saying that," said Lavender. "You might think that Hermione Caroline was a mistake, or you might think that Victoire was a mistake. Or maybe the mistake is not being open with Caroline about your feelings for Victoire, or maybe not being open with Victoire about your feelings for her."
"I... I... no!" Ted said. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds? Tell them what? Tell my wife, that I'm dreaming about another woman? And as for Vickie, I don't know what I can say to her--"
"Then that's something that you have to resolve with yourself," said Lavender. "You're twenty-one, Teddy. That's an extremely young age to make a kind of decision about how the rest of your life is going to go. And I think your brain is trying to tell you that."
"I love Hermione," Ted repeated quietly. "Yeah, we got married young, sure, but so did Harry and Ginny, so did Ron and Jean--"
"Well, that's them," said Lavender. "But look at the rest of the Weasleys; they married a lot later. And, I don't mean this as any personal affront against you, but they had all dated others before they ended up with each other. Harry dated Cho, Ginny dated Michael and Dean, Hermione dated Viktor, Ron and I dated for a few months--"
"You did?" Ted blinked.
"He doesn't like to talk about it much, does he?" Lavender said with a smirk. "Yes, we dated for most of our sixth year. But in the end it fell apart. I was jealous of his friendship with Hermione, and got too clingy because of it. And I still think he was in it more just to make Hermione jealous than anything else. But, still, he tested the waters, even if our relationship was more snogging and groping than anything else--"
"Ick," said Ted pointedly.
"--but what I'm trying to say," said Lavender, "is that not all romance is instantaneous. Most aren't. Let me guess: Caroline was your first girlfriend, right?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
"How old?"
"Thirteen," he said, now staring at his hands, which were clamped on his lap.
"Anyone else?" Lavender asked. "Ever?"
Ted shook his head. "Just kissed Victoire once."
"But no more dates. No more relationships."
"No."
"And Caroline?"
"Nothing past a few single dates when we were in our seeing other people phase," said Ted. "Nothing that stuck, though."
"I think your mind and your body are telling you something through these dreams," said Lavender. "There's a part of you that's still not ready to settle down. I mean, look at this Muggle character that made an appearance, this Indiana Jones. I looked him up, asked Seamus about him. Apparently the character was a bit of a womanizer. Never had a solid relationship through any of his stories--"
"But he did get married," said Ted. "Crystal Skull, remember?"
"That's true," Lavender admitted, reading one of her notes. "Of course, he was in his sixties and had a teenage son out of wedlock before it happened, but it is true that he eventually found who he wanted to be with."
"But that's just a film," Ted argued. "It's a fictional character."
"We often dream of fictional characters because they exemplify something in ourselves," Lavender countered. "Or because they exemplify something that we want to see in ourselves. Now, it might be that you dream of Jones because you seek out some adventure, some excitement in your life, but Seamus and Harry told me about how you acted following your infiltration of the Death Eaters, and your subsequent encounter with Antaeus Carrow in Japan, so I think we can eliminate that."
"Yeah," Ted said reluctantly. "Yeah, I like the quiet life."
"So maybe he's telling you that you settled too soon," she said. "Maybe it's saying that you want more experience before you know who you really want to be with. Or maybe that you're simply not ready to stop sowing your wild oats, to stop being single. Plus you dreamt that Jones was dancing with Luna, the one woman in your life who didn't get married. Maybe you think Caroline isn't ready to settle, either, or that she may have the same feelings for another man as you do Victoire."
Ted groaned, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. "I... I don't know," he said. "I don't know how I feel about Victoire. I thought I did. But... But these dreams... They've gotten me all... This is too much, Mrs. Finnigan, I'm sorry..."
"And I'm sorry, too, Teddy," said Lavender. "But I want to help you both as much as I can. And from the current situation, I don't think I can help as much as I would like to. Neither can Tamera. Your mind's too conflicted, and so is Victoire's. These conflicts need to be resolved before the Occlumency can have its full effect. And, quite honestly, if these conflicts do get resolved, the Occlumency might not be needed. If Vickie doesn't feel you reaching for her, then she'll be less likely to reach back."
"Or if I decide that I do want to reach," he said, his stomach feeling sick, "then that means I should rethink my relationship with Hermione."
"I can't answer that question."
"You're a Diviner," Ted said with a chuckle that sounded too much like a sob to his ears. "Can't you tell me what I'm supposed to do?"
"I'm not in the business of ending marriages," she said carefully. "I am, however, in the business of helping people to see the truth. To unfog their vision. If that's what you think is best for you, then that's your future. If you think that you will live your life with Caroline, without Victoire, then that's your future. If you think your future lies with neither of them, or with both of them, then that's your future. You'll just have to deal with the consequences of any of your decisions.
"In the end," she shrugged, "Diviners can only tell you what might be. They can give you your options. The future, for better or worse, can be altered. Your future is yours to control."
In Hogsmeade / Previous Chapters / Eleven Winter Days