"Rose! Hey Rose, you have to see this!" A smile crept on my face, like every time Teddy called my name. I was reading in the den; obviously he had come along with Lily and her brothers.

"Hello, Teddy," I said, steadying my voice so he wouldn't see how giddy he made me. "What is it you want me to see again?"

"Me, look at me." Finally I looked up from my book to see that Teddy had given himself green hair and orange polka dots, which harmonized with his hideous sweater.

"You… match?" I ventured. Normally he wouldn't get so worked up about matching.

"Look a bit closer, Rose."

"At what?"

"At me!" he repeated incredulously.

"Oh, honestly, Teddy! What am I supposed to be looking at?" As always, I grew exasperated with him because he wasn't very direct.

"It's his hands, Rosie," Lily explained, strolling into the room. She was my cousin and one of my best friends. However, she was two years younger than I was, so this would be her first year at Hogwarts. It was more than likely that we wouldn't be able to see that much of each other.

I glanced at Teddy's hands. They were… green and orange. "That's nice…" I hedged, not wanting to hurt Teddy's feelings at my utter lack of enthusiasm.



"It's cool, right?" Teddy's eager smile lit up his entire face. "I'm going to do it when we get back to Hogwarts, only with my house colors."

"Don't you dare, Teddy!" Lily exclaimed. "It's totally ridiculous."

"Oh, so if you don't like it, then it must be really cool." Lily rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah, it's definitely awesome," James added, entering the den. He was a year older than me, the same age as Teddy. "I'm sure it will impress Victoire." He flicked Teddy's ears as he walked by. "Hi, Rose."

I nodded in answer, looking down at my book again. Victoire, oh how I loathed her. Teddy was obviously head over heels for the bloody girl, and it was almost certain that they were going to get together when we went back to school. Why couldn't he see that she was easy?

Suddenly, Albus appeared in front of me. "'Ello," He said. He was in the same year as I was, but in Hufflepuff while I resided in Ravenclaw Household. James was in Gryffindor, along with Teddy, of course. Victoire was in Hufflepuff with Albus.

"Can't believe we are in our third year now, how about you?" he questioned me, working up a fit of excitement like those he was prone to.

I shrugged, hoping my cousin could take the hint that I wanted to read. It didn't work, to my dismay.

"I've grown so much that I needed a new robe, so I got James's old one. It's much better than the one I used to have, less holes and all. What about you, did you get a new robe? Did you get taller? How's your cat, is she doing well? Is she old enough to take to Hogwarts this year? Or are you going to take a pet at all?" Albus continued rambling as I continued to lose patience.

Finally, when he pressed me about if I was going to wear black shoes or blue shoes on the train, I closed my book and stood up. "Albus, please," I started sternly, my hot temper fueling me.

I opened my mouth to go on, but Lily, recognizing the look on my face, jumped up and said, "Rose! Let's go see what the adults are doing."

"Oh, okay. I suppose I'll be left here…" I didn't catch the rest of what Albus was saying for Lily had dragged me out of the room.

I smiled weakly at her. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I mainly did it so that I wouldn't have to hear you two argue." Lily made a face. She stopped suddenly and asked, "Where's Hugo?"

I shrugged. "He's probably with Fred, doing Merlin-knows-what."

Lily looked horror-stricken, her pretty eyes widening beyond comparison. "Fred's here?"

I merely chuckled. Fred was just like his father: crafty, prankish, and a complete annoyance. Lily didn't like him much ever since he stuck a mud-covered frog down her blouse when she was five. Fred was in Gryffindor, and he, James, and Teddy made up an inseparable trio. "Come on now. At least Roxy is here with him. It could be much, much worse."

Lily brightened considerably at this. She and Roxanne would be entering the year together, and for Lily's sake, I hoped they would be in the same house. Hugo was entering the year with them. "Where is she?"

"Probably with the adults, smart girl." The truth was that I didn't know where she was, but she did like to hang out with the parents, so I went with that assumption. My guesses were usually pretty spot-on as my father once told me.



We entered the kitchen; it was large and spacious, and also pink. There was something cooking itself on the stove; whatever it was, it smelled sweet and fruity and delicious. As usual, Mother was bickering with Father. "What do you mean, 'I don't have a clue where Hugo is'?! He's your son; you are supposed to look after him!"

"Well, if it helps 'Mione, Fred's gone, too. They are probably off together." Uncle George had the usual mischievous glint in his eyes. Mum, however, was not amused. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, that does not help." Her voice was clipped, fury in every word.

"Uncle Harry!" I called out, trying to break the tension. "Aunt Ginny!" The adults turned and faced us. I went up to all of my aunts and uncles and hugged them. After the hug-fest was over, I went back to Lily to see that she was talking animatedly with Roxy.

After a few minutes of conversation, Hugo was forgotten, and then there was a sudden Pop!.

Uncle Charlie arrived with Victoire. "Sorry for being late; Louis started to pitch a fit, and Fleur's stuck there taking care of the baby, poor thing. Dominique wanted to stay with them, so it'll just be the two of us."

The adults started to talk again; I think my mother said something about leaving the mother with the baby was rude of him when Victoire came up to us.

"'Ello, zare. 'Zis nice to zee you again, Rose, Lillian, Roxanne." Lily didn't point out that her name was not shortened, it was just Lily.

It took every ounce of manners I had not to roll my eyes at Victoire and her fake accent. She picked it up from her mother. Speaking of her mother, Victoire was exactly like her. Her beauty, her muscle, her brain. Or lack thereof. I failed at repressing a snicker.



Victoire narrowed her eyes at me but said nothing. It was obvious that we had mutual feelings for each other. She walked on by us, and I wished that Dominique had come instead of her. Dominique had the Weasley hair, but a veela-like face. She was considerably nicer than her sister and less stuck-up, always a bonus at family gatherings.

"Hello everybody." Hugo entered the kitchen, James accompanying him.

"HUGO!" Mother screeched. "Where have you been, honey?" She ran over to hug him.

"Out catching frogs," Fred supplied. Lily screamed loudly and raced out of the room. Fred watched her exit curiously. He grinned. "I was only kidding," he whispered to us. "We were smuggling dung bombs into our suitcases."

"Hi, Victoire," I turned to see Teddy shyly enter the packed room.

Victoire smiled widely. "'Ello, zare, Teddy, I have missed you."

His hair turned bright pink, which meant he was embarrassed. "Can I… Can I talk to you for a second?" He motioned over to the corner of the kitchen where it was slightly less chaotic.

Jealousy ripped at my soul, for I knew exactly what he was going to ask her.

I turned on my heel, leaving, so that I would not have to hear everyone fuss about how Teddy had finally asked darling Victoire to go out sometime. I heard a squeal of excitement from Victoire and realized that my departure wasn't quick enough. "What a wonderful way to start a new year," I grumbled to myself, the sarcasm biting on others ears, but to me, it was simply appropriate.