[lost] TED [is a bad place to be]

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>It wasn't exactly her fault that she'd gotten lost her first night at the school. She hadn't been given a map. Besides that, the French girl had a rather bad sense of direction, not to mention the fact that it was strangely dark and bitterly ice cold in the corridors at night.

All she had on was a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top, which showed off those scrawny limbs of hers. Her arms were crossed over her chest, covered, like the rest of her body, in goosebumps. Her dark hair was still tied back in the braid she'd had it in since that morning. But wisps of it were starting to come loose. They tickled her high cheekbones in the drafts that funneled through the hallways.

Originally, she'd been looking for a bathroom, as she hadn't realized there was one quite close to the Common Room she'd been assigned to. She'd been out of bed for nigh on an hour, and had already lost feeling in her bare feet as they padded down the icy stone floors of the corridors. The girl had traveled down what seemed like an eternity of hovering staircases. That weird moving feeling still didn't seem natural to her, and she preferred the more stationary staircases that led her even further downward.

Eventually, she ended up in a short, wide corridor with a large painting at the end. The girl huffed. Dead end. She sat down in front of the painting and leaned her head back on the large pear that was painted near the bottom of the bowl. The next moment, her heart stopped, as the painting swung open, practically catapulting her across the room. She slid on the floor, before daintily picking herself up and stepping through the painting. Immediately, warmth seeped into her body.

Countless strange little creatures were working at what seemed to be the kitchen. One of them bustled towards her and asked her in a rather fast, high-pitched voice if she would like any food.

"Croissant, s'il vous plait," she told the little thing, her voice polite and almost inaudible. The little house elf nodded furiously, before running off to one of the stoves. Marie simply slid onto one of the benches near the wooden table at the end. Hogwarts was so strange.</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted rubbed his eyes. It was another sleepless night for him. He had gotten maybe an hour's sleep, and which he assumed that was Zane crept out of the common room to go for some night time flying. Ted pulled down his sheets and grabbed a grey shirt that was on top of his trunk and pulled it over his torso, now adding to his red plaid pajama bottoms. He looked over at James who was snoring soundly and shook his head, pulling some sock on and placing his pair of Chuck Taylor's on his feet. Last time he was in London he did some Muggle shopping and found them, absolutely adoring them. He rubbed his hands together and looked outside. There was no trace of the sun so he guessed it was the middle of the night. He looked down at the pitch and didn't see Zane flying around, so he guessed that his friend was heading down to the kitchens. He decided, with nothing better to do, to head there himself.

As he stepped down into the common room, he looked up towards the girl's dormitories. Although Rosie and him had declared themselves as friends again, there was still some tension between them. He was sure she would not be pleased to hear he was sneaking out at night. He slipped out the potrait hole and looked back at the Fat Lady who just shook her head as he headed down the stairs. He didn't have much trouble getting down there, taking as many short cuts and secret passages as he could. The only time he stopped was when the care taker was almost guarding the floor Ted wanted to pass on. He sat down behind the statue and waited for the care taker to move. When there was no sign of movement, Ted sighed, decided to take a detour.

Soon enough, he reached the potrait to the Kitchens. Reaching up, he tickled the pair and stepped inside the Kitchen. Just as always, the place was bustling, preparing breakfast for tomorrow morning. It was the house eleves busy time, besides the usualy feasts and such. Ted smiled as a house elf ran over to him. "Get me a hot chocolate and a chocolate chip muffin tonight Bertie. Thanks bud." Ted smiled and watched as a house elf scurried off to get him his bit of midnight snack. When Bertie returned with his hot chocolate and muffin he chuckled, knowing this wasn't going to help him get back to sleep. He shuffled over to the table and nearly dropped his mug from what he saw.

He had heard about the exchange student of course, but she obvious had to be from Beauxbatons. She had that french look upon her, the one he got from Victoire all the time. And the fact she was only in a pair of boxers and a tank top didn't help. He may be in love, but Ted was a man. He gulped. "Um, sorry. Didn't expect to see anyone here besides my friend Zane. Your definetly not him." he chuckled, placing his things down at the table. "I'm Ted. Ted Lupin. If you've heard about me around school, I'm not as terrible as I sound." Ted chuckeld nervously. He was getting a bad rep around school do to the whole break up. It was kinda annoying, when people who used to consider him one of the niceest guys around scowl at him every time he passed. Did they think he was happy with that? That he enjoyed seeing her cry? Bunch of idiots the school was.

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>The girl had trouble not laughing her airy little laugh when she saw the shock register on his face. It was quite a new look for her to be given, as she was quite plain compared to the beauties back in her home country. But most of the people she'd met in her first day here had given her the same look, so the fact that she was quite pretty here was beginning to sink in.

She strived to tell him why she was here, but her English was a bit of a major fail in her life at this point. All she could manage was: "Je me suis perde..." And she doubted that he knew even a lick of French. But perhaps he would surprise her.

Searching desperately for the words in this boy's native language, she finally found some that halfway made sense, even if she would sound like an idiot voicing them. "Lost. Zat iz..euh...what I ahm." The rising inflection inher voice made it sound as though she was asking a question. Which she partially was. The girl wasn't exactly sure that he could understand her English at the point. But at least she tried.

"Terrible?"

The girl wasn't entirely sure what the word meant, but it sounded an awful lot like a word in French. So she assumed they meant the same thing. "You don't zeem terrible."

The house elves then brought her a steaming croissant on a plate. Sure, it wasn't as good as the ones back home, but it was pretty damn close. And the scent of it reminded her of her hometown. Homesickness threatened to pervade her mind, but she stopped it.

"Oh! I forgot. Je m'appelle Marie," she told him, a timid smile pulling across her face. "Enchanté. He had such a perfect English accent, it wasn't even fair. She envied the fact that he didn't have to struggle for his words. Perhaps she'd be like that some day.</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted gave her a weird look as she spoke. Right, FFrench okay. Perde... okay think now Ted, perdu meant loss, so maybe she meant she was lost. I mean, meuh was like me so that's what he assumed she was saying. But then she found her English words and smiled, he figured it out! Ha, take that Vic, I can figure out French. he thought to himself, but reminded himself that he still had no clue what she was calling him when she called him a crétin.

"Don't worry about your french. I can.. sort of.. understand it. My cousin whose not really my cousin but she's like my cousin but we're in no way related Mum's from Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacouer. After spending some summer's with the family you pick up on a bit of the language." Ted smiled, trying to be helpful. He'd hate to transfer into a completely new school. Especially when they spoke a different language. He wasn't sure how he'd follow it, and how she was managing here at all. "This is the Kitchens by the way. I'm surprised you found it so easily, took me till the end of my second year to figure out how to get in here."

Ted smiled. Okay, so she hadn't heard the rumors, good. It was best that they stay that way. If those things never her out, it would all be for the best anyways. He didn't want his last year at Hogwarts to be filled with hatred. Especially not from new girl, that would be hitting a all time low. "Marie.. nice name. I think my great Aunt was named Marie." Ted smiled.

"So Marie, what brings you to Hogwarts anyways? I mean, why did you transfer? Beauxbatons seems like a great school." Ted said, taking a seat at the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He finally ripped off a piece of his muffin and plopping it into his mouth.

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>"Fleur Delacouer?" she questioned, her eyes lighting up, a smile spreading farther across her face. She pushed back a wisp of thick russet hair and ripped off a piece of her pastry, attempting to find the words as she chewed the warm dough. Finfally, she swallowed and began to trudge through her rough translation.

"I 'ave met 'er. Zees Fleur Delacouer you speak of," she told him, her brow furrowing slightly as she struggled for words, fighting against the urge to lapse back into French. She could tell the boy was having difficulty understanding her as it was, just like she was having a bit of a hard time understanding him. "Eet was...euh...some time ago." No, that really didn't sound right. She shook her head, laughing a bit. "Désolé. My Engleesh iz 'orrendous."

She looked incredulous. "Ze kitchens?" she questioned, before continuing, trying to grasp at words. "We eat 'ere?"

At his next question, she again struggled. But this time, it wasn't just with the language barrier. She was wondering just how much she should tell him. People back in France would have scoffed at her and simply walked away if she told them of her social status. But perhaps it was different here. She wondered.

"Ma mère said eet would be better 'ere for me," she told the boy. What was his name again? Ted? Jesus, she was awful with names. She'd had so many crammed in her head today that she was fit to explode. "More...euh...oppurtunities?" It was phrased like a question, as she wasn't entirely sure that was the correct word. But the recognition that registered on his face seemed to mean that she had it right. Thank God. She'd had enough mess ups today.</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

As she meantion his sort of aunt's name, Ted nodded. "Yeah, I thought you'd know her, she being a Triwizard Champion not too long ago." Ted smiled, watching her struggle through the translation. At the moment he wish he could speak french, so he could help her through the translation. Ted shook his head as she spoke about how horrible her french was. "Believe me, I've heard a lot worse. Vic's first language was french." Ted laughed. "Oh, maybe you know her, since you've met Fleur. Victoire Weasley? She's a seventh year here." Ted paused for a moment, thinking for a moment. "How old are you anyways?" Ted asked, genuiely curious.

Ted held back his laughter at her look. "No no, see the house elves here make us our food, we eat up in the Great Hall. For now, midnight snack are eaten in here." he winked playfully, taking another bit of his muffin and plopping it into his mouth. He pondered, did whoever who was showing her around forget to mention where one of the post important places were? "Hey, who's showing you around, they must've showed you the Great Hall? Or do you not have someone showing you around?" Ted asked.

He could tell by her reply it wasn't something that she wanted to talk about. So he simply nodded his head and gave her a small smile. "Hey, listen, if you want I can show you around a bit, try to use some french so you can understand a bit better if you'd like. I'm just one of those guys who love to help you know?" Ted smiled softly. "I mean, it won't be hard to find me." Ted said, point to his hair, changing it from the mousy brown to a bright turquoise color, then a purple, then orange, lime green, yellow, pink then red before returning to it's normal color.

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>At the mention of the Triwizard Tournament, Marie remembered something that their Headmaster, Dumblebee or something of the likes, had told her when she'd arrived. "Oui. Are you not...euhh...'osting eet again zees year?" she asked, one thin eyebrow raising girlishly. She again brushed back a few wisps of hair, popping another bite of pastry in her mouth.

"Victoire?" she questioned. It was such a French name, so the girl had almost no trouble pronouncing it. In face, it sounded much more feminine and strong under a French tongue than it did an English one. The girl frowned. "I 'ave. She deedn't zeem to..euh-" She made hand gestures, to trying to force her train of thought out. "Pas agréable." She hoped the boy would understand her even if it was quite possible he would just give her a weird look. And that he wouldn't be offended by it. The girl hadn't seemed to like Marie, and had given her dirty looks the whole time Marie and Fleur talked.

"Seexteen," she answered, her large brown eyes watching his face very carefully. Most people thought her younger than she actually was. Perhaps it was her limited English vocabulary. Or maybe it was just the fact that she looked so much younger than she actually was.

She nodded vigorously when he asked if she'd been given a tour. "A boy called Terence." She'd never really learned the word for tour, as she'd never had the need for it before, so she hoped he understood that Terence had given her the tour. At least that would make things a whole lot easier.

Her eyes opened wide at his display of his Metamophi powers. She'd never seen someone do something like that before. Metamorphagi were extremely rare where she came from. It was more common to see partial Veelas and the likes. So naturally, she was pretty stunned when his hair flashed multiple different colors.


Still watching his hair warily she answered, "Oui. Zat would be...très bon."</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted nodded. "Yeah, the other schools declined the invite, after the death in the last tournament. They were afraid of something happening. I put my name in, but never got picked." He explained, shrugging his shoulders. Sure he wanted to get picked, it would've been a great laugh but he didn't hold a grudge on James like Ron had said he had when Harry got picked. It was like faith or something was being played when both Lily and James got picked. He remembered the cheers booming in the Great Hall when both of Harry Potter's kids got chosen.

Ted chuckled. He knew what that meant. "Yeah, Vic gives off that... vibe. Heck, she still gives it to me half the time." Ted chuckled, waving her off. "She either doesn't like you or pretends not to until she gets to know you. She's a hard case that Vic." Ted sighed, shaking his head slightly, thinking of his French cousin.

Ted shook his head. "I can see that, but I thought you were only fifteen. I know how people our age hate hearing their younger but hey, it'll be nice when your older." Ted laughed. "I'm seventeen by the way." he added, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. As she mention Terence he put his cup down. "Oh I know Terence. Yeah he's a good friend of myself and my--" he stopped himself, another word wanting to pop out. "Myself and my friend Rosie." he told her with a nod. He chuckled again. "So really, if you want to find me, look for the hair. If not, look for the giant and the small fry. That would be me and Rosie. I'm almost a foot taller then her." he chuckled, smiling widely. He never understood where she and her brother got their shortness, their Dad was at least three inches taller then Ted. "So, seeing your reaction.." he said, trying to change the subject. "I'm guessing you've never seen a Metamorphagus before?"

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>Recognition registered on the girl's pretty face. She remembered hearing about the awful losses in the last tournament from the Headmistress. Her and the old woman were quite good friends, as they'd talked an awful lot about Marie's future and the likes. "Zat's zimplee affreux, 'eem dying like zat," she mused, her voice riddled with sympathy for the boy who'd died last time the Triwizard Tournament was held. Cedric, was his name?

At the mention that this boy knew Victoire, Marie had automatically become guarded. Anyone who was on familiar terms with such a girl as the Weasley girl wasn't someone the French really would prefer to hang around with. But as Teddy had more described the two's relationship, Marie had begun to feel a pang of pity for the boy. Real French woman were rather fiery, and men as nice as this Teddy shouldn't have to deal with them like he seemed to be.

That's when she thought of something. "She goes 'ere?" the girl asked, her voice laced with concern. Marie would prefer not to run into a specimen like Victoire again. After all, she was at a new school, and things were hard enough as it was. "Oh, mon Dieu." Marie didn't know if she'd survive this year as well as she thought she would.

"Zees Rosie?" she questioned, not missing a beat, her head cocked to the side. She was an intelligent one, and she didn't miss the fact that Ted had looked rather pained when talking about her. "You and ‘er, euhhh, what do you Engleesh call eet? You dated?” she questioned, her face registering a look of pure innocence.

She really would like to know what was going on between the two of them. Just to make later meetings less awkward and to avoid this feeling that she was doing something wrong in talking so intimately with him. In fact, she probably shouldn’t be here at all if he was dating another woman. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious of the way her body was scantily clad. She sighed, wrapping her arms around her knobby knees in a gesture of self-consciousness.

She shook her head. ”What was zat again?” she questioned, ”Mezamorfegueses?” Her dark brown eyes were still wide, watching his hair warily.</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted nodded his head. "Oh yes they told us this years tournament has been checked over a billion times before each champion goes in for the task. It would be pretty terrible if we had another death." he said, looking down at his hands as he spoke. He knew every champion in one way or another, it was pretty frightening that one could die from this. "They were shocked when Noah Dale got picked, not sure if you know him or not, he's a Hufflepuff just like Cedric was. They say he looks a lot like Cedric, weird huh?" Ted smiled, finishing his hot chocolate.

Ted noticed the house elf approach and exchange his cup for a new one. God they were brilliant, trained to know exactly when someone was finished with some thing. "Hey, you got any candy canes?" Ted asked and the house elf nodded, running off to get him one. He turned back to Marie. "Yeah, I'm guessing you and her didn't get off on the best terms when you met eh?" Ted chuckled, sipping his new drink. "Don't worry, me and her are wolfbuds, I'll keep her off ya." Ted promised, sending her a warm smile.

Ted's toes curled together as she asked if he and Rosie were dating. Were seemed to be a key word. Ted sighed sadly and ran his fingers through his hair. "We did date, but I, uh, I, um, I just.. I just screwed up." Ted sighed looking down in his drink. "Really badly. I mean, we've fought before, but this time she didn't let me even talk to her until a week after. But we've gotten pass that." Ted smiled sadly, nodding his head.

A chuckled passed his lips at her attempt. "Metamorphagus." he said slowly. "The ability to change your appearance at will. It's a genetic thing. Me Mum was one too." Ted smiled, turning it turquoise. It was the color of his hair when his grandmother had taken a photo of him with his mum and dad, only a few days prior to their death. The color meant a lot to him then.

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>She nodded vigorously. "Oui," she answered, mulling over the words in her mind before she said them. "Zat would be zimplee...terrible." She smiled to herself at the use of the new word she'd learned that night. Sure, she wasn't sure if it was in the right context, but at least she was trying it out. Her language professor back at Beauxbatons would be proud of her.

Shaking her head, she reached up and pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. "No, I don't believe I 'ave 'ad ze...euhh...pleasure of meeting zis 'Noah'." To Marie, Noah was a strange name. She'd never heard of anyone called by that before, and she found it quite odd. Most of the men in France had quite strong names, all with a little bit of hootspah to them. This Noah character, depending on his name, sounded a tad weak and fragile. Or perhaps the English simply didn't name people for their qualities, but rather just for fun. But, even as she thought of this, she looked at the boy in front of her. His name matched him. Hmm, she thought it strange.

"You, euh, love 'er?" Marie asked, a smile playing on her lips. It wasn't really a question. She could see the answer in his eyes. He adored this girl he spoke of. It was so completely obvious that she didn't even need to voice the thought. It was simply a waste of breath. "Zen you'll get 'er back." Marie sounded so confident in this thought that it wasn't as though there was any question to it. She knew that if you loved someone, they'd come back to you. Although she'd never met this Rosie, she hoped dearly that this Teddy wouldn't get hurt by her. He WAS such a nice boy.

She was slightly surprised by his description of this trait. "Zo..." She paused, thinking. "You could look, euh, completely different ze next time I zee you?" It was a valid question, you had to give her that. Although it was mostly spoken under the fact that she did really want to be able to recognize one of her only friends here at Hogwarts.</sub>

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted chuckled. He could tell she was struggling, but doing a very good job all the same. The way she would pause for long moments and then that French accent of hers would still string along. As she said Noah's name he chuckled again, telling from her voice she didn't really seem bothered to go and find this said Noah Dale. "He's a nice bloke, or well, was. All fell apart for him when he started dating Slytherin and DE member." Ted shook his head, still wondering what he saw in the guy.

As Marie brought up Rosie, and rhetorically asked him if he loved her, a smile crossed Ted;s lips, as they always did when Rosie was mentioned. As she said with confidence that he would win her back, it faltered a bit. "I hope so.. It's crazy, I've never felt like this in my entire life. It hurt so much not to talk to her even for a few days. Hell, it hurt when we were fighting and we wouldn't talk for a few hours!" Ted said, sighing exasperatedly. "But, thanks, ever one says I will, but I'm not sure she's going to trust me again." he said, looking down at his hands.

Ted chuckled as she asked if he'd looked different. "I could, but I probably won't. I like to keep a part of my parents with me, so I usually stay with these features." he said, running a hand down his body like he was showing off a car. "I can either be seen with the brown hair or turquoise, since those are my 'happy' colors. And anything else that looks exotic could be me as well." he explained.

[Marie Devereaux]

<sub>She was trying her best to convey her thoughts and emotions to him. Of course, it wasn't as easy as it seemed, to translate things. It had been harder before, when she hadn't really known the language all too well. Things not spoken in one's native language don't carry as much weight as words that are. They just don't mean the same to bilingual people. Marie had learned that long ago. She could swear up a storm in English and not think anything of it, but thought it un-ladylike to spew cusswords in French.

Marie frowned, confused for a moment. It took her nigh on a half a minute to figure out the phrase 'DE', because first she had to translate and then brainstorm what it could mean. Eventually, the only thing she could come up with that sounded remotely bad was Demonic Ecologist. But that didn't sound right. Then Death Eater popped into her head and she had that 'ahhh' moment of the lightbulb turning on. But then the next part of the puzzle came into play. And this time, she figured she'd just ask. "Slytherin? Zat ees where ze sadique ones go?" She shook her head, closing her eyes and smiling for a moment. "Je m'excuse. I mean, ze, euh..." She snapped her thin fingers, trying to think of the word. Finally, her face lit up. "Ze mean ones!"

Her face stayed lit up and animated as she talked about this love interest that the boy had. She'd never been quite good with love herself, but she'd always been good at giving advice about it. In fact, most things she was good at giving advice about, because she read so many books and knew so much about them. But she'd never been quite so good at applying what she knew to her everyday life. "Eef she loves you too, zen she'll be back." She smiled. "N'inquiéter pas."

At this news, she was elated. At least she'd be able to recognize this boy the next time she saw him. She was already beginning to lose the names of all the people she'd met today. The only two that really stood out were this Teddy boy and the Terence one that had showed her around when she got there. But she doubted she'd remember even those. She was awful with names.</sub>