Despite holding no interest in politics, Draco seemed keen to jockey for power among most Slytherins in their year. In a bid to please his father, Victoria had guessed, he extended the invitation to Millicent Bulstrode, Denmore Pike, Blaise Zabini, Rosalie Runcorn, Tracey Davis, and Mauricius Gamp to visit the Manor that Saturday after term. In addition to the other children who had visited before the school term.
While Denmore, Mauricius, and Rosalie had joined Lavinia, Laelia, Pansy, Vincent, and Greg in following Draco to the gardens, the others had favored following Victoria to the eastern drawing-room to do some of their homework.
"Wager he's running his mouth about Potter?" Theo had wagered as he turned a page in his textbook.
"He would be," Eri had replied, crinkling her nose in disgust. "He's been talking about Harry every chance he gets during mealtimes. Cassiopeia literally put a tongue-tying jinx on him, and she literally got nothing compared to what I would have gotten if I did it. She was told to undo it and apologize. I would have been sent straight to my rooms before I could even finish dinner."
Tracey tugged on her ear as she said, "I do believe that your choice to speak with people like the Weasleys and Entwhistle had you earn their ire."
"Uncle Lucius blames what he considers my mediocre marks on my poor choice of friends." Then, without hesitation, she does an imitation of Mr. Malfoy's stuffy, lofty voice, "Your marks are not too abysmal, though I should say that your cousin and siblings have better marks than this. Then again, I suppose that happens when you decide to be in the company of filth."
Blaise was about to open his mouth – as if to give his input – when the doors had burst open. Cassiopeia and Marcus Flint giggling and chuckle as they take one foot inside.
"No, not here!" Cassiopeia exclaimed, gazing down at them condescendingly. "Children are here!"
The pair of them left, and the group had just stared at each other. Silence filled the room for a minute.
"As I was about to say, the Weasley's have that Muggle look to them," said Blaise, as he caught a reflection of himself on one of the brass vases. As if Cassiopeia hadn't burst in with Flint minutes before. "Not the sort where Mr. Malfoy would have business dealings with."
"Speaking of your sister, did your aunt and uncle set her dowry yet?" Daphne asked. "She's at the age where she'd be betrothed."
"Don't get me started, Daph," Eridani moaned. "That was the first thing Aunt Cissy approached Cassiopeia with: about her betrothal. And she's at the beginning of planning her debut gala as well."
A debut gala. Of course, how could Victoria have forgotten? In the Malfoy's circle, a girl was due to find a boyfriend, who'd she marry after her last year of education. Most times, the parents prearranged matches beforehand to prevent their child from engaging in less than savory partnerships. Cassiopeia had her eyes on Marcus Flint, though Mr. Malfoy was interested in maintaining connections with Flavius Warrington, chairman of the Daily Prophet. Victoria wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Malfoy decided to nudge Cassiopeia towards Cassius, despite the latter showing no interest in the former.
Victoria was thankful that she and Severus weren't in that tier of wizarding society. Though she had this dreadful feeling that Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy would try to give Draco and her a few nudges for courtship.
Well, Pansy Parkinson seemed to fancy Draco, so hopefully, they'd consider her as a potential spouse instead.
"At least she'll get out of the house when she gets married," said Millicent.
"Yeah, before my sixth year," Eridani grumbled. "She won't be expected to get married after she graduates from Hogwarts." She stood up and clapped her hands. Exclaiming, "Dobby!"
At once, the bat-eared and green-eyed house-elf had appeared. "What could Dobby do for Mistress Eridani and her friends?" he had asked. Dobby was always in rough shape, and today was no different. Most of his head was plastered in bandages today.
"Sandwiches with cream cheese and coronation chicken, please?" asked Eridani.
With a snap, the house-elf had left the drawing-room.
"I just hope that Mrs. Malfoy doesn't bother to throw me a debut gala in a few years," Victoria said. "Half those invited wouldn't show up."
"You'd be surprised," Theodore said. "They'd only turn up just to not offend Mrs. Malfoy."
"Enough with this marriage talk," Millicent grumbled, waving her hand dismissively as Dobby had popped in carrying a platter of their sandwiches. "Now, Victoria, may I borrow your History of Magic notes if you have them?"
Victoria was glad that Millicent had steered the topic away from betrothals and marriage. It wasn't anything that Victoria wanted to think about. However, it seemed to be on Eridani's mind. For as they paired off from the drawing-room to go to Eridani's room –
"I'm not looking forward to when I turn fourteen," Eridani divulged as she plopped on her bed. "My aunt and uncle might pick someone I don't like just to set me straight."
"As long as it's not your cousin," Victoria said, remembering how the Blacks were known for their intermarriages.
"As if I want to marry Draco," Eridani said in disgust. "Aunt Cissy said that Great Aunt Walburga wanted her to marry her cousin Sirius in order rethink his priorities. Unfortunately for her, Abraxas Malfoy had already made a betrothal agreement with grandma and grandpa."
If Victoria had cousins, she couldn't imagine marrying them. The thought already made her sick to her stomach. Some wizarding families were purported to do worse than just marrying cousins.
Eridani seemed to think something over when she said, "Vic?"
"Eri?" Victoria asked, curious what Eridani had wanted.
Eridani swallows hard, clenching her fists. Then without a word, she leaps from her bed. Her lips touched Victoria's. It was only a few seconds, though Victoria had felt her heart hammer against her chest as butterflies rose from the pits of her stomach. Eyes widening in surprise at the action of her friend.
Eri's brown eyes widened in horror. Almost as if she was afraid that she had done something wrong. As if she had done something to push her away.
"I-I'm sorry," she sputtered. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just…I've always liked you more than a friend. I shouldn't have done that without saying anything first."
Victoria had shaken her head. "No, Eri. You didn't offend me. Truth is…" she swallows… "I liked you too." Then, she leaned in forward to kiss her back, unaware of the door opening as she did so. The warmth blossomed in her chest. As if fireworks were going off in her head.
Then someone clears their throat.
The two girls jumped as they both turned towards the door. The blood drained from her face in horror as Alphard stood at the doorway of Eridani's room. Staring at them with wide eyes, as if he didn't know what to say.
After what seemed like a few seconds, he said, "I'd say we keep this between ourselves." His disapproval of the situation is evident in his tone. "You two are just lucky that it was me that caught you two touching lips instead of Aunt Cissy, Uncle Lucius, and Cassiopeia."
He leaves, leaving the two preteen girls frozen where they stood.
Ever since Eridani had kissed her and she kissed her back, a cloud of awkwardness had hung over between them. Perhaps she was oblivious to the fact that Eridani, too, had harbored a crush on her, and even if Victoria had wanted her to be more than a friend, she was having a hard time looking at her the same way. And being around her now didn't feel the same anymore.
Not helping matters any was the fact that Alphard had walked in on them right when she kissed Eridani back. He kept his promise not to tell Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, though that didn't mean that he had given reproving glances to the two of them when he had walked by.
No one needed to know. Not her mother when she made her visits, and not Severus. She was especially hesitant to tell the latter as he and Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy tell each other almost everything. No kid can casually tell their guardian, A girl that I had a crush on kissed me, and I kissed her back without any sort of consequence.
Victoria couldn't really afford to avoid Eridani either after that. Not only would it be rude and send her the wrong message, but it would also tip off Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy that things weren't the same between them. Mr. Malfoy was already in a dither about the Muggle-protection act, and it wouldn't help it any if he knew that his niece and her friend of the same gender touched lips.
"M-mind if you pass the butter?" Eridani had asked, trying to hide in awkwardness as they dropped into the Bulstrode residence in Newport, Wales (Kevin, who lived an hour away, dropping in as well).
"Sure," said Victoria. Trying to look around, hoping that no one caught anything unusual as her shaking hands passed Eridani the butter dish. That nobody would be asking if anything was alright between them.
Kevin's raised eyebrow at both her and Eridani had dashed those hopes. Though luckily, he never said anything during the visit.
However, as July progressed, Victoria had more on her mind than the awkwardness surrounding her and Eridani.
"Dueling?" Victoria had asked Severus on a morning on the third full week of the summer holidays. Severus nods as he pours his morning tea into his cup. "Considering the trouble that you have almost gotten into the last term when gallivanting with your Gryffindor friends, I thought it as the best course of action. In addition to the headmaster scrapping the bottom of the barrel for this year for Defense of the Against the Dark Arts".
"Scrapping the bottom of the barrel?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. There couldn't be any worse teacher than Quirrell for the job, could there be.
"You'd be surprised at the selections that the headmaster came up with, though this one tops it," Severus drawls.
"Dueling," she said to herself. "I can do spells nonverbally, and I'm still practicing how to do wandless magic. I've read your old textbooks from school."
"Yes, but it's important to learn how to use them should someone get on the wrong side of you one day or vice versa," he drawls as she picks up her fork to eat her eggs. "Before you ask, no, we're not going to practice dueling here. Only a dunderhead would make the decision to practice dueling in a town like this."
Victoria nodded, understanding what he was saying. The Ministry would not be as likely to go after her for underaged magic if she was in a home where magic was part of day-to-day life. Technically, she was forbidden to do any magic outside of magic as she was underage.
"When do we start?" she asks, setting down her fork and picking up her glass to drink her pumpkin juice.
"Preferably on Tuesday mornings in Malfoy Manor, for I wouldn't have time on Fridays," he answers. "Starting at August."
Victoria nodded, feeling a wave of excitement. It was one thing to read about spells, but to use them for a duel…Andrew would want to try his hand on it if she told him and would want Uncle Remus to give him some lessons.
Fifteen minutes after breakfast, the two of them made the two-block trek to the bus bay. Passing by the various empty houses as they walked down the Victorian cobblestone streets. As she always did, Victoria pressed the button at the stop to signal the coach driver to pick them up.
During the summer, it was a Wednesday ritual to take the coach to travel to Tesco, which was in the city of Leicester. Which was a good fifteen minutes from Cokeworth if one counted the stops the coach would make to pick up the other passengers.
Fast forward to noon, Severus was lugging the metal cart carrying what few bags of groceries they managed to procure. Victoria carrying two light bags with both hands.
Victoria had finished helping put the groceries away when she rushed up the stairs to see if Perenelle had bought her any post. Certainly enough, her barn owl was perched outside the window. Holding her beak of letters that Victoria had been waiting for.
She lifted the window open, and Perenelle flew in just as Victoria rifled through her post. Andrew, Hermione, Ron, Kevin, Eridani, and Millicent had sent her post. But there was nothing from Harry.
It's been a few weeks since she had last sent him that letter asking when would be an excellent time to visit his place. Perhaps he was using Muggle mail, but no, it couldn't be that. Not if he had an owl of his own (Hedwig, he called her).
Downstairs during lunch, she'd asked Severus, "Is it too soon to never hear from one of my friends?"
Severus, of course, didn't ask who it was. "I take it that you haven't heard from Potter ever since you last spoke with him."
"I wasn't the only one who hadn't heard from him," Victoria pointed out as she started to work on her jacket potato. "Andrew, Hermione, and Ron had not heard from him either."
In her few visits to her mother's and the Weasley's Burrow, Andrew and Ron had both shared their worries about not reaching Harry ("I must have asked him six times now if he could come over, and I hadn't heard anything. Not surprised if it's Erroll's fault."). Hermione expressed in writing that she had never heard from Harry either.
"Interesting," Severus had answered with a raise of his eyebrow. "I'd give it two more weeks, and if you do not hear from him, then we will talk."
Victoria grumbled under her breath as she began working on her jacket potato. She'd rather not wait two weeks to see why she hadn't heard from Harry.
The following week had passed, and Harry still hadn't replied back. Something was wrong, Victoria's gut was telling her. Terribly wrong.
On Saturday morning, the day after Harry's birthday, her concern had taken a notch when Mr. Malfoy said during breakfast, "It seems that Potter got in trouble with the Ministry yesterday. Though I can't guess as to why," seeming to ignore an incredibly nervous Dobby dropping the sugar dish.
"I wonder what he did," Andrew had said as she gathered with him and Ron at the Burrow that afternoon. "Probably trying to magic himself out of there."
"But we can't," Victoria stressed. "It's against the rules to use magic around Muggles outside of school. It's a secrecy thing."
"He has to be really desperate to do it," Ron wagered. "I mean, I'd too."
"What do we do?" Victoria asked. They had to do something. They couldn't just –
"Now, I don't want the three of you to get any ideas," Mrs. Weasley interjected, interrupting Victoria's thoughts. "Arthur and I are planning to go over there next Friday if you don't hear from him next week."
"Mum plans on coming to their place on Monday," Andrew dropped down in a whisper. "It's not going to be pretty."
Mother had picked up on their concerns about Harry not replying to their letters. Her features look more concerned every time. "I'm going to do something about it," were her words a few days ago when Andrew had confirmed once again that they had never heard from Harry.
Victoria had seen her stern, but she didn't know if she wanted to see her angry.
The three of them passed Ginny and Violet – the two of them prattling away like there was no tomorrow – and went into Ron's room.
"We have to do something about it," Andrew had said as he plopped on Ron's bed. "We can't just leave him there. I mean, we helped him with trying to stop Quirrell from taking the Philosopher's Stone."
Yes, they had to. The more time passed without hearing from him, the urgent it was.
"How would we get there, even?" Andrew asked. "We don't know how to apparate. Not even driving a car."
Victoria was going to suggest making a Portkey until Ron's eyes widened. As if Andrew had just given him an idea. "I know what we can do! Follow me!"
The two of them followed Ron down the flights of stairs and bounded out the door ("Whatever you three are up to, don't let the gnomes in the garden!" Mrs. Weasley shouted after them). He had led them past the chicken coop towards the shed where Mr. Weasley kept his Muggle trinkets and knick-knacks.
Next to that shed looked like a vehicle under an old tarp, and only when Ron yanked it off did Victoria see what it was. It was a motorcar that could only come from the late fifties if pictures were of any indication. Its faded blue paint giving away its age.
"My dad is from the Office of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, right?" Ron said. "Well, he wrote a law about the ownership of charmed objects. Well, you can say he made a loophole there."
Gazing at the car, there were many charms that Mr. Weasley could have used on that car. Remembering that Andrew had once said something about his dad's flying motorcycle lying unused in one of the sheds next to his Yorkshire home, only one possibility had stuck out to Victoria given what Muggles use cars for. "He charmed it to fly, didn't he?"
"Yes, but it's not like he planned to use it for flying," Ron interjected.
"As if no one else who knows would use it for flying," Victoria pointed out as Fred and George strolled over towards them.
"The three of you aren't planning to use that car to get Harry, are you?" asked one of them.
"Since when did you care about following the rules?" asked Andrew, folding his arms.
"We were going to ask if you don't mind if we come along to take the wheel," pointed out Fred. "Our expertise could come in handy."