A/N: Yeah, sorry this is late. I had a school club meeting and a hockey game of one of the kids of a family's friend to go to. And today was a birthday so we were busy . . . Enough of my excuses.

This chapter is pretty long, I was gping to cut it up but it wouldn't have flown as well. I know you're going to read this and wonder what exactly it has to do with the story plot . . . trust me it does fit in later on . . . plus, the Weasleys and the Potters were complaining that they needed more mention . . . so this is what I had to do to appease them . . .

Enjoy!

Diclaimer: Not even close to owning the franchise . . .

It's Like a Family Reunion

"C'mon Ted; time to get moving."

Ted Lupin looked up from the piece of parchment in front of him and looked at his godfather, "Pardon Harry? I didn't catch the beginning of that."

Harry Potter was standing in front of his godson dressed in his travelling cloak and holding out what looked to be Ted's own dark blue cloak, "I said that it's time to get moving."

"Oh, I guess I did catch it all. Where are we going?"

Harry was still holding out Ted's cloak, he didn't speak until he got up, and took it from him, "Well, I am going with Kingsley to Hogwarts to discuss with McGonagall the security measures for the tournament. Since you are supposed to be shadowing me, you will be coming with us."

Teddy nodded as he put his cloak on, "We're going to Hogwarts?"

Harry gave Teddy a knowing look, "Yes, Hogwarts. Will that be a problem?"

Teddy almost blushed; it took all his energy and concentration on his morphing not to, "No of course not Harry."

"Damn. I was hoping to put you into an awkward position so I could see one of your rare blushes that you can't morph away. Guess I'm just going to have to work harder." The bright twinkle in Harry's green eyes told Teddy that his godfather wasn't at all joking.

"How are we getting there? Apparation or floo?" Teddy asked as he followed Harry out of his cubicle.

Harry walked swiftly through the Auror Office and stopped in front of Kingsley Shacklebolt's cubicle. The shiny brass plate on the front of the dark mahogany door read Kingsley Shacklebolt- Head of the Auror Office. Harry knocked and he and Ted walked in as the door opened. Ted noted that Kingsley was also dressed in a travelling cloak, only his was a bright crimson with silver ends instead of gold. Teddy grinned when he saw Kingsley's cloak; it was the one that Victoire had given him two Christmases ago. You can tell that Victoire picked it out because it was red, but instead of the common gold trim that usually accompanied a red garment, the finish was silver. Only Victoire could convince someone that silver went better with red than gold. It was sort of a trademark of hers'. She may have been a Gryffindor, and true to the red and gold, but in her opinion (and it seemed to be only her that thought this) silver would always go better with red.

Teddy tried to change the direction of his thoughts without physically slapping himself. Stuff like this had been happening all day (it was only two o'clock and he was already sick of it). He would see something that would remind him of Victoire and his mind would go off and daydream about her. Going back to Hogwarts wasn't going to help either.

"Hello Ted, I like your hair."

Teddy finally focused in when he realized that Kingsley was talking to him.

"Thanks. Do you want me to change it for when we go to Hogwarts though?" Teddy's choice of hair colour today had been a bright turquoise blue. Even though he knew that Kingsley had never really had a problem with him wearing 'different' colours for his hair, he didn't want to embarrass himself when he went on a 'mission' for his work.

"Of course not, I personally love your hair colour. Besides, Professor McGonagall won't mind, she must have been used to it by now," Kinsley said as he smiled Ted.

"How are we going to get there?" Teddy asked his original question.

"We're going to floo straight into McGonagall's office. It might worry the students to see Aurors walking through the school."

Teddy nodded; made sense. Harry went first to Kingsley's fireplace, picked up some green powder, and disappeared into the flame. Teddy went next, and Kingsley went last.

Teddy stepped out of the fireplace in the Headmistress' Office and moved away from its' mouth as Kingsley came through.

"Hello Kingsley, Harry, Ted," Professor McGonagall said politely as she glanced at the three Aurors who just emerged from her fireplace.

"Hello Minerva, we should probably get to work on those security plans," Kingsley said frowning; he was still upset with the fact that the Tournament was still going on.

"Yes, well Harry, you of course know where all of the entrances to the castle and the castle grounds are. Both public and secret. How do you think we should cover them?" McGonagall asked getting to the point.

Harry thought for a minute, "I think a couple layers of the standard protection spells would work well, but I'm going to need someone to go around and check all the hidden entrances and make sure that they're still in working condition and that nothing is out of the ordinary."

McGonagall nodded, "The sooner the better I guess."

"Yes, I'd like to get it done today if that's okay," Harry told McGonagall.

She nodded, "Mr Lupin of course can go while we work on the finer things but this going to take more than one person. Hmmm . . ." She thought for a minute her hand on her horn-rimmed glasses.

"I think I've got it," She waved her wand and a cat patronus shot out and ran through the door, "Someone will be along in a minute to help you check the passages Ted."

Teddy nodded. Kingsley began, "Harry, if we're going to be monitoring almost everything during the Tournament I think we'll need the Marauder's map. It will help us see what's going on."

Harry nodded and turned to Teddy, "You had it in your seventh year . . . and then what? Did you give it to James?"

"I gave it to Vic after my seventh year because we thought that the last thing James needed to help his pranking was a magical map of Hogwarts. He and Fred ended up stealing it from her halfway through the year though, and she let them keep it. So, unless Al and Rose got the nerve to steal it from Fred and James, they should still have it."

Harry nodded, "I'm going to have to figure out some way to get it from them then. But how to do it without them realizing that something's going on?"

"I could call them up here if you wish . . ." McGonagall started.

"No, I'll think of something," Harry answered waving her off.

McGonagall nodded and went back to talking to Kingsley about how many Aurors they'll have to assign to each spot. While they were discussing that, Harry was going over a list of spells McGonagall had approved to use on the entrances. Teddy looked around McGonagall's office as she spoke quietly to Kingsley. Teddy had been in the Headmistress' Office at Hogwarts many times before. Even though he was a prefect and Head Boy when he was at school, it didn't mean that he was a saint. He'd gotten in trouble a fair amount of times, although it was nowhere close to James Potter and his accomplice Fred Weasley's record. And they were only second years.

Teddy's wandering gaze had been caught by the portraits Hogwarts' previous Headmasters and Headmistress that lined the wall behind Professor McGonagall's desk. Teddy recognized the faces of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. He'd heard plenty of stories about both Headmasters; it wasn't until a few years ago however, that he heard the full story of their effect on the last war. Growing up Teddy had heard all the stories, from his Grandmother Andromeda, from Harry, from the other Weasley's and from Kingsley. He had always gotten the water down version; it took his coming of age, to finally get the entire story. He knew that that's how his family had decided to handle it. When Victoire turned seventeen the past summer she sat down and got the entire story, no reservations, and not censored. Because he knew the story of what happened, Teddy knew that the glare that the portrait of Severus Snape was giving him wasn't entirely personal. (Even though he thought that, it might have been somewhat personal; he'd also heard all of the stories of what the Marauders did back in the day to Snape. He'd heard them from Harry so it was safe to say that he shouldn't feel guilty about it.)

While the portrait of Snape gave Teddy a sneer, the one of Dumbledore gave him a bright smile. After a minute it winked one of its' sparkling blue eyes directly at Teddy. Teddy's face scrunched up in confusion, he was about to voice his puzzlement when he heard a commotion outside the doorway to McGonagall's office.

Teddy, Kingsley, Harry and McGonagall all looked up at the door as it opened. The scene that washed in completely confused the four. The first person through the door was Professor Linkwell; he had a tight grip on two first year students. In his right hand was Albus Potter, and in his left was Scorpious Malfoy. Trailing behind Linkwell was a worried looking Rose Weasley and another boy in Slytherin green robes; he also looked like a first year. And bringing up the rear and causing most of the noise since it seemed that they were in the middle of an argument was none other than Lucy and Victoire Weasley.

Teddy's heartbeat sped up as he saw Vic enter the room. As confused and worried as he was about her being in the office and arguing madly with Lucy (it really wasn't good a good position to be in), he was almost overjoyed to see her. It hadn't even been a week yet without her and he already missed her like crazy. He thought back to Ron's comment the other day about the Tournament, he was sort of right. At least with the Tournament I'll be able to see her more often . . .

Professor Linkwell had been speaking sternly to the group of students that he'd brought to McGonagall's office so he didn't realize until after they'd been there for a few minutes that she had company. Linkwell stopped talking when he saw that Harry and Kingsley were standing with McGonagall at her desk. The first years had also stopped talking and were taking in the scene in front of them in silence; the only people who were still making sound were Victoire and Lucy, and from their loud words, it was obvious that they were having a very intense argument. Neither of them had taken note of the people around McGonagall's desk until Victoire heard Al exclaim in a worried tone "Dad!"

Lucy stopped speaking, and Victoire's head snapped up and she looked around. Her gaze went from person to person, her expression changing with each glance. As she looked at Harry her face was confused, at Kingsley it was surprised and, oddly, embarrassed, but when her gaze finally steeled on Teddy her face went completely white. Her mouth popped open a little, and completely uncharacteristic of her, her cheeks shone with a bright red flush.

Teddy smiled when he saw Victoire's Veela blood fail her for the first time in covering up her feelings. He knew that the only reason why she was blushing in the first place was because of him, and he felt very smug about it.

McGonagall stood up from her desk as she took in the scene in front of her; the two first year Gryffindors, the two first year Slytherins, the fifth-year prefect from Ravenclaw, and the seventh-year Head Girl from Gryffindor. "What is going on here Professor Linkwell?"

Professor Linkwell sent a glare at Al, Rose and Victoire before beginning in his answer, "Well, I was walking to the greenhouses when I saw these two," he pointed to Victoire and Lucy, "arguing. With these four-" he pointed to the first years, "around them and in a scuffle of their own. They told me-"

Professor Linkwell's explanation was cut off by more sounds coming from the door to McGonagall's office. The door opened and in walked in Professor Flitwick (who was covered in an odd blue slime) and on each either side of him were two very pleased looking boys. Fred Weasley and James Potter were laughing their heads off as they entered the office. Their laughter quickly faded as they saw the occupants of the office. James' face went white when he saw his father.

Harry put his head in his hands as Fred loudly exclaimed, "Hey, it's like a family reunion! All we need is Ally, Molly and Baxter!"

Teddy rolled his eyes as he heard Fred's happy remark. Harry moaned into his hands as Kingsley cracked a smile, "Two for two today Harry."

Harry looked up at Kingsley and gave him a significant look towards Victoire, "I wouldn't be talking, you're one for one right now too."

Victoire's face went even redder as she listened to Harry and Kingsley's surprisingly calm banter.

McGonagall looked at the slime covered charms professor and asked, "Filius, what happened?"

"Well, I gave the class a simple assignment to charm their matchsticks into-"

Professor Flitwick was also cut off during his explanation by the opening of McGonagall's door for the third time. This time Austin Pennington (his Head Boy's badge shining brightly on his chest) walked in with Alexandra Weasley, Colton Knott (whose face was bloody around the nose) and two other seventh-year Slytherins who Victoire knew as Colton's cronies.

Alexandra's mouth dropped open as she surveyed the crowed office. Austin took in his surrounding's also and spoke to McGonagall in a worried tone, "Is there something going on Professor? We can wait outside if you want . . ." His gaze was flickering from each person. Until it landed on Victoire, she was trying to get Ally's attention but Ally was purposely avoiding her gaze by looking at the floor. Austin's face broke out into a smug smile and as he caught Victoire's eye. Her face hardened and turned from him to face McGonagall for the first time since she entered the room.

McGonagall looked at Austin, "Don't worry about that Mr. Pennington. We'll work this out. What happened?"

Austin's chest swelled up and he began pompously, "We'll I was walking through the hall when I heard yelling in the Ancient Runes corridor, so I went there and-"

Austin was cut off as the door opened for the fourth time. In walked Professor Longbottom, and a very confused looking Xavier Wood. If Xavier looked confused before he entered the office, it was nothing to the look that broke across his face as he took in the office's atmosphere. His eyes flickered, befuddled, from Victoire's red face to Ally's shy expression, and finally to Harry, Kingsley, and Teddy standing near McGonagall's desk.

Neville looked worried as he gazed around the office, "Um, is this a bad time Minerva?"

McGonagall sighed, stood up and addressed her office full of students, "All right, now I would like you all to take turns, and calmly tell me what the problems here concern."

Despite her warning, everyone began to talk at once, arguing with each other over who would get to speak first.

McGonagall glared, "QUIET!"

The room quieted down.

"Alright, it seems were going to have to arrange things here so that this will go much more smoothly. Gryffindors over there-" she pointed to the right of the room as the majority of the Weasleys, the Potters and Xavier moved to stand in the corner, "Slytherins over there-" she pointed at the left corner as they complied, "And Ravenclaws in the middle." She pointed to the back of the now clear middle of the room as Lucy and Austin moved.

"Okay, now first, Mr Wood." Xavier moved from his spot and stood in front of McGonagall's desk.

"Yes . . . ?"

"Would you please go stand over there next to Mr Lupin? After I sort out these problems I'll tell you what I'd like you to do."

Xavier nodded in relief as he walked over to stand beside Ted. He was just glad that he wasn't in trouble. Teddy smiled as Xavier came to stand beside him. He liked Xavier Wood; he was a nice kid and a good Quidditch player, despite the two years between them, they were rather close while they went to school together. Another reason why Teddy liked Xavier was that he never seemed a threat to his friendship with Victoire. He was used to guys following Victoire around like a lost puppy and trying to get in between them when they were just best friends. Teddy was extremely glad that Xavier only saw her as a friend.

McGonagall looked at the students left in front of her and tried to figure out how to start.

"Mr Pennington would you please explain to me, as simply as you can, why you brought Miss Weasley, Mr Knott, Mr Steed, and Mr Montague here."

Austin nodded and stepped forward to McGonagall's desk. He spoke pompously, "I heard a ruckus, so I went into the Ancient Runes corridor just in time to see Miss Weasley punch Mr Knott in the face. That is why his nose is bleeding."

Victoire looked at Ally, her face showed her shock. Ally's expression on the other hand was embarrassed but somewhat pleased.

"You hit him?" Victoire asked.

Ally nodded her head, quietly looking at the floor. Knott spoke for the first time since he walked into the office, "I think she broke my nose too." His hand was holding a bloodstained handkerchief to his nose.

"Nice!" Victoire said to her cousin, a bright smile erupting over her face. She put her hand up in expectation of a high-five.

Ally's eyes widened as she looked at Victoire, her hand didn't move. Victoire had no choice but to put her hand back down after the glares that her outburst got from Linkwell and McGonagall. She tried to stifle a smirk as she looked at the look on her godfather's face. Kingsley was trying very hard not to smile at Victoire's response to what Ally did. At least someone thought it was funny. James and Fred seemed to have found it funny too; they looked to be ten seconds away from rolling on the floor with laughter.

"And why Alexandra, did you punch Mr Knott in the face?" McGonagall asked her face looked expressionless, but Victoire thought that she could see a bit of humour in McGonagall's eyes.

Ally's eyes were still on the ground, "I was walking down the corridor to my next class when I walked by Colton and his friends. He . . . um . . . said something degrading about me and I told him to go away. I kept walking but he and his friends were following me down the hall. I turned around to confront him when he s-said something else. I told him that if he didn't stop harassing me I was going to hex him. He used expelliarmus to get my wand away from me then he pushed me roughly into a wall. So I punched him so he would leave me alone, which is when Austin broke in and started yelling at us."

Victoire glared at Colton as Alexandra said her story. When she was done her story, before McGonagall was able to say anything, Victoire decided to put her two-sickles-worth in, "You did what to her?"

Teddy narrowed his eyes at Knott, watching in case he reached for his wand. Victoire was very upset about how he treated Ally and he wouldn't be surprised if she whipped out her wand and hexed him into oblivion. Hmmm . . . her temper really should be a turn-off . . .

Colton's eyes were cold as he glared at Victoire and Ally, "She was the one who threatened and punched me. I didn't do anything wrong."

"You verbally harassed her and pushed her against a wall!" Victoire hissed through her teeth as she took a step towards him. All of the adults in the room gave her a warning glance, but it was Kingsley's look that Victoire heeded.

"What exactly did Mr Knott say to you Alexandra?" McGonagall asked trying to get back on track.

Ally's face paled, "Um . . . well . . . I'd really rather not repeat it . . ."

McGonagall nodded, "Would it be alright if Professor Linkwell used Legilimency to see what happened? I wouldn't usually do this but it might be a bit faster."

Ally nodded silently. Professor Linkwell walked up in front of Ally, and looked intently at her as he held out his wand and muttered a few words under his breath. After a minute he pulled his focus back to Professor McGonagall, they whispered for a few minutes before turning back to everyone.

As the professors spoke Victoire looked at Ally and whispered quietly, "What did he say Ally?"

Ally looked up at her cousin and spoke her lips almost completely still, "He said a lot of inappropriate things but I threatened to hex him after a certain comparison he made between your body and mine in specific reference to our behinds."

Victoire looked up from Ally and gave Colton a glare so harsh that she was surprised that it didn't affect him physically.

"Okay, Mr Knott. You and your friends will be spending a week of detention with Professor Longbottom for your little interaction with Miss Weasley, and you will each be docked twenty house points. And Alexandra, they way you handled the situation wasn't how you should have so I'm taking twenty-five points away from Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall said.

Ally nodded but Victoire was upset. She was about to open her mouth to say something to McGonagall, about it not being fair that she was punishing Ally for something that Colton started, when she felt a pair of hands come up and cover her mouth.

"Just be quiet Vic you'll make it worse," Ally said not removing her hands until Victoire nodded in assent. Across the room, Teddy was having a fun time watching Ally try to keep Victoire quiet after the punishment was delivered.

"Now, Mr Knott, Mr Steed, Mr Montague, you should all be getting back to class." Professor Longbottom said finally.

"But what about my nose! It's broken; I need to go to the Hospital Wing to get it fixed," Colton complained loudly.

Professor McGonagall looked at Colton trying to decide. She didn't want him to have an excuse to go wandering around the school to get into more trouble. Her gaze flickered over to Victoire as Alexandra removed her hands from her mouth.

"Victoire, you know how to repair broken bones right?" McGonagall asked suddenly.

Victoire's eyebrows rose in confusion but she nodded her head. She wanted to be a Healer when she left Hogwarts so she already had most basic healing spells memorized

"Well, since Mr Knott needs to get back to class as soon as possible, maybe you could help your fellow Head and fix his nose for him."

Victoire was going to flat out refuse, but she saw an odd glimmer in McGonagall's eyes that made her change her answer, "Sure."

The room was quiet as she walked over to the Slytherins. She walked right up to Colton and put her hand on his face. She tweaked his nose back into its' normal position.

"Bloody ow!" Colton yelled, jumping back from Victoire. "What was that for?"

"It needs to set back into its' original position before I can heal it."

"Isn't there a spell that does that?" He asked angrily.

"Yes," She said as she narrowed, her blue eyes at him, daring him to say something, "Now hold still." Colton glared at her but thought that his best course of action would be to hold still. Victoire moved her wand as she cast the spell.

"Ouch!"

Victoire's wand arm dropped to her side and she took a step back from the Slytherin.

"You didn't tell me that it was going to hurt," Colton complained.

"You didn't ask," Victoire shot back, her ocean blue eyes cold and angry.

Colton matched her glare, "And how do I know that it's fixed and you didn't just put on some temporary spell?"

Victoire's anger boiled up. On a good day, Colton Knott annoyed the hell out of her. But on a bad day, he could reach a much different level. And today was definitely a bad day, "Well I could smack you across the face again as a test and see if your nose stays in one place."

A real flash of fear went through Knott's eyes. He looked around the room, but realized that the majority of the people in the room would probably side with her if they got into an argument. "Let's go guys." With one last glare at Victoire, he left the room with his friends following behind him.

"Professor McGonagall, would you like me to escort Miss Weasley back to class?" Austin Pennington asked arrogantly.

Victoire had walked back to the Gryffindor side of the room. "He sure as hell better be talking about you," Victoire said under her breath to Ally. There was no way she was going to go anywhere with that Prat.

"That's very nice of you Mr Pennington, but I'm sure Miss Weasley can find her way to class by herself. However, I would appreciate it if you went to stand next to Mr Wood. I have a job for you when I finish here."

Austin's egotistical smile grew even wider and he pranced over to stand next to Xavier.

Ally quietly left the room and McGonagall looked at the group of people she still had to deal with. "Now; James, Fred would you two care to tell me why Professor Flitwick is covered in blue slime?"

Fred smiled broadly while James eyed his Dad fretfully, "Well, Professor Flitwick told the class to charm their matchsticks into needles. Before the lesson however, James and I snuck in and put this clear power all over the classroom where nobody would be able to see it. We charmed the power to go off and turn into this slime when the name of the charm we were working on was said at least twenty times. That way once we were a little ways into the lesson the powder would turn into the blue slime and explode all over the classroom!" Fred's grin had covered his entire face as he finished his recital.

Professor McGonagall and Harry sighed. Rose looked at her cousins, her eyes wide in shock, "You did what!"

James laughed for the first time since he saw his dad in the office, "We pulled a prank Rosie. You can't really say that you're surprised can you?"

Before Rose could answer Victoire commented lightly, "Personally guys, I was expecting something much bigger for your back-to-school prank."

"I'm sorry we didn't meet your expectations Vic. We'll try better in the future," Fred said smiling.

"Really Vic, you shouldn't encourage them," Harry said speaking into his hand. He's been called to McGonagall's office so many times concerning James' behaviour that this situation neither surprised him nor embarrassed him.

"Well, Mr Weasley, Mr Potter, if you give Professor Flitwick the counter-spell that will make all of the slime disappear, you will both only receive five days worth of detention and ten points each from Gryffindor," McGonagall concluded giving Fred and James a stern look.

Fred pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Professor Flitwick. He read the words, waved his wand, and the blue slime disappeared off him. Professor Flitwick was about to escort James and Fred from the room when Harry's head finally snapped up from his hand.

"James, give me the map."

James stopped where he was and his mouth popped open, "But Dad! I've already gotten detention; don't take the map away from me! I need it!"

Harry walked over to his son and spoke calmly, "This isn't a punishment James. I need the map for a little while."

James handed his father the piece of parchment that contained the Marauder's map, "How will I get it back?"

"How about this, when I'm done with it, I'll give it to Victoire and when she feels that you deserve to have it back she'll give it to you," Harry said taking the parchment from James.

"So it'll be up to Vic on when we get it back?" Fred asked Harry and odd look coming into his eyes.

"Yes."

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Victoire felt herself be tackled by two twelve year old boys. Fred had taken one side of her and James had taken the other; it was like they were trying to squeeze her to death,

"Hey Vic-" Fred started.

"-Have we ever-"

"-Told you how much-"

"-We love you!" James finished.

Rose and Al were snickering as Victoire tried to breathe, "If you two don't let go of me right now I'll make sure you never get that map back."

Fred and James promptly let go of her and she ended up falling over because she hadn't had time to regain her balance.

Teddy started to snicker as he saw the look on Victoire's face as she fell over. He could hear Xavier join in on his quiet laughter as James and Fred reached down and attempted to pull their eldest cousin back up into a standing position. Teddy hadn't realized how much he missed interacting with his adopted family.

When James and Fred righted Victoire the left the room behind Professor Flitwick. McGonagall looked at the remaining students in her office: one Potter, three Weasleys, and two assorted Slytherins.

"So, back to original problem. What happened here Professor Linkwell?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Well Headmistress, I was walking down to the Herboloy Greenhouses when I stumbled across Miss Weasley and Miss Weasley having an argument-"

"Which ones?" McGonagall asked. Teddy noticed that she was trying hard to keep a straight face; she knew very well which Miss Weasleys Linkwell was referring to.

Linkwell's face soured, he hated referring to students by their first names; it made him remember that they were actual people and not the annoying little munchkins he thought them as.

"Victoire and Lucille," Linkwell finally said. When he pronounced Victoire's name he looked as though he had just eaten a vomit flavoured Bernie Blotts Every Flavoured Bean. It was clear that he thought she was wholly to blame for whatever trouble had been caused.

"And what were they arguing about?"

"Well I asked them but they wouldn't stop arguing long enough to tell me. Mr Potter and Miss Weasley were the closest to them but they wouldn't tell me what happened. When I saw that Mr Malfoy had some dried blood on his face I decided that I should just bring them up to you," Linkwell concluded.

Teddy looked at the first year Slytherins for the first time since they came into the room. There was a little white blonde boy with a prominent chin and with blood around his prominent nose, as it was on Knott. The other boy was much taller and thicker with a short, black, boot-camp style haircut.

"Alright then," McGonagall looked at the students that were left as she decided whom to ask to retell the event. Her eyes flickered from Victoire to Lucy and back and forth. She was worried that Victoire's temper might get away from her; she still remembered how she was quarrelling with Lucy as they entered the room. When McGonagall looked at Lucy, she stood up straighter and her eyes glistened condescendingly.

"Well, Victoire, you are Head Girl, how about you tell me what happened?"

Victoire nodded and shot Lucy an anxious glance before going to stand in front of Professor McGonagall.

"Okay, so I was heading down to Herbology when I heard some voices arguing. I turned a corner and saw Rose and Mr Malfoy arguing. Al looked like he was trying to hold Rose back even though his face was also upset. Malfoy was yelling at Rose and his friend was shouting at Al. I was running over to them to stop the fight when Rose shook Al's grip off and punched Malfoy in the face." Victoire stopped to take a breath as everyone looked at Rose in shock.

"You hit Scorpious, Rosie?" Harry asked surprised.

"You need to stop spending so much time with Ally and Victoire," Kingsley comment. When Rose looked up at him, he winked at her before winking at the gobsmacked look on Victoire's face. She decided not to take it personally because it was true.

"I was thinking that she needs to spend less time with her Mother, actually," Harry remarked his green eyes shining with laughter. He thought back to the time in third year when Hermione punched Draco in the face. Seems like Rose beat her Mother by two years.

McGonagall silenced Harry with a look and turned to Rose and Albus, "What were you arguing about and why did you punch him?"

"We had just had our Care of Magical Creatures lesson and we were walking back to the Castle when we heard Malfoy and his friend talking behind us. They were insulting us, and our family . . . then, well Malfoy said that Aunt Hermione was a- he used the "M" word," Al's voice had gotten quieter while he recited the tale.

"So, she is!" The other Slytherin boy called out. His voice was whiny and pathetic. Rose's brown eyes darken as she looked at the Slytherins. Teddy was surprised, I didn't think that she'd every get angry enough about something to look that scary, but I guess I was wrong.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the first years, "We do not tolerate that kind of language at Hogwarts. Mr Malfoy, Mr Zambini," (Which seemed to be the name of the other Slytherin) "You will each receive three nights of detention with Professor Longbottom, and I'm docking fifteen points each from your house. If anyone catches you using that type of language again, your punishment will be much worse."

The Slytherins nodded but their expressions were sour. Victoire smiled; earlier when Linkwell had found them she was worried because she knew that he wouldn't give the Slytherins a punishment because he loved to pick on all students who weren't in his house.

"And Miss Weasley, like I told your cousin earlier, we do not handle our arguments with muggle-dueling. I'm not going to give you detention, but I'm docking your house twelve points. And as for you Mr Potter, I hope that next time an argument starts, you will succeed in stopping the fight before it gets out of hand," McGonagall looked down her thin nose at Al and he nodded sadly not meeting her eyes.

McGonagall looked at Victoire now, "You said that you stopped their fight after Rose hit Mr Malfoy, but how did Lucy get involved?"

Victoire's expression hardened, "I had the whole thing under control but she barged in and tried to take over even though I had it completely covered-"

"You didn't have it covered at all! You were doing everything wrong!" Lucy broke in glaring at her eldest cousin.

Victoire matched her glare, "Oh and pray tell Lucy, what exactly did I do wrong?"

"You didn't follow the rules at all! You were favouring Albus and Rose and if Professor Linkwell and I hadn't come along, they wouldn't have gotten into any trouble at all! You were just going to let them go and blame everything on the Slytherins!"

Ted and Xavier both sucked in a deep breath. Those were fighting words. They knew Victoire well enough that her next outburst didn't surprise them in the least.

"I'm going to get to the part about where you thought that I was favouring Al and Rose, but first what rules didn't I follow?"

"Mr Malfoy got injured and you didn't take him to the Hospital Wing, according to rule fifteen in the Prefect's Handbook, that is the first thing you do after there has been physical violence-"

Victoire cut her off, "He didn't need to go to the Hospital Wing! After I stopped the fight, I healed his nose for him! Then I was about to handle it when you barged in and started giving orders-"

Lucy's face went as red as her hair, "You can't just heal him! You have to file a report that way the teachers would know what happened and it would be recorded for future use!"

Victoire rolled her eyes, "And I was not favouring Rose and Albus! Al was the most calm of the three so I asked for his side of the story first, I was about to ask Malfoy for his side when you came in screeching-"

"I had to step in! You looked so angry I was afraid you were going to hex the poor innocent kid!"

"Well I'm sorry if I don't enjoy listening to eleven-year-olds use derogatory language. But are you saying that you actually think that I can't control myself, and that I'd just hex a first-year because he got on my nerves!"

"Yes I do actually. You hexed other people before-" While Lucy and Victoire continued to yell at each other. Teddy glanced at Professor McGonagall slightly surprised that she didn't try to stop the two from arguing. But McGonagall knew better than that, she wasn't going to get in the middle of two people with the Weasley temper. Professor Linkwell on the other hand, must have had less experience with them because he was trying (and failing miserably) to get them to be quiet. Teddy had stood by and was listening to Lucy and Victoire let their anger out (in the form of shouting), when he noticed the air around Victoire's flailing arms shimmering oddly.

He realized what was going on a split second before he shouted her name loud enough to be heard over the noise.

"Victoire!"

Victoire and Lucy stopped arguing once they heard Teddy's voice raise above theirs. Victoire looked at him and noticed that his eyes were strained on her hands. She glanced down at herself and saw that her hands had started to glow red with heat. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm herself and felt some of the heat draining out of her hands. She quickly folded them across her chest. Everyone was staring at her now. Everyone but Linkwell and Austin Pennington were staring warily at her. The later were staring at her shocked; they didn't understand what was going on.

Before Professor Linkwell was able to ask about what Victoire had just done, Professor McGonagall took advantage of the fact that Lucy and Victoire had stopped quarrelling, "Thank-you for your explanation Victoire. Now Lucy, would you tell me what your side of the story is."

Lucy covertly shot Victoire a look of superiority before she began her speech. Lucy was halfway through her narration -it sounded just like Victoire's only insinuated much more that Victoire was doing things wrong- when Victoire felt something in her head. It was like a small tug on the corner of her mind. She spun around swiftly in the direction she felt the pull coming from as she pulled her wand out of her robes.

Thwack!

Victoire's hand that wasn't holding her wand had come up to her mouth as she stifled a gasp. By now, the whole room had fallen silent and were looking in Victoire direction. In front of her, stuck in a body-bind curse, was Professor Linkwell. His wand had fallen out of his hand and he was crumpled on the floor.

"Oh my Merlin," Victoire said eyes wide as she looked at Linkwell.

"What did you just do Vic?" Lucy asked as she ran over to kneel beside Linkwell and preformed the counter-curse on him.

Professor Linkwell stood up and accepted the wand from Lucy without even so much as a nod in thanks.

"I-I didn't mean to curse him!" Victoire said trying to get her bearings.

"Then why did you?" McGonagall asked the question this time.

"It was a reflex reaction! I felt him trying to use Legilimency on me and I reacted," Victoire defended herself, daring to glare at Linkwell. He glared back at her.

"Legilimency?" Professor McGonagall asked looking at them.

"Reflex?" Austin Pennington enquired; he was confused.

Professor Linkwell looked unabashed as he turned to McGonagall, "We were getting nowhere so I thought that Legilimency would help us fix this problem."

"It would have been better for you to ask Miss Weasley if you could use Legilimency instead of just using it on her," McGonagall chastised lightly.

"Of course Minerva. I just thought it would be easier. I definitely didn't expect her to curse me like that. To use Occlumency against my Legilimency."

He glared at Victoire as he spoke.

"Sorry. Like I said reflex," Victoire said staring at her feet.

"Who in their right mind would teach a seventeen-year-old Occlumency anyway?" Professor Linkwell said cynically.

"Um, that would be me," Kingsley said, speaking for the first time. His smile was huge and affectionate as he saw the small grin cross Victoire's face. He was rather proud of her at the moment.

Linkwell looked like he didn't know what to say. It's not like he could criticize Kingsley Shacklebolt. He was Head of the Auror Office and was the old Minister for Magic.

"Oh."

"But to be fair. I didn't teach a seventeen-year-old how to use Occlumency; I taught a fifteen-year-old Occlumency, she's just grown stronger over the years," Kingsley said his smile getting even wider.

"Um, not to criticize you Mr. Shacklebolt, but why would you teach a fifteen year old child how to use Occlumency?" Linkwell asked glaring slightly at Victoire, as if it was all her fault.

"Oh, just in case some tired to use Legilimency on her without her permission, you know? Constant vigilance and all that." An even larger smile.

Linkwell nodded dumbly but shot a covert look at Victoire. He opened his mouth to speak but McGonagall beat him to the punch, "Anyway, this argument is pointless and it's going nowhere. All of you are excused so you'd better hurry to get to class."

Professor Linkwell ushered the Slytherins out dotting over Scorpious and wondering whether his nose had been healed properly. Lucy sent Victoire one more glare before leaving. She didn't even bother to say goodbye to her Uncle or her other cousins. Rose ran up to give Harry a hug, "Bye Uncle Harry!" She ran and gave both Kingsley and Teddy a quick hug and goodbye too. Al said a quick 'bye' to his Dad, Kingsley and Teddy, before leaving with her.

Victoire was about to sneak out the door when McGonagall called her name. She spun around slowly and looked at Professor McGonagall.

"Yes Professor?" She said in a bright voice trying to use the ol' Veela charm.

"I'd like you to stay here; I have a task for you."

"Wow, thank-you Professor. But I kinda have to go to Herbology . . ." She looked at Xavier uneasily; they are both supposed to be in Herbology right now.

"I'll send Professor Longbottom a message telling him that you and Mr Wood are busy. He'll make sure that someone from your house gets you up to date on the lesson."

Victoire nodded and looked at Professor McGonagall expectantly. Xavier decided that it was his time to ask about why he was summoned to her office. Xavier and Austin Pennington walked to stand next to Victoire.

Xavier cleared his throat, "So, why am I here Professor?"

McGonagall looked at Kingsley and Harry as if she was trying to figure out how much to say, "Mr Potter and Mr Shacklebolt are here to consult on some adjustments on the castle's security. They would feel better if all of the passages in and out of the school were checked to see what type of condition they are in. Mr Lupin over here was going to do it but since you all ended up in my office, I figured that it would be done a lot quicker with four people instead of one."

Austin nodded pompously thinking her request nothing out of the ordinary. Xavier and Victoire however realized that there was something odd going on and shared a look with each other. After all, they had been on patrol the other night when they'd run into McGonagall, Kingsley, and the Minister of Magic. Victoire glanced boldly from her Uncle Harry to Kingsley with a look that was both inquisitive and audacious. The look said I-don't-believe-what-she-says-so-I-expect-you-to-tell-me-later. They also knew that she was going to let them go without actually telling her.

"Alright Professor." Austin had answered for himself, Xavier, and Victoire.

Teddy moved from his spot next to the desk and Xavier and Austin moved towards the door. Victoire watched Harry give Ted the Marauder's Map. She smiled at him as they walked out the door.

Next week . . . a little Teddy and Victoire fluff!

Yeah, I love the younger kids . . . Hope you liked it!