A/N: This was written for the Moresome May action prompt "going shopping" and the Insane House Challenge prompt "item - doll." Word count: 1,226

"Remember Teddy's allergic to bees. His potion is in the bag, but please keep an eye on him, Mum. He gets shaken after a reaction. Last time we couldn't get him back outside for more than a week."

"Bill," Molly said calmly, placing a hand on his arm. "I'm their grandmother. Believe it or not, you've left them with me before."

He took a deep breath, rubbing at his brow.

"I know," he admitted. "I do. It's just that Victoire had that nasty fall the other day, and it's got me shaken up. Give me some time to get over it."

Molly smiled again, patting his arm several times before letting go.

"The first bad injury is always the worst. By the time you get to the tenth, everything's fine as long as you don't need to rush to St Mongo's."

The idea of checking either of the children in to the hospital made his heart rate skyrocket.

"That's not helping, Mum."

"No," Molly had begun to busy herself with washing the breakfast dishes, "perhaps not, but it is a nice reminder that I have my fair share of experience with children."

"And we trust you completely, Molly," Fleur assured her as she and Tonks entered the kitchen from the living room, where they'd just settled the kids in.

"Bill blames himself for Victoire falling off the broom," Tonks added. "That's what's got him worked up."

Molly hummed in agreement. She'd already worked that out for herself.

"They'll be unharmed when you get back. Have fun in Diagon Alley."

It was as sharp a dismissal as Molly would ever give any of her children, and with a bit of reluctance still, Bill reached for the flower pot of floo powder.

XXX

Diagon Alley was not Bill's favourite place on weekends. He couldn't stand wading through the crowds to look at the products for sale. What could have been a simple shopping trip always took three times longer than necessary. He would have preferred to come on a weekday, when there were less people and Diagon Alley was enjoyable, but between the three of them, there was no weekday they could get off at the same time.

The toy store was particularly packed for some reason. Bill sighed as he waited for a father and his three children to move out of the way so he could look at the toys they were monopolizing.

He'd lost Fleur and Tonks in the store as they'd wandered off in different directions, each determined to get Victoire the best birthday present they could find.

It wasn't a competition, as all three of their names would go on each present, but it kind of was.

When they'd arrived, Bill had figured he had this in the bag. He knew his daughter, played with her every day. It couldn't be hard to pick out a toy for her. He'd done it before, of course, but her interests changed so rapidly that he couldn't buy the same gifts he had in the past.

The store had a wider variety of toys than Bill had known one could buy before becoming a parent. There were even dolls you could burp, complete with fake spit-up. He certainly wasn't buying one of those. The large toy dragons that blew out fake fire were labelled safe for all ages, but Bill thought that might be something to get her when she was older. (Though he wouldn't have been surprised to find one in the mail from Charlie when Victoire opened her presents.)

By the time he'd done a sweep of the store, he'd narrowed it down a bit, but he was still feeling indecisive. When her interests changed frequently, how did you choose something that would get a lot of use?

He wandered back to the doll aisle, sidestepping the burping one but picking up the one in customizable Hogwarts robes for inspection. It was simple as far as many of the store's offerings went, but that might have been a good thing. Victoire had been talking about how excited she was for Hogwarts even though it was years away for her. She might have liked getting to choose the doll's house.

"You can't be serious."

He nearly dropped the doll when Tonks' booming voice sounded from behind him. He turned around to see both his partners watching him. Tonks with her eyebrows raised and arms crossed, Fleur with a contemplative frown.

"You're buying her a doll?" Tonks continued when Bill didn't own up to his apparent transgression.

"Maybe."

Bill defensively clutched the doll to his chest.

"It has Hogwarts robes," he said lamely. "She likes Hogwarts, and she doesn't have any dolls. It'd be something new."

"Sweetie," Fleur began in the same voice she used to comfort the kids when they were crying. "Victoire doesn't have any dolls because she doesn't want any. She's not interested."

He glanced around to make sure there were no other shoppers watching his embarrassment.

"I know, but maybe she would realize they're fun if she had one to play with."

"She's been around other kids with dolls," Tonks said. "She doesn't want to play with them."

He gave up trying to defend his choice, sitting it back down on the shelf.

"What are you getting her then?"

Tonks beamed, holding up a bright orange board game.

"You play as an Auror candidate, and you have to successfully complete training. Look here." She turned the box around so they could read the list of tasks. "They really do have every part here. Victoire and Teddy can see what I had to do to get where I am. I'll totally be the cool parent after I give her this."

Bill wondered if there was an equivalent for curse breakers. It wasn't a bad idea.

Fleur held up a purple toy cauldron that came with a potions kit with harmless ingredients.

"She can practice making potions change colours or bubble. Things like that," Fleur explained. "She'll love getting to make a mess."

His shoulders had drooped in defeat, and both women were quick to step forward to comfort him.

"The doll wasn't that bad of an idea," Fleur said. "One day maybe she'll want one."

"And you're right that she's been going on about Hogwarts lately," Tonks said, smiling. "Just this morning she wouldn't shut up about going to find the kitchens on her first day."

The reminder of why Bill had chosen the doll in the first place was enough to spark an idea in Bill's mind.

"Hogwarts," he repeated. "That's it!"

Without an explanation, he began wading through the crowd to another area of the store that held costumes. Sure enough, the miniature Hogwarts robes were where he remembered them being.

He tugged a set off the rack, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"Now those," Tonks fingered the material, "she won't take off for days."

Bill nodded in satisfaction before he noticed the Ravenclaw crest on the pair he was holding.

"Wait. Which house do we get her?"

He made intense eye contact with Tonks. For a second, it was silent.

"Four sets would be nice," Fleur said, stepping between them to pull the other three houses off the rack. "That way we can wash them."

She shoved the other three into Bill's arms and began ushering them towards the cashier.