Victoria rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh at hearing the nickname again, but hurried to walk next to Albert anyway. "So, what do you propose we do for the remainder of the week?" she asked. "Since it was your brilliant idea to come visit my house."
"Well, I'd like to go on a ride or two. A real one. Back at home, Mother won't let me go on any rides besides my lessons and on social functions. During lessons, I never get to do anything fun since my teacher is only worried about my form. And social functions are even worse, since they're always at a walk or a light trot in order for us to be able to talk. I wouldn't mind practicing a little Quidditch either, if you've got anywhere in which to do that."
"That's not a problem. Our house may be small, but we've got acres of land, and it's quite far away from everything, so Quidditch shouldn't be a trouble. You're going to help me with my chores and everything, you know."
"I'm fully aware of what I've gotten into. I'm not afraid to get dirty doing chores. I haven't been completely converted into a stuck-up rich boy." He winked at her. "It'll be good for me to do some things for myself." The two were just barely approaching the marble steps up to Gringotts when it began to rain. It was a very light drizzle, and Victoria wanted to stay out, finding it quite pleasant.
"No, I really do think it best not to get on your parents' bad sides. Let's just get home." He took her arm and pulled her gently behind him as he entered the snowy-white building. When he realized Victoria wasn't going to bolt back outside just to stand in the rain, he let go of her arm and reached in his pocket for the Floo Powder. He extracted it carefully, making sure not to spill any, considering his supply was quickly diminishing.
The flames in the fireplace were low. It seemed as if the fire hadn't been tended since they had first entered, but Victoria reached into the bag, taking out a very small pinch of the powder, and threw it onto the flames. They grew quite rapidly, and turned the signature green that signified Floo Powder was being put to use. "Christiansen residence," she said quickly, and stepped through.
Entering the kitchen, Victoria made it a priority to step aside in order to give Albert room to come in after her. Her parents were back at the table, finishing up their dinners. "Your home just in time," her mother said as Albert came in next to Victoria. "I'm pleased," she continued, and nodded approvingly. "Did you get caught in the rain at all?"
Victoria shook her head in answer. "I wanted to, but Albert wouldn't let me. He kept insisting we needed to get home so you wouldn't worry." Her mother issued another satisfied nod. "Wait a moment," Victoria said. "It's raining here?"
"Absolutely," Philip said. "It's pouring, in fact. Tomorrow is going to be muddy."
Victoria looked out the small kitchen windo to see that it was, in fact, raining quite heavily. "May we go outside?" she begged. "Please?"
Mary smiled. "You remind me of myself when I was your age," she said. "Of course you may, but make sure to change out of your nice dress first."
Victoria practically ran back to her room to change, and Albert took a seat at the table. "I suppose she's going to drag me outside into that with her?"
Philip laughed. "That's my daughter. How you ever managed to get stuck with her as a friend is beyond me. Have you anything less formal to wear out in the rain?"
"No sir," Albert answered. "These are my most practical clothes. My mother believes in formal wear all the time. I don't get out of the house much, and when I do I'm always dressed nicely. Much too nicely for my liking, really. While I'm here I think I'll go into town and buy some normal clothes."
"I think that's a very good idea. Around here, clothes tend to get dirty very easily," Mary said. At that moment, Victoria came skidding to a halt just in front of the table, entering from the living room. She was wearing her gray work dress again, with no stockings or shoes, and had pulled her unruly curls back into a messy bun.
"I'm ready," she said. Albert stood up reluctantly. "Oh come on," she laughed. "It's not that bad. Just wet." She took his hand and gave him a tug in the direction of the door. He followed closely behind her, having no other choice.
Upon stepping outside, they were hit with what seemed to be bucketfuls of rainwater. Victoria scanned the sky for lightning and listened for thunder, but there was none. She pointed to a small hill to the left of the house with her free hand. "Let's go up there. We've got a halfway decent view of the town, and things aren't nearly as muddy up there." Albert, seeing no reason to be difficult, as he was already drenched, walked next to her, taking one long stride for every two of hers.
When the reached the top of the hill, Victoria tilted her face up into the rain, shut her eyes, and smiled as the rainwater ran down her face and landed on her shoulders. She released Albert's hand, very much enjoying the weather. Albert simply stood, watching her in amazement, unbelieving that she could actually like the rain. And yet, it was beginning to grow on him. It was a nice cool-down after a very long, very warm day. He found himself smiling at Victoria's love of life in general.
Then a thought struck him, and he smiled, his eyes holding a wicked glint. In one quick, smooth motion he scooped Victoria off of her feet, supporting her shoulders and the backs of her knees. She screamed and kicked, laughing all the while. "Put me down you big lug!" she shouted.
"You want me to put you down?" he asked, holding her small frame up easily.
She gasped, trying to take a break from laughing. "Yes! Put me down!"
"All right, if you say so." He grinned at her, then walked over to a rather large mud puddle. Looking down, Victoria saw what he had planned for her. Albert tried to deposit her firmly in the mud puddle, but the moment she was on the ground she grabbed his ankle and pulled, his foot coming out from under him and causing him to end up lying on his back on the soft ground next to her.
He let out an echoing laugh. "Well then," he huffed, "if that's the way you want to act..." He reached for a handful of mud, the watered-down dirt squishy in his hand. Albert took the handful of mud, turned to Victoria, and rubbed it into her hair. "Looks good on you," he appraised, putting a dot of mud on each of her cheeks with her forefinger. For a moment Victoria simply lay there, mouth open as she took in what Albert had just done.
"Ha," she said, still in shock, "ha." She cleared her head and rolled over almost so she was on top of Albert, grabbing hold of his shirt with one hand and picking up mud with the other. Victoria smeared the mud all the way down the front of Albert's clean white shirt. She then rolled away quickly and got to her feet, laughing. Before she had time to catch her breath, Albert was up and coming towards her.
"Uh-oh," she mumbled, and started to back away down the hill. Albert jogged the last few steps to her and made to pick her up again, but she was too fast and dodged his hands, stepping out of the way. He made another grab for her and caught hold of her skirt. She reached for him at the same time, grabbing onto his wrist. Victoria was caused to trip over her skirt, and Albert ended up going down with her. The two were now almost stuck together and rolling down the hill at the same time. Victoria squeeled in between laughs, and Albert's rich laughter mingled with hers. They tumbled to the bottom of the hill, and ended up sprawled out, a foot or so away from each other.
"That was the greatest thing," Albert laughed, "I have ever done in my life." His eyes sparkled as he sat up and looked at his clothes. "They'll wash," he said, unworried, and began to laugh again.
"Let's do it again," Victoria said, finally getting her breath, a wide smile on her face.
"Race you to the top!" Albert yelled, and was already a quarter of the way up the hill.
Victoria picked herself up and ran after him. When she got to the peak of the small hill, he was standing and waiting for her. "That wasn't very fair," she pointed out, "you had a head start." Albert laughed.
"Life isn't fair," he shrugged. "Well, now it's more than fair, I suppose. I feel like a young child again. That hasn't happened in a long time. My parents never let me have any fun."
"That can't be true, they've got to let you get out every once in a while." Victoria took a step towards him, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Once in a blue moon," he said. "You know that. I complain about it all the time."
"Yes," she continued with a laugh, "that you do. So when were we going to roll down this hill again?"
"Right about..." he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a sitting position, "now." Albert went rolling down the hill, still grasping Victoria's hand.