“OK, it’s this way! Keep your eyes closed! No peeking!”
“Jesus, Tori, where’re we going?”
“You’ll see, you’ll see!”
There was an“OOF!” and a muttered curse word as Teddy stumbled over a tree root.
“Agh! Tori, c’mon, take off the blindfold; I want to see where we’re going!Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”
“Stop whining! And no, I absolutely refuse to take your blindfold off.”
“You’re so mean!”
“I am not! I’m very nice. And when you see where we’re going, you’ll
definitely agree with me.”
“Tori!”
“Teddy!”
“Tori, c’mon, take it off!”
“No!”
Teddy glared from under his blindfold. “Fine. You suck.”
“Hey!”
“OK, not really... Tori?”
“Yeah?”
“TAKE THE DAMN BLINDFOLD OFF!”
“Fine.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“ARGH!”
I giggled, finding the whole thing quite amusing. “C’mon, Teddy. We’re almost there.”
“About time!”
I stepped out of the dense trees and into Faerieland. “OK. You can look.”
Teddy ripped his blindfold off and blinked a few times. When his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, his jaw dropped.
“Bloody hell,” he said weakly as he turned in a slightly dizzy circle, taking in the clearing, which was particularly beautiful today- the sun was dazzlingly bright and more “Faeries” flew through the air than ever before. The Earth’s green dress had been washed by last night’s rain, and smelled fresh and clean, the colours somehow intensified. In short, it was the perfect day to see Faerieland for the first time.
Teddy turned to me, face glowing. “Tori, this place is
brilliant!”
I blushed. “You- you like it?”
“Tori, it’s- wow.”
I looked away from him.
“This is where I go when I’m looking for special things,” I murmured, half hoping he wouldn’t hear.
For a second, the only sounds in the clearing were the sounds of Teddy’s and my breathing.
“I think I know what you mean,” he said eventually.
Oh. He did hear me.
I laughed weakly. “If I’d said that to Dom, she’d have called me crazy.”
“Nah, you’re not crazy,” he said, half-joking. “Just… different.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Is different good?” I asked suspiciously.
He grinned. “Different is good.”
***
The snow underfoot crunched with every step I took and each time I exhaled, a puff of mist curled into the sky. My teddy bear dangled from one gloved hand and a piece of paper was clutched in the other. I had memorised what it said, of course, as I had with every other letter he’d sent me since September. But this one was different. This one held bad news.
Dear Tori.
How are you? I’m fine, but I have tons of homework... it’s all quite easy though, so I’m not too worried about it.
I hope your nightmares aren’t too bad and I hope they’re not getting worse. I went to the library again and spent a few more hours looking through books. Still haven’t found anything that might help... I reckon I’ve looked through every single Divination book in the place and a few other types, too. I really hope I can find something to help you, though. You’ll be OK for a while longer, right?
The Christmas holidays are coming up! I’m not coming home though, I’m going to Harry and Ginny’s house. But I expect I’ll see you at Christmas dinner at the Burrow.
I’ve got to go finish my Transfiguration homework now... see you on Christmas, Tori!
Love,
Teddy.
So one, maybe two, days with Teddy and he was off to school again... and then I wouldn’t see him again for ages. I sighed and looked around at Faerieland, then down at my bear, wondering if Teddy was somehow looking for special things when he tried to find a way to help me, wondering if there were any special things left to find.
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