Why couldn’t she get this right? Why couldn’t she just be happy for him, that he’d found a job he seemed to enjoy? That he’d found success and was traveling and undoubtedly having wild adventures without her and—her gut sank at the thought.

Oh.

[i]Oh[/i].

Suddenly, she knew exactly why the thought of him working for The Prophet made her feel ill. She could see him, popping all over Britain, all over Europe, traveling the world for grand stories and adventures. Victoire knew envy all too well. Rita Skeeter was scum of the Earth, but Teddy was a good man, and unfailingly honest. It wasn’t as if Skeeter could corrupt him. And as much as she disliked the Prophet, her displeasure paled to the jealousy coursing through her veins.

It was petty, of course, and Victoire pushed it down as best she could. She’d [i]chosen[/i] healing. It had been the Sensible Choice. She’d picked her hospital over him, over her family, and she had to live with the consequences. Still, it stung. Merlin, if she had just been [i]brave[/i]…

“Skeeter’s a cow, but that’s neither here nor there,” she remarked briskly, unable to keep her distaste for the woman out of her voice. Victoire had always been one to hold a grudge. She remembered the whispers of a hat in her ear, [i]Very snakelike, you don’t like to forgive do you?[/i] The relief when it had caved and cawed Ravenclaw had been overwhelming. She hadn’t wanted to be the first Slytherin Weasley.

“It’s— it’s good work, you’re brilliant at it I’m sure—I—oh Merlin’s bleeding tits, I’m cocking this up,” she pinched her brow, cursing the wine, her stupidity, this whole week. She could feel her wand burning in her pocket, feeding off her temper, even directed inwards as it was. She breathed deep, desperately trying to collect herself.

“Look, please, don’t go—I’ve made a mess, of e-everything, and I get that, I do—I shouldn’t have come tonight, it was silly—“ Victoire swore beneath her breath. She was babbling again. What she wouldn’t do to be eloquent, to sound like she actually had a fucking clue what she was talking about for once. Her frustration was heightening. “It’s—[i]I’ll[/i] go, it’s better that way, for everyone.”