The actual party and dinner were being held out back in a tent, apparently one that had been in the family since Ginny was still at Hogwarts. That was nostalgia at it's finest, Teddy reckoned. Seating arrangements at any family gathering never went according to plan, and people ended up moving around so often that the small, enchanted name cards didn't mean much of anything. However, the seat was easy enough for the metamorphagus to find at the beginning of the night, and he was happy to find out that he wasn't in the direct vicinity of Victoire. As an added bonus, he was seated with James, and a few of the other cousins who knew a thing or two about jokes. That was bound to be a good distraction from the icy interaction that had taken place in the kitchen. 

"Have you talked to her?" questioned James in a sort of half-whisper as Ron fumbled his way through a little toast to Harry and Ginny. Teddy replied shushing the other man, not wanting to discuss his love life, or lack there of, at the moment. "You should talk to her. Ask her to dance later."

"Shut it," Teddy hissed in reply, not wanting to interrupt and draw attention to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was dance with Victoire, let alone actually talk to her. Teddy, confused as he was, hadn't the slightest idea of what he was even supposed to say in a hypothetical situation where he had enough patience to strike up a conversation. Were they to discuss the weather? There had been a few strange fires as of late. Maybe he should ask her what was so special about St. Mungo's and why she had run off and abandoned everything to work there? Teddy was sure that would only cause friction, though, and there was enough tension in the room already.

After stories of years past and a few toasts, dinner was finally underway. Molly and company had really outdone themselves, because Teddy didn't even remember the food at Christmas being as nice and he was happy to eat and chat with his cousins, and even engaged with a few people at the tables around him. Throughout the meal, though, his eyes couldn't help but wander back to Victoire, she was positively magnetic even when he hated her and a few times he caught himself nearly taking James' advice.

Perhaps it was a bit foolish, but Teddy still thought fondly of the memories he had with the blond girl, and her harsh words had only buried the feelings he had always kept for her. He still remembered when they were sixteen, spending the summer at the Burrow and sneaking out at night to watch the stars. The summer before he had spent weeks trying to learn illusion charms just so he could have the stars spell out her name. In the end, he had only managed [i]Victor[/i], but it made her laugh and that was good enough for Teddy. If he were being honest with himself, he would have been a little appalled at how cheesy that younger version of himself had been, but when it came to Victoire, the embarrassment was worth it.

Once dinner had come to an end, people were up out of their seats and Teddy found himself wandering around from person to person, chatting, catching up and having a good time. When his mind was busy, when he was telling a story, or talking about his job, he wasn't thinking of Victoire, but every time there was a lull in conversation, his thoughts drifted right back to her. It was a terrible pain, one that dancing could not take away, nor chatting with Longbottom about Hogwarts; not even Harry's brave story about [i]the[/i] battle could make him forget.

Maybe it was the extra glass of wine, or maybe James finally had a good bit of advice that some part of Teddy just could not ignore this time, but he found himself approaching her and working extra hard to quell the jitters he was currently feeling. 

“Victoire,” said Teddy, unable to back down now. “D'you want to dance?” His voice sounded strange in his own ears, and he was concentrating so hard on not looking at all bothered by anything that a few strands of blue had colored their way back into his hair.

If she rejected him, at least he could say he tried.