Disclaimer: All characters, but Vertumnus and Nixie, are by JKR.

Author's Notes: Sevenoaks is a district (and a town) of Kent, like Mid-Beds is short for Mid-Bedfordshire. They say that Kent is the Garden of England, so I think it's likely 'Mona was born there, and about Dedalus, well, it's canon. And there is a town in the Mid-Beds called Flitwick, so I have always thought he was born around there...
Thanks to Di, who betaed it...

DEDICATED TO OSUSprinks.

Sevenoaks, Kent, 1949

"The Mid-Beds champion?" he mumbled, staring at the sports page of the Prophet. "It's a hard row to hoe, but Mr. Violet will dig it..."
"I will hoe in the orchards, Daddy, stay here and don't get tired, you and Mr. Violet," his little girl prattled. "We'll have tomatoes and cabbages ready sooo soon!"
Vertumnus Sprout laughed, but he was touched. She was so sweet. She looked so much like her mother.
"Forget that. I didn't mean... no, 'Mona, you won't get dirty again! Mr. Violet... er, Mr. Diggle is coming for dinner." He pushed the newspaper away and tried to fix her hair a little. "Nixie will help you to choose a nice dress."
She ran out the room, screaming for their house-elf.

"Mr. Diggle is always dressed in violet... not purple or lavender or lilac, I mean... this is why they call him Mr. Violet, you know. He's nice. He challenges people casting charms with his miiiighty wand and he always overcomes!"
"Please stay still, Miss Sprout, how can Nixie put your shoes on, if you keep swinging your legs this way?" the elf said patiently.
She stopped moving, but went on talking. "What are the midbeds? Something where you sleep in the middle?"
Nixie was born in that house and she had never left the district of Sevenoaks, so she was not able to answer that question. "Ask your father. He knows everything, Nixie guesses."

Yes, her father knew everything and he was great, and Mr. Diggle was very nice and young and smart. Nixie was kind and they were fond of each other; she did not think of her as an elf, but as her dear nanny. But she felt alone, every day more. She missed her mother and when it was dark and there was silence in her room, she remembered her, and she realized she would not come back again, and she started to cry...

Daddy doesn't know that I sometimes cry. I'm his strong little girl.

At dinner, Mr. Diggle let her wear his hat and told a lot of funny stories. Then he and her father began discussing duels, and though she was told to go to bed, she stayed just out of the door listening. When she finally reached her room and slipped under the covers, she had learned a lot of things. First, the Mid-Beds was a place somewhere else in England. Second, her father had gambled a lot of galleons on Mr. Diggle's win. Last but not least, he was going to take her along with him to see the match.

That night, she fell asleep without crying.

Sunday came, and as she woke up, she jumped out of bed and dressed up all by herself. Nixie was surprised, and she praised her.
Vertumnus was brooding and he did not speak much at breakfast. He knew that a duel was not the best show for a nine-year-old child. But he was worried about 'Mona, and he thought that neither playing alone in the garden nor growing her little orchard all the time was the best for her. She needs to know other people, before going to Hogwarts, or else she'll feel fearful and shy at school.

When they arrived in the hall of that strange building, invisible to Muggles, she immediately saw Mr. Violet, who was talking to another man, a little shorter than he, but more handsome.
"You have no chances against me, Dedalus. I'm very sorry, because you're a friend of mine and I could hurt you very badly today... Why is a child wandering here all alone?"
The Mid-Beds champion had a very strange voice, somewhat squeaking. But she liked him.
"I'm not a child, sir. I am ten and I'll soon be at Hogwarts," she pointed out. "And I'm not wandering. I'm here with my father."
"That tall bearded man reading the broadsheet over there," Dedalus said. "A good-hearted wizard, the best fellow I've ever..."
"Daddy bet on him, and we both hope he will defeat you, Mr. Mid-Beds," Pomona chortled.
The man looked really amused. He didn't need to stoop to talk to her: he was exactly the same height. He had frizzy red hair and glistening dark eyes.
"What's your name, you witty girl?"
"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be cheeky... I really don't care who's going to win..."
He stretched a hand and ruffled her hair. He smiled. "I said you are witty, not that you are ill-mannered. I like people with a ready mind and a ready tongue. Maybe you'll be sorted in Ravenclaw, just like me. Do you like Chocolate Frogs?"
Her mother, and then Nixie, had always told her to take nothing from strangers, and that man was not only a stranger: he was Mr. Diggle's challenger. But she liked him more and more. She lowered her eyes.
"Well, I'll eat it in your place." He unwrapped it and simply held the chocolate in his hand. Then he swallowed it.
She suddenly regretted having refused such a delicacy, and she looked so disappointed that he smiled again.
"Oh, sorry, have you changed your mind?"
She nodded. Dedalus was enjoying the scene, but then he checked his pocket watch. "Come on, are you ready to cut a poor figure, Flitwick?"
"Shut up, Diggle. Here you are, Miss Sevenoaks."
She laughed and thanked him. At that moment, Vertumnus walked near and took her by the hand. "Let them alone, 'Mona, they must go and prepare themselves. Well, boys, good luck," he added, wincing. "Both."

The frog jumped on the hat of a witch sitting before them. She tried to take it, but the woman turned, with a grumpy face. The movement of her head made the frog jump again, right in Pomona's hands.
"So-sorry, madam."
With her mouth full, she decided to take a look at the card, but the duel had just started. Her father cast a Shield Charm on her, to cover all eventualities. It was not infrequent for a defenceless spectator to be hit by a wandering spell. Definitely, it was not a good place for her. But she seemed to enjoy the match.
"Go, go, go! Stun him!" she shouted, with her eyes sparkling.
"Dedalus cannot stun him, it's forbidden," Vertumnus explained.
"But I want Mr. Flitwick to stun Mr. Diggle!"
He frowned, feeling something was changed. His daughter had opinions and fancies all of her own. She was growing up. This acknowledgement made him proud and sad at the same time. Next year she'll be away. But she's already away, somehow...

On their way back home, Vertumnus was really in a bad mood. He had lost his money. And soon I will lose my little princess, too, he thought.
But Pomona was still excited for all what had happened that day. She almost forgot to check who was pictured on her card. "Helga Hufflepuff," she read. She looked nice. "Founder of Hufflepuff House. Daddy, you've been there, haven't you?"
"True," was his answer "and it's likely you'll be sorted there too. Would you like to?"
"Very much, Daddy! I'd love to!" she said, and for the first time in her life she was lying.
Mr. Flitwick suggested me Ravenclaw House... and I feel he knows what's right for me.

But a year after, when she found that the man of her fancies had become a teacher, and, what's more, the Head of Ravenclaw, she changed her mind at once.
When the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, she closed her eyes and prayed: "Not Ravenclaw, not Ravenclaw!"
"Why not?" the Hat asked. "You have a big crush on..."
"Shut up! He must become my husband, not my Head of House!"
"Oooh, I've got it, Miss Sprout. Hufflepuff!"

(to be continued)