Chapter Four: A Helping Hand

After nearly half an hour, Victoire couldn't stand the silence any longer. "I'm going for a walk," she said.

"Are you sure about that?" Uncle Harry asked. "Anything you do, anyone you interact with, could alter the course of history."

"Bit dramatic, don't you think? Anyway, perhaps this is less 'Back to the Future' and more 'Time and Again.'"

"What is that second one?"

"A book about time travel. Of course, Muggles don't quite understand it. Neither do wizards, much, for that matter, not since you destroyed all the Time-Turners."

"Oh yeah, we did that," Uncle Harry mused. He was staring at the ground.

"If you're concerned about me altering history, perhaps you could join me, make sure I don't do anything stupid," she suggested. Maybe getting out of the room would help him.

"Well, I guess it would help for you to have someone stopping you from altering history," he said. "I'll come with you." He glanced back at Uncle George's bed, but he got up, and the two of them walked back down to the common room.

"Harry!" said Professor Longbottom, grinning. "Who's this?"

"I'm nobody," she said.

"This is a relative of Fleur's who stopped by," Harry said. "Her name is Victoire."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." He held out his hand, and she shook it somewhat awkwardly.

"Know Neville, do you?" Harry asked as they left the common room.

"Professor Longbottom? You could say I do."

"Professor? Really?"

"Of Herbology."

Harry gave a faint smile. "Good for Neville. I hope he's happy."

"I think he is. He's married to Hannah Abbott, and she's pregnant with their first child."

"Oh, that's nice. What about Luna?"

"She's married to Rolf Scamander, they have twin boys, they're both renowned Magizoologists. And-" she stopped herself; was this a conversation she wanted to get into?

"And what?"

"Your daughter, Lily. Her full name is Lily Luna Potter."

He smiled. "Really?" Thankfully he didn't seem to be asking about Albus's middle name; that was not a conversation she felt like having.

"Yes. And she was thrilled to have Lily bear her name. And she's her godmother. Said it was like having a daughter of her own-this was before the twins were born. Before she was married, even."

"Godparent, hmm?" said Harry. "That's a serious job."

"You're thinking about Teddy, aren't you?"

He sighed. "Yes. Your boyfriend, apparently."

She blushed scarlet. "Yep."

"Is he... happy?"

She looked into the much-younger eyes of her uncle. "Most of the time. Not today, of course. But... yes, generally I think he is. He's training to be an Auror, like his Mum. He misses his parents, of course. But he has his friends, and family, and his grandmother."

"Andromeda," Harry said. "Is she the one who raised him?"

"Yes. But he spent nearly half his time at your place. Now he's got his own place in London. Still goes over to your house regularly, from what I understand."

"I'm glad he's happy," Harry said. "And it seems like the world is a safer place."

She nodded. "The people who gave their lives didn't do so in vain. We won. That's why my name is Victoire. Because we live in a world where we aren't in constant danger. And we owe that to you. To what you did... tonight."

"I did very little," said Harry.

"You walked into the Forbidden Forest to die, and in doing so saved every life in this castle. That's not very little at all."

"Lots of details public, are they?"

"No. That's a family secret."

"Are we a close family, then?"

"You could say that. We all gather in the Burrow for Christmas every year, and usually multiple times over the summer. Although, I don't get to speak to you one-on-one very often. It's nice. Don't tell anyone, but you might be my favorite uncle."

"Don't let Ron hear you say that."

She laughed. "Well, you know, when I first came home for break after getting sorted, everyone thought it was so strange that I wasn't in Gryffindor. And you were the one who told me that it didn't matter. That I should just be who I was because I was special and a part of this family. And it meant a lot to me to hear. It also helped that I was in the same house as Teddy, mind you..."

"Did I really say something helpful?"

"Uncle Harry, it's widely known that if we want advice, we go to you."

"What?" His look of shock amused her somewhat.

"Well, not on every matter. Everyone's got their area of expertise. Aunt Hermione for academics, Mum for relationships, and so on. But if it's just general advice, yeah, you're generally accepted to be the best."

A faint sense of pride seemed to emanate from him. "Huh."

"All our friends think it's crazy that the Great Harry Potter is kind of a normal guy."

He rolled his eyes. "It's always been like that."

"But we all think that professor would have been a good job for you."

"Professor of what?"

"You already know."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Yes. Advice and talent. You'd be great at it. And the current professor is getting on in years... we might be trying to convince you to take the job."

He shook his head. "Don't know where you get these ideas from."

"Oh, sure you do."


Later on, Victoire was back in the room, and her father entered. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi, Dad."

"It's really weird to hear that."

"Sorry. I can try to call you... Bill."

"No, no need. I am your father, after all."

"Yes you are."

"Once things have been sorted here, we'll work on getting you back home."

"Okay."

He shook his head. "Time travel. Wild."

She bit her lip for a minute before speaking. "Are you alright, Dad?"

He frowned. "Hmm? I'm fine."

She shook her head. "I knew it. You're doing the thing."

"The... thing?"

"The one where you pretend you're alright when you're not because you think you have to be strong for everybody else."

He flat-out stared at her for a minute, then said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. You do it all the time. And I notice. Because I'm the same way. Don't do it, Dad."

"There's a lot of people who need my help, Victoire."

"And you're one of them."

"I don't appreciate being given a talk like this from my own daughter."

"I am literally repeating your own words back to you, Dad. You said them to me, now I'm saying them to you."

He gave her a long look before saying, "I'll think about your-my-advice, I guess."

She smiled. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too. Even though I met you a couple of hours ago."

"That's family for you."


A/N: There will be one more chapter of this part, then I will begin the next story.