Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.

AN: Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition round 8 as a temporary substitute for our seeker. The character I'm writing for is Victoire.

"What do you think of this one then?" Victoire asked as she held up a long white dress with a swirling black pattern on it. James just rolled his eyes.

"If I said that it looks perfect, would you let me go?" he asked plaintively and Victoire scowled at him.

"I want this to BE perfect James and you're not helping!" she said with a slight huff of annoyance, before frowning at the dress and shaking her head. "And besides which, it's all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong!"

"Then why-"

"Maybe this one will do better?" she asked hopefully, holding up a knee length black dress with black leggings. She frowned again and tossed it aside. "No, that's too…black."

"Why am I even here?" James asked the ceiling as he looked upwards. Victoire however didn't appear to hear him as she pulled out yet another dress, this time a long and flowery thing that seemed to float on the air.

"Maybe I should be going for a more Earth-Mother type look? I think I could pull it off after all," she brushed a strand of long blond hair out of her eyes. "Then again, I've already used that look before at the Yule Ball a few years ago and I don't want to get into the habit of repeating myself. Especially for something as important as this. No, no, no, I have to wear something else, something new ad exciting and-"

"Merlin Vic, you're going with Teddy!" James snapped with a slight hint of exasperation. "You could be wearing a sack and he'd STILL thing you were the most beautiful girl in the world!"

"This is a Ministry Ball James!" Victoire snapped back with a look of exasperation on her face. "I want to look right for this! You might not understand, but-"

"James, can you help Dom in the back garden please?" her Uncle Charlie asked before she could enter a full scale rant. Shooting his uncle a grateful smile, James took his opportunity and left as though the very dementors of Azkaban were after him.

"What's really bothering you Vic?" he asked as he turned to face her and Victoire raised her nose a little haughtily and Charlie was sharply reminded of her mother.

"Nothing is really bothering me apart from the fact that I have nothing to wear!"

Charlie surveyed the dresses hanging in her wardrobe and on the floor and even the t-shirt and skirt she was wearing.

"You definitely look like you have nothing to wear," he said dryly, earning him a scowl from his niece.

"You wouldn't understand!" she growled and she spun on her heel and started rifling through her dresses once more.

"I might if you bothered to tell me," Charlie countered, before shaking his head. "You know, if you were a dragon-"

"I'M NOT A DRAGON!" she yelled at him and Charlie stuck a finger in his ear and twisted slightly.

"You are very tetchy though," he replied with a slight wince. "More so than any other date you've had with a certain Metamorphmagus of your acquaintance."

"Well…if you must know…this is the first time that I've attended one of these things and it's the first time Teddy's attended one of these things and I'm scared that he'll meet one of these sophisticated pureblood girls with amazingly good looks and wit and charm and I'll just fade away in the background as his schoolgirl girlfriend and then he'll dump me for one of these women and…" her words trailed off as she saw her uncle shaking his head.

"I'll tell you something about these Ministry balls. They're full of people who are so overstuffed with their own importance that it's a wonder that they can actually fit at all for the most part."

"But what-"

"Secondly, with your veela genes and vibrant personality, I think the two of you will stand out far above anyone else at the ball," he continued, cutting Victoire off before she could go any further. He paused for a moment and Victoire tried to speak once more.

"Surely that-"

"Finally," he said, cutting her off once more. "If Teddy is really worth it, then I guarantee that no amount of sophisticated ladies will turn his head." Charlie paused and looked firmly at his niece. "You two have been head over heels in love since you were toddlers. He's not going to throw it all away for some lady he's only known for one night and he'd be a complete fool to do so if you ask me."

"That doesn't stop me from worrying," Victoire said with a slight pout and Charlie smirked.

"Well if it all goes as badly as you think it will, I can always offer him a few hexes and jinxes from your very angry male relatives descending on his head. Besides, I've got a bet that you'll marry him one day. Have you ever known me to bet on the wrong outcome?"

"Uncle!" she scolded him, but her eyes were amused. "My love life is not something for you to bet on!"

"Well at least it stopped you worrying," he replied with a smirk. "Now pick a dress that you like and run with it. Chances are, you'll be the most beautiful woman there and Teddy will be the one worrying."

Victoire paused for a moment and allowed her eyes to wander over her wardrobe once more. With a smile, she reached forward and grabbed a pretty knee length white dress with white jacket.

"So what do you think of this one?" she asked and Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Nevermind, it's perfect! Thanks uncle Charlie!" she said and she rushed to the bathroom to start getting ready. With a smile, Charlie stood up and walked downstairs to the garden.