Written for the QLFC, Season 5, Round 7

Position: Beater 1

Position Prompt: Write about a witch or wizard trying to combine magic and Muggle technology into one device.

Title: 'Skewing The Viewfinder'

Word Count: 1148

Beta(s): The Wanderers

Prompts:
11. (quote) Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. - Edsger Dijkstra
12. (dialogue) "He tried to sell me a box that talked, so I hexed him!"
15. (dialogue) "What do you mean, these pictures don't move?"

Ted Lupin had always been grateful to the Potters. They were part of his family, and while he knew he could count on them for anything, he never quite expected them to take an interest in his photography exhibition. He appreciated it, truly he did, but having so many wizards in a Muggle gallery...

"What do you mean, these pictures don't move?" Lily squinted at Ted's photographs displayed in the Muggle gallery, reaching to tap at the glass. Her voice echoed, and Ted flinched, waiting for someone or something to go wrong.

"Don't touch them, stupid!" James caught her by the wrist, "It's written all over the place, 'Do not touch'. Or haven't you learned to read yet?"

"I'm ten, not two!" she snapped.

"Well, start acting like it. Merlin."

"Strange, I'm almost certain I called her Lily Luna, not Merlin…" Their mother appeared behind them and placed a firm hand on James' shoulder. "You, James Sirius Potter, will be nice to your siblings today."

James swallowed thickly, "Yes, Mum."

"Good." She reached to take Lily's hand, but Lily folded her arms and pretended to be very interested in a photograph of a bee carrying a tiny flower.

Ted sighed heavily, casting an glance over to Albus, who was sitting on a bench reading a book. James snatched it out of his hands and scolded him for being rude, and then Ginny scolded James for being so aggressive. Three against one was unfair, but Ginny could handle it.

A tug pulled on his sleeve, "Teddy," Lily said, as she dragged him over to the photo with the bee. "Can't you make it move? I think it would be better if we could see the bee zipping off to bring it to the queen bee. Don't you have a magic camera? Why did you use a Muggle one? Pictures are better when they move."

"They can be," Ted agreed, "but photography is no more about the camera you use than computer science is about computers. It's about capturing a moment, freezing it in time forever. That bee's probably long gone…" He avoided looking at her. "Uh, back to their hive, with the flower."

Lily looked suspicious, but asked nothing of the fate of the bee. "Yeah, but…I still think it would be better if your pictures moved. They look better than magic photos, but they don't move."

"Well, that's your opinion, Lily." Ted patted her on the head, and she tried to swat his hand away.

Lily continued to frown at his photographs; she asked her mother if she could make them move, which resulted in a ten minute long lecture about not doing magic in front of Muggles, ever. Teddy had gotten that same lecture many times from Ginny. Lily's lip quivered, and she looked to Teddy for help. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, and went back to mingling; it was a lecture she needed to hear.

It was the wee hours of the morning when Lily Luna slipped from her bed, taking the book she had stashed under her pillow with her, and snuck into her brother's room. Albus was losing his wand all the time, and he'd hardly notice it missing for a few minutes while he slept. Swiping Ted's camera would be the issue. Or would it?

It sat on his desk, in his room - which was a complete mess. Going in could result in Lily stepping on something and giving herself away.

"Accio," she whispered quietly, pointing the wand at Ted's camera. It flew at her with such speed that she almost didn't catch it. Ted stirred and Lily froze, until he rolled over and seemed to continue his blissful sleep.

His photos would be much better if they moved, and this would be the best way to do it, Lily thought. She'd read up on loads of spells, and was certain the one she had made up would work. She knew her grandfather had made up spells before; surely she had a gift for it. Still, her hands were shaking and sweating. What if it didn't work? What if she broke it? What if -?

"What are you doing?!"

Lily yelped, sparks shooting out of the wand in her hand and hitting the camera. It seemed to vibrate and glow for a moment, then settled.

"Merlin's pants, James, look what you made me do!" she hissed.

"What I made you do?! What're you doing with Albus's wand? And Ted's camera?" He gasped. "Don't tell me…"

"I'm just trying to make his pictures better!" she snapped.

"You probably broke it, you stupid-! Ugh!" James snatched the camera from her, pressing buttons and flicking a switch on the side.

"I didn't! I didn't break it!"

"Shh! Shut up! Do you want to wake everyone up and find out?! Come on," He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. "I can fix this, I'll make the camera make moving pictures, if you just keep quiet. Give me a second to get my wand. Fuck's sake…"

Lily gasped, opening her mouth to announce that she was telling Mum he had said a Very Bad Word, but shut it.

James returned with his wand, and sleepily stumbling Albus. "Why'd you bring him?!"

"Shut up, Lily. We're fixing your mistake. Albus, we're making this camera take wizard photographs."
"I'm bad at charms," Albus mumbled. "Can I go back to bed?"

"Charms is my thing, Transfiguration is yours. I don't know what she did."

Albus grinned dopily, "Aww, thanks."

"Shut up and help."

Lily handed the wand to Albus, mumbling an apology. He just smiled and began to work on the camera with James.

But things seemed to go from bad to worse. The screen flickered on and off, switches started moving all over the camera and, finally, it began to squawk so loudly it woke both their parents.

"We're in so much trouble…"

"Well, anyway, he tried to sell me a box that talked, so I hexed him!" Fred chirped.

"You're worse than Granddad," Rose sighed heavily. "You're lucky my mum covered for you. You could've had your wand taken off you!"

Lily stuffed her mouth with a chocolate frog and looked at her brothers, who had both busied themselves with picking lint off their clothes. She glanced at Ted, who was busy taking photos with his Muggle camera. Their aunt had somehow managed to fix it, and Ted seemed to be none the wiser that his camera had been tampered with. Underage witches and wizards weren't supposed to do magic outside of school, but there were some perks to being the child of Harry Potter.

"Hey," Charlie pointed at the strap of Ted's camera, "Wasn't it blue before?"

Lily felt everything inside her coil.

"Yeah, I know." Ted looked at her, and winked.

He knew. Well, maybe a little bit wiser.