To an outsider, Victoire Weasley had the perfect life. She lived in a beautiful cottage in Ottery St Catchpole; a picturesque and serene village mostly inhabited by wizards, with her long-term boyfriend Teddy Lupin. Being an intelligent witch, she had been offered a job at the Ministry shortly after leaving school and had quickly worked her way up from an assistant to a valued member of the Magical Law Enforcement team. She had a large family, boasting a brother and sister as well as a large number of cousins, all of whom she had a close friendship with. The icing on the cake that was Victoire Weasley's life was that she was beautiful: being one-eighth Veela certainly had it's perks. Like the older female generations of her Mum's side of the family, she had long silvery-blonde hair, flawless pale skin and piercing blue eyes.

Yes, Victoire's life was one that was envied by many. However, the many could not see the cracks that lay beneath the perfect surface.

It was true, Victoire and Teddy appeared to be the perfect couple. Childhood sweethearts: they had now been together for five years. They had jumped in to their relationship with both feet, Teddy had confessed his love for Victoire on their first date: she had returned the gesture. When Teddy bought the house in Ottery St Catchpole with the inheritance money from his parents and Grandparents, (Andromeda had unfortunately passed away four years previously) he had asked Victoire to live with him the day she finished Hogwarts and she had immediately accepted. Their fast-paced love had raised several eyebrows and most of the family had expressed concerns; suggesting the couple took things slower. The pair refused; they were in love.

Much to Victoire's frustration, their whirlwind romance had stopped there, it now had all the excitement of a gentle breeze. It wasn't that she didn't love Teddy; she did, with all her heart. She just felt that their relationship had come to a standstill. Her friends from school and work were getting married and having babies with men they had known half the time that she and Teddy had been together, and yet he was showing no signs of wanting to take the next step in their relationship. She had hinted heavily on more than one occasion that she would love to get married, each time with less subtlety and each time it fell on deaf ears. Her frustration with Teddy's lack of commitment had started to cause problems between the pair, she would snap at him unnecessarily and glare at him whenever the topic of marriage or babies was brought up in the company of others. In return, Teddy would voice his confusion and annoyance at his girlfriend's behaviour thus causing an argument.

As if the deterioration of her once perfect relationship wasn't enough to be getting on with, Victoire was also having trouble at work. She had gone from being an assistant to working in the Magical Law Enforcement within a year of being at the Ministry. Her superiors had always been incredibly impressed by her performance, she was punctual, hard-working and always enthusiastic no matter the task she was given. She was offered her current position without having an interview; word-of-mouth had been enough of a reference point for her to be promoted. She had been thrilled to be offered the job, having always been interested in Magical Laws. Her delight in the job increased massively when her favourite cousin, James, began working at the Ministry too. He was two years younger than Victoire but equally as intelligent. When a position had come up for an assistant to her boss, Giles Ambrose; a plump, balding man with a kind smile, she had personally recommended James for the job. Like Victoire, he had started working there as soon as he left Hogwarts and was now working alongside her in the department. They made an excellent team, reports were handed in long before deadlines and they had successfully dealt with everything from splinching floo powder to bewitched broomsticks. The problem now was that she had been in the same job for three years. Higher positions had come and gone, every time Victoire had expressed her interest but the jobs had always gone to someone else, someone 'more experienced'. The first few times this had happened, Victoire had been disappointed but accepted that she hasn't been at the Ministry for long and it was perfectly understandable that those who had been there longer and gained more experience were better suited for the jobs. Lately though, it had become increasingly frustrating, seeing people who were far less intelligent than herself being given jobs they were completely unqualified for. Ever the professional, Victoire would offer them get congratulations whilst inwardly cursing them and imagining them being jinxed.

Soon enough, Victoire and James' boss, Giles, announced that he would be retiring, hinting heavily that they were looking to replace him with someone who already worked in the department. Victoire knew that he was referring to her. This was going to be it; the promotion she had been waiting for, and quite frankly, deserved. Victoire Weasley: Head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it had a certain ring to it.

After finding out the news, she had practically skipped through her front door, calling out for Teddy. She couldn't wait to tell him the news.

"There you are!" she gushed, after finding him in the garden. He was obviously in the middle of de-gnoming, a particularly short and surly looking one shot out of reach whilst Teddy was momentarily distracted by the arrival of his girlfriend; she never failed to take his breath away.

"Bugger!" he cursed, seeing the gnome dart behind a rose bush. "I've been chasing that one for an hour. Nevermind, how was your day love?" he asked, greeting her with a kiss.

"Amazing! Old man Ambrose is retiring. Said they were looking 'internally' for his replacement. This is it Teddy, I'm finally getting my promotion!"

Teddy grinned and pulled Victoire into a tight hug. "That's brilliant! I'm so proud of you, Vic. When do you start?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. See, it's not official that the job is mine yet, but they'll be announcing it this week and I just know it's mine."

Teddy's smile faded slightly. "I've got total faith in you babe, but just don't get too excited, yeah?"

"What do you mean, 'don't get too excited'? Do you think they'll give it to someone else?" Victoire's tone was accusatory, she raised her eyebrows at Teddy, who thought carefully before responding.

"No, no of course not. I'm just saying, we've had these thoughts before and it's only ended in disappointment. I would hate for it to happen again, remember: there's not just you in the department."

"I know there's not just me. Think about it logically though; Lucinda only works part time so she can spend time with her kids, she's always said they come first, Andreas has only been there for five minutes, James too. That leaves me. It has to be me this time Teddy."

He took her hand in his and said, "I know, I'm just saying not to get excited until they tell you for sure, that's all."

Victoire pulled her hand from his and glared at him. "You can't just be happy for me, can you? My work life is taking a huge step in the right direction and you have nothing but doubts. At least something is changing around here."

"What-" Teddy began, but Victoire cut him off.

"Just leave it. Thanks for the support." She turned on her heel, hair whipping over her shoulder, and stormed back into the house.

As with all of their fights, Teddy left Victoire alone until she had calmed down enough to be in the same room as him. He knew that this was her way of telling him she was ready for him to talk to her again, she was never the one to initiate their conversation. Sure enough, after Victoire had showered and changed into her pyjamas, she entered the kitchen, where Teddy was sitting at the dining table reading the paper.

"Tea?" he asked her tentatively.

"Please." was her response, with a small smile his way.

Teddy knew that he was forgiven, providing there was no further mention of their argument. He desperately wanted to ask her what she had meant by things changing, but knew her well enough not to ask, it would cause more arguments and he wouldn't find the answers he was looking for anyway. She would tell him in her own time, as always.

Victoire had been right about the announcement at work, just two days after sharing the news of his retirement, Giles had told the team that he would be announcing his successor that afternoon. He had not asked her officially yet, but Victoire had always expressed her desire to become a department head, Giles must have known that there was no need to ask her officially; she would accept the job in a heartbeat.

The morning dragged, as Victoire had expected it to. She and James had finished their paperwork for the week the previous day and, short of an emergency owl arriving, there was nothing to do but wait. James was quiet, busying himself with tidying his desk. Lucinda, a pretty witch in her mid-thirties spent the morning reassuring Victoire that the job was hers, without a doubt; giving her the support that Teddy should have two days ago.

Eventually, the afternoon arrived. Giles had gathered Victoire, James, Andreas and Lucinda in the office they shared together to tell them all the news. Victoire held her breath in anticipation as her boss began to speak.

"As you all know, this week is my last one working at the Ministry. After thirty five years working here, I'm sincerely looking forward to my retirement, though I will miss you all, you're by far my favourite team I've had." he grinned at them as they rolled their eyes, he said that about every team. "As sad as I am to be giving up my post as department head, I have absolute faith that my successor will do a fantastic job; they have never let me down in their time here so far, and I know when I retire, they won't let you down either. As the youngest department head Magical Law Enforcement has ever had, I would like to introduce your new boss," he paused for dramatic effect.

Victoire readied herself to take a step forward, wondering if she should have prepared a speech. Before she could begin to formulate a sentence to thank Giles, he spoke again, saying two words she never expected.

"James Potter."

a/n This is the first next gen story I've written (its for a writing challenge on HPFF site) I'd love some feedback!