Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor anything affiliated with it. A/N: This chapter was edited on the 5/11/2015.

"They played at hearts as other children might play at ball; only, as it was really their two hearts that they flung to and fro, they had to be very, very handy to catch them, each time, without hurting them." – Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

Age Eleven

It had started off innocent enough. After the excitement of finally arriving at Hogwarts had progressively worn off over the week, James sat with some of his cousins in the Gryffindor common room, playing a round of Exploding Snap. Unfortunately for the other Gryffindors in the common room, all the Weasley's were rather competitive; which often resulted in quarrels involving screaming, hexing and punching.

"I won that round fair and square!" Fred would protest as the others accused him of cheating.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Oh, he so did!" Dominique would declared firmly, putting her hands on her hips. "What do you think Vic?"

Victoire would sigh, as she did each time the Weasley's quarrelled so childishly (which was quite frequently, she found) and take a good ten minutes to decide. By then, the next round would have started and the others would have forgotten about the matter.

"Uh, Vic, we don't care anymore," they'd say, turning back to the game.

"That's the point," she'd say cheekily, laughing at their reactions. She'd found over the course of the years that the Weasley's were quite a gullible bunch and fell for the same trick, not only once, but practically every day.

But on that particular day, those sequence of events didn't happen as usual. This time the argument that James was cheating, by changing the rules whenever he began to lose.

"Hey, it's more fun when you play with the Bavarian Rules!" He said defensively as the others began to moan.

"Yeah sure, Jamie," Dominique said, rolling her eyes.

"You little cheat, you," Victoire said, mirroring her sister's eye roll, but not without a hint of affection.

"Gee, Jamie Poo, I'd let you off with it, but you're just getting too bad to ignore," Fred declared dramatically, waving his arms about. "You're breaking my heart."

"But I didn't do anything!" James shouted exasperatedly. "You guys are just jealous that you're all losing to a firstie!"

"Hey, I'm a firstie too!" Fred shouted back, clutching his heart. "Or have you forgotten me so soon after getting here?"

"Fred, cut the dramatics," Dominique snapped and crossed her arms, a wicked glint appearing in her eyes.

"Oh no," Victoire said worriedly.

"Oh no what?" James and Fred said in unison.

"She's got that look in her eyes?"

"What look in her eyes?"

"The same ones you get when you think of a new prank."

Their eyes widened as they comprehended the seriousness of what Victoire was saying.

"Godric no!" James cried. "Listen Dom, I love you so much-"

"-and I'd never do anything to hurt you!" Fred pleaded.

"So don't do whatever you're going to do!"

Dominique rolled her eyes, laughing at her two younger cousins, who sat on their knees, grovelling.

"Relax," she said. "It's not that bad."

"So what is it exactly?" Victoire interrupted, grabbing her two-way mirror which sat carelessly on one of the couches. "Hold on- Teddy's going to want to hear this."

There was a moment of rare silence in the common room as Victoire contacted him, Dominique watching James carefully so he wouldn't be able to escape to his dormitory.

"I've got him!" Victoire exclaimed, gushing as her boyfriend's face appeared on the mirror.

"Teddy!" James and Fred cried, Dominique waving in greeting.

"What's this?" Teddy said, looking at the four Weasleys in confusion.

"We caught James cheating in Exploding Snap," Dominique said loudly, drowning out James's indignant protests.

"Ohhhh," Teddy said, suddenly understanding. He had experienced his fair share of Exploding Snap arguments, wincing as he remembered a particularly unpleasant quarrel in which Dominique ended up pulling a tuft of his hair out, the others applauding her. Since then, he had learnt to never, ever, mess with the other Weasley kids.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked and Dominique smirked.

"Save me from her!" James begged. "She's mental!"

"Well, my plan was to get a friend to decide," Dominique begun slowly.

"Wait- that's not bad," James said, startled.

"It's actually not," Victoire said, looking surprised. Of all the Weasley's, Dominique was not known for being merciful.

"Wait- just listen. You play three rounds with them. But here's the catch: if they win, you have to run around the entire school in only a pair of Lucy's knickers."

"Hey!" Lucy protested from the other side of the common room, glaring as her girlfriend, Hunter, burst out laughing. "I did not volunteer my knickers for the loser treatment."

Dominique shrugged. "You have now."

"Okay," James said, breathing deeply. "Who cares, I'll win anyway."

"Still not that bad," Victoire repeated, Teddy nodding in agreement.

"So who's this friend of yours?" Fred asked and Dominique grinned wickedly.

"Oi, Moira!"

"Who's Moira?" Four voices asked at once. Dominique simply shook her head, pointing a girl, who snapped the book she was reading shut and walked over to them.

"This is Moira guys," Dominique said sweetly, smiling at the girls. "Say hi to Moira."

"Hi," they said, glancing at each other, confused. The girl looked to be about the same age as James and Fred and like the other first year girls, still had quite a slight figure. She wasn't that tall either, standing at an approximate of 5.2 feet (or so Teddy thought, as he was fairly good with judging physical appearances). What intrigued the Weasleys most was her hair- a curly, black mop that sat atop her head, swaying as she walked, as if it had a mind of its own. She, of all the people at Hogwarts, was certainly not what they had expected to be Dominique's revenge.

"Hi," she said smoothly, indifferent to the whispers of confusion in the common room. "I'm Moira Thomas."

"Oh!" Teddy exclaimed, breaking the awkward silence that the Weasleys had temporarily lapsed into.

"What?" Victoire asked.

"Nothing," he said sheepishly. "You're Dean and Demelza's daughter, right?"

Moira's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"My dad, uh, well, godfather, is friends with your dad."

"Cool."

"Anyway," Dominique broke in. "M's really good at games."

"I don't lose," Moira announced proudly.

"Yeah? James said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't lose either."

Fred coughed. "Uh, yeah you do."

"Whatever," James said, punching Fred in the shoulder. "I always win in the end."

"Yeah?" Moira said, a collective gasp of 'ohhhs' from the spectators in the common room following. "Bring it."

It turned out that Moira wasn't lying. She wasn't good at games- she was great at them.

"Ha!" She said triumphantly, tapping her wand on the final pair of matching cards. "That's ten full rounds in a row!"

"Man, you are so screwed," Fred said, shaking his head. James scowled in response, before sighing. "Why did you agree to do another seven rounds?"

"Alright, you did okay Thomas." James said begrudgingly.

"Are you kidding me?" Moira laughed. "I kicked your ass!"

"Whatever."

"Luce!" Dominique called.

"Yeah?"

"Find me the worst pair of knickers you own."

"Okay," Lucy smirked. "But they'll probably be Hunter's."

"Hey!" Hunter said indignantly, whacking Lucy's head. "They aren't that bad!"

"Do you have unicorns on them?" Dominique inquired.

"No! Well, maybe…"

"Perfect!" Dominique said gleefully, clapping her hands. "Get ready James, after dinner you will be taking a rather chilly trip around the school!"

"Damn it, Thomas," James said, glaring at the beaming girl. "This is all your fault."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Oh and Jamie," Dominique said, standing up to leave for dinner. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

James only crossed his arms in response, before turning back to Moira.

"I swear Thomas, I will beat you next time," he promised.

"Oh, so they'll be a next time?"

"You bet there will be."

"Right then," she said, smiling. "'Till the next game."

James smirked in response, watching as she stood up and left with some other first year girls, who whispered into her ears, giggling loudly.

"Mate, you are so screwed," Fred said gleefully, Teddy agreeing and laughing through the two-way mirror. But James only smiled, thinking of the mysterious girl who had beat him. He was determined to beat her and perhaps he would, over the course of the next few years.

Thanks for reading! Since this is a new story, it would be nice to get some reviews, but don't feel pressured to :)

I plan on writing six more chapters (oneshot style) that follow the course of their Hogwarts schooling (so basically one for each year). They may not all be as light hearted, in fact, I think there will be some sadder ones, but we'll see. Also, as an Easter egg, the physical characteristics behind Moira are inspired by the actress Serayah McNeill (aka Tiana on Empire!). Till the next time,

Knutforyourthoughts