March 1992

Minerva picked Lucy up from her crib after her nap and walked over to the changing table to change her clothes and diaper. After that she put on the baby's coat, slippers, and hat. Lucy squirmed around a lot as Minerva tried to get her things on. "Ready to go see Daddy?"

Minerva picked Lucy up off the table and walked down to the front door. She pulled the stroller out of the closet and unfolded it before laying Lucy down inside. She put on her own coat and shoes too before pulling out her wand, grabbing the stroller and Apparating the two of them to London. They reappeared in an alleyway near one of Jay's favourite restaurants. Minerva pushed the stroller in front of her as she walked out of the alleyway and onto the busy London sidewalks. Lucy babbled and pointed at things as they walked.

They made it to the restaurant and went inside. People were sitting inside chatting amongst themselves as they ate their lunches. Minerva walked over to the counter and ordered food to go for herself and Jay. The waitress told her that it would be a few minutes and she joined the others waiting for their own lunch. Lucy babbled loudly, attracting the attention of some of the other patrons. Some of them talked to her and Minerva, asking the baby's name and age. Minerva made polite small talk though she really just wanted to get her food and go.

Lucy was starting to get cranky so Minerva pulled out one of her toys to keep her busy. She handed it to her and it kept her attention for a little while before she got bored and threw the rattle away. It hit the leg of a young man nearby. He had blond hair and an almost cocky looking face. He looked up, leaned down and grabbed the rattle.

"I'm so sorry," Minerva said, taking the rattle back from him.

"That's quite alright," he said with a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. He looked into the stroller. "Cute baby. Are you babysitting?"

"Babysitting? No," Minerva said with a frown. "This is my daughter."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, smile fading. "Where did you adopt her from?"

"She is not adopted," Minerva said, unconsciously pulling the sunshield on the stroller down a little more to block Lucy from this man. "She is my biological daughter."

"Oh..." he said. "Are you married?"

"I am."

"And she's your husband's daughter?"

"She is."

"Where's your husband from?"

"He was born here in London," Minerva said, glaring at this man.

"Where were his parents from then?"

"They were from India."

"Oh, so your daughter is half Indian. Weird," the man said. "Never seen that before."

"It's not weird," Minerva said angrily.

"Sorry I didn't mean to make you upset," he said quickly. "I think it's cool that your daughter is mixed. I just never really seen that before. Mixed babies aren't that common here in England, I don't think."

Minerva didn't want to talk to this man anymore. She heard her number called and pushed the stroller over to the counter to grab her order. She sent one last glare at the man before walking out of the restaurant and walking towards Jay's work. Lucy was babbling again and Minerva lifted the shield a bit and gave her a smile.

"God, am I happy you can't understand people like that yet," she said with a shake of her head. "We'll be with Daddy soon, my love."

It was about a ten minute walk from the restaurant to Jay's office and Minerva was angry the whole way. She did her best not to show it and smiled down at Lucy whenever she babbled or giggled. The fussy baby was no longer being fussy so that did helped. She made it to the building and went inside.

The girls at the front desk greeted her happily and cooed at Lucy when they walked up. Minerva was glad to be here with warm people who did not make stupid comments or hold idiotic ideologies. After a short conversation with the women at the front desk, Minerva pushed the stroller towards the elevator.

"Minerva!"

She turned to see Raj running towards her. Minerva gave him a smile. "Hello, Raj," she said. "How are you?"

"Good, good," Raj said, walking over. "Allow me." He took the stroller for her and pushed it towards the elevator. Minerva followed him. "And how is my little princess today?" He tickled Lucy's nose, making she giggled and grab his finger. He smiled and looked up at Minerva. "So, how are you, Minerva?"

"I'm... not great, actually," she said with a sigh.

"Oh, really?" he said, smile fading and being replaced by a frown. "What's wrong?"

She pushed the elevator button and sighed again. "Just some idiot at the restaurant I went to grab lunch from," she said, crossing her arms. She looked down at Lucy and gave her a small smile. "He was not very nice, was he darling?"

"What happened?" Raj asked with a frown as the elevator doors opened. He and Minerva walked inside and he looked over at her.

Minerva shook her head. "Just an idiot," she said. "Asked me if I was babysitting and then if Lucy was adopted."

Raj sighed. "What was his name?"

"Don't know," she said. "Never gave me his name."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," he said. "Some people are just stupid." He reached into the stroller and picked Lucy up, tossing her up and down a little. "I mean, look at this beautiful little girl. She looks just as beautiful as her mother."

Minerva smiled a little and shook her head. "Again, Raj, you flatter me," she said. She held up her hand. "Unfortunately I'm taken."

Raj laughed. "Of course," he said. "A shame."

He held Lucy up in his arms and motioned for Minerva to go when the doors opened. She walked through the doors and he pushed the stroller out after her. She led the way down to Jay's office and he followed.

"Hello, Maria," Minerva said with a smile.

Maria, Jay's assistant, looked up and smiled. She was tall, thin young woman with brown hair tied up in a stylish bun and brown eyes. She wore red blush and black eyeliner but looked very natural despite it. She was wearing a pencil skirt and matching blazer. She always had a very happy and bright aura around her. Everything Maria did was always done wholeheartedly with a huge genuine smile. Minerva thought that you could mug this girl and she would hand over her money with a smile on her face while complementing your mugging skills.

"Mrs. McGonagall! It's good to see you again," Maria said happily as Minerva and Raj walked over to the desk. "Did you have a good weekend?"

"It was alright," Minerva said, taking Lucy from Raj. "How was yours?"

"Oh, can't complain," she said with a smile. She walked around the desk and cooed at Lucy. "Hello, little Miss Collins! How are you doing?"

Minerva smiled and handed Lucy to Maria. She looked at Raj and gave him a smile. "Will you be joining me, Jay, and Lucy for lunch, Raj?"

"You know I would love to but, I, unfortunately, have a lunch meeting," he said with a sigh. "So, this is where I will leave you. Lunch smells good by the way."

"Thank you," Minerva said with a smile, taking the stroller from him. "Have a nice rest of the day."

Raj gave a little salute before saying goodbye to Maria and Lucy as well and heading back to his office. Minerva took Lucy back from Maria and smiled.

"Is Jay in?" she asked.

"He's at a meeting but he should be here soon," she said, walking back around her desk and sitting back down.

Minerva pulled up a chair from a desk nearby and sat down in front of her. "So, how are you Maria?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking," she said. "Mr. Collins been really busy lately. Lots of meetings. Each meeting comes with files and documents that I have to go through, sort and file away so that's very fun."

"I'm sorry my husband's been working you so hard," Minerva said with a smile.

"No, it's not a problem," she said with a laugh. "I like the work. Certainly beats sitting here and doing nothing all day. I've had jobs like that and I must say I much prefer being on my feet, actually doing things."

"How old were you when you got this job?" Minerva asked.

"Seven years ago now, I believe, so eighteen," Maria said. "I was actually really surprised I got the job. I was the youngest applicant and I honestly only applied because at that point I just needed a job anywhere. I applied for a lot of jobs that I was very unqualified for. For some reason Mr. Collins liked me and hired me."

Minerva smiled. "Well, I can definitely see what he saw," she said. "You're a great addition to the Collins Enterprises team. I expect Jay will try to keep you around for as long as he can. He's always raving about you."

Maria smiled and her cheeks went a little more red. "I really appreciate that, Mrs. McGonagall, " she said. "I hope to stay on for a long time. I really do love this job and, not to toot my own horn or anything but, I think I'm really good at it."

"You are," Minerva said with a smile.

"I love working with Mr. Collins and Mr. Patil," she said. "And then you, Daniel, and Lucy are just an added bonus."

"You do too much for us, Maria," Minerva said with a smile. "You spoil us."

Maria laughed. "I do what I can," she said. "It's really no trouble."

"Will you be taking your lunch break soon?" she asked.

"I will as soon as Mr. Collins returns from his meeting," Maria replied. "How was your day? Did I ask that already?"

Minerva smiled. "No, it was alright," she said. "Until I went to the Anthony's to get lunch for myself and Jay. A young man asked me if Lucy was adopted."

"That's horrible!" Maria said. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

Minerva waved her hand dismissively. "It's not your fault," she said, putting a hand on Lucy's stomach and fixing her shirt. "I knew that things like this would happen every now and again. I'm just glad Lucy's not old enough to understand what that means yet."

"It's still horrible," Maria said sadly. "I think that - oh, hello, Mr. Collins."

"Hello," Jay said cheerfully, walking towards the desk. "Hello, my love."

He leaned down and gave Minerva a kiss. Minerva smiled. "Hello, darling," she said. "How was your meeting?"

"It went well," Jay said, setting his files on Maria's desk before reaching down and taking Lucy from Minerva. He bounced her up and down and she giggled. He kissed her cheek. "Hello, my beautiful darling! Aren't you happy to see me?"

Minerva smiled as he played with Lucy and made her laugh more. Lucy did seem very happy to see her father. She was always very happy to see him. Minerva thought the baby enjoyed these lunch visits just as much as she did.

"So, what were the two of you talking about before I rudely interrupted?" Jay asked, holding Lucy properly now and looking between Maria and Minerva.

"Oh, it was nothing," Minerva said.

"Some guy in Anthony's Diner asked Minerva if Lucy was adopted," Maria said. Minerva gave her a look and her eyes widened. "Sorry, was I not supposed to say anything?"

"A man asked you if Lucy was adopted?" Jay asked with a frown.

"It's nothing for you to worry about, darling. We're fine," Minerva said, getting up and grabbing Lucy's stroller. "Maria, you should really take your lunch break as well. I can hear your stomach growling."

"I will, thank you, Mrs. McGonagall," Maria said, standing up and getting the door for Minerva. "Have a good lunch."

"Thank you, Maria," Minerva said as she walked in with the stroller.

"Yes, thank you," Jay said as he walked through with Lucy still in his arms. Maria closed the door behind them and they walked over to Jay's desk. He pulled a chair over to sit down while Minerva took his seat. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Not much to tell. He asked me if I was babysitting, I said no. He asked me if she was adopted, I said no," Minerva said as she pulled out the food she had bought for them. She pushed Jay's takeout box and fork towards him before opening her own. "Then he asked me if she was my husband's child too and I said yes."

"Wow," Jay said. "He sounds like an -"

"May I remind you that you are holding a baby," Minerva said with a small smile.

"A very not nice person," Jay finished. "I wasn't going to say anything bad."

"Wow, a very not nice person?" Minerva said with a laugh. "You watch your mouth, Jay Collins."

"I'm so sorry," Jay said with a laugh. He looked down at Lucy and bounced her up and down. "You know you're not adopted, right love? We were so happy when we found out you were coming and you were very hard on your mother. She went through a lot so no one could ever say you were adopted."

Minerva smiled and shook her head.

Lucy gurgled in response making Jay laugh. He unzipped her coat and took it off her, putting it down on his desk, before sitting her down in his lap and looking at his food. "This looks great," he said. "Thank you for bringing lunch, even if it was quite an adventure."

"Of course," Minerva said, picking up her diaper bag from under the stroller seat and pulling out a bottle for Lucy as well. She held it out and he took it from her, shifting Lucy in his lap and giving her the bottle. "So anyways, how's your day been so far, darling?"

"It's been alright," he replied with a mouth full of food. "Lots of meetings, reports to go through, budget things. Oh, tomorrow I have a lunch meeting so I won't be able to do lunch with you two unfortunately."

Minerva nodded. "That's alright," she said. "We'll find something to entertain us if we must spend the whole day without you."

"A travesty, I know."

Minerva smiled. "Very much so," she said. "But we'll manage, I'm sure. Though, these lunches are my only chance at real adult conversation."

"Didn't you talk to your mother and Amelia on the phone yesterday?" Jay asked with a smile.

"Yes but no one but Mother comes to visit me anymore," she said with a sigh. "I get lonely home all alone you know."

"I'm so sorry, love," Jay said. "Everyone is very busy with everything going on in the Wizarding World right now."

"I know," Minerva said with a sigh. "Another one of Riddle's rallies ended in a riot last week. Which is why we haven't seen Amelia in so long. She's been very busy dealing with these idiots."

Jay sighed. "We shouldn't talk about this in front of the baby," he said, looking down at Lucy. "I feel like she can understand more than we give her credit for."

Minerva smiled. "I'm sure she does."

Tuesday, June 9th 1998

Minerva was in her bedroom doing some cleaning and reorganising. She had taken all the clothes out of the closet and sorted them into piles of which to keep and which to donate. Lucy was laying on her bed humming as she read one of her mother's books.

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"What is lycanthropy?" Lucy said. "It talks about it here but it doesn't say what it is."

"Lycanthropy is a condition that some people have where they transform into a wolf every full moon," Minerva explained, looking over at the bed.

"Oh! Like a werewolf," Lucy said.

"Yes."

"That's cool," she said. "Have you seen Teen Wolf? Is it like that?"

"Um, no, but it is not a fun illness, Lucy," Minerva said, walking over to the bed as clothes moved around on their own behind her. "It is a very hard thing to live with. When a werewolf transforms he can be quite dangerous. They don't keep their mind when they transform like an Animagus does so they can't control what they do."

"Oh," Lucy said, excitement fading.

"But that doesn't mean that they can't be wonderful people," she said, sitting down and looking at the page Lucy was reading. "Their condition doesn't have to define them. It is something that they will have to learn to deal with but they can still be great people."

"Do you know any werewolves?" Lucy asked.

"I do. I know one," Minerva said with a smile. "And he is one of the kindest and bravest men I know."

"Can I meet him?"

"Maybe someday," Minerva said, tousling Lucy's hair. She got back up and returned to her sorting.

Lucy closed her book and got off the bed. She walked over to where her mother was and looked at the piles of clothes. "I thought you liked that one," she said, pointing to a black dress on the donation pile.

"Eh, I never wear it," Minerva replied. Lucy nodded. She sat down on the floor and started digging through the pile of donation clothes while more clothes continued to fly out of the closet and await Minerva's decision. Minerva looked over at Lucy. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

"No, just looking," Lucy said, pulling out another dress. This one was black and green. "You wear a lot of black."

"You wear a lot of dark colours too," Minerva said with a smile as she wave her hand dismissively at an emerald green robe and it flew into the donation pile.

"That is true," Lucy said with a nod. "But I wear a lot of different dark colours. You only wear green and black."

"Dark blue and dark red and black. Those are not a lot of different dark colours," Minerva pointed out.

Lucy laughed. "More than you."

Minerva picked up a tartan shawl and threw it over Lucy. "There's some red in there as well," she said.

Lucy laughed again as she pulled the shawl off her head. She put it over her shoulders and kept looking around for something else. She found a pointy black hat and put it on her head. She stood up. "There's some red in there as well."

Minerva turned around and looked down at her daughter dressed in her clothes. She raised an eyebrow at her but smiled. "Very funny."

"Very funny."

"Lucy."

"Lucy."

"Okay, I'm ignoring you now," Minerva said, turning back to her closet.

"Okay, I'm ignoring you now," Lucy repeated again happily.

Minerva rolled her eyes and ignored her. Lucy waited for a little while but eventually gave up. She walked back to the bed, shawl and hat still on, and climbed up. She started jumping on the bed. Minerva turned around and gave her a look but she kept jumping.

"So, like, now I'm a full-fledged witch," she said.

"I don't think that just by wearing my hat and shawl you become a full-fledged witch," Minerva muttered.

"What do witches do?" Lucy wondered aloud, ignoring Minerva. "They're not usually very nice in stories. They usually use their magic for evil! But I'm not evil... I think."

Minerva laughed. "No, I don't think you're very evil, Lucy. I'm not evil either."

"Maybe I am evil!" Lucy exclaimed, still jumping on the bed. "And I turn people into frogs like the witch in The Princess and the Frog!"

"Well that's not very nice," Minerva said with a smile.

"I'm not very nice. I'm evil, remember!"

Minerva rolled her eyes but smiled. She turned back to her work. Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hey!" Nina said with a smile, coming into the room. "I just got back and was wondering where everyone was."

"Hello, sweetheart," Minerva said. "How was your day?"

"It was good," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Nina! I'm a witch and I turned you into a frog!" Lucy exclaimed.

Nina gave her a look. "But I don't want to be a frog," she said. "I would much rather be a person."

"You don't get to decide. I do!" Lucy said with a laugh, pretending to flick a wand at Nina. "I'm an evil witch and you're a frog now."

Nina laughed. She climbed up onto the bed and pretended to jump like a frog towards Lucy. She croaked like a frog. "Ribit! Ribit!" Lucy laughed. Nina jumped and grabbed her. "We must take down the evil witch!"

"No!" Lucy laughed as she fell backwards with Nina on top of her. Nina started tickling her. "No! Nina... haha... stop! No! Haha... please!"

Minerva turned around and watched them play. She shook her head though she smiled. "You're both ridiculous."

Nina grabbed the hat from Lucy's head and put it onto her own. "Now I'm the witch and I turn myself back into a person," she said, pointing her finger at herself. She then pointed her finger back at Lucy. "And you will be my servant. I enslave you with magic!"

"That's not nice," Lucy said with a laugh.

"Well you weren't a very nice witch to begin with, now we're you?"

"No, I was evil," she said, getting back up. She took off her shawl and put it on Nina. "Okay, you're the witch. Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

"Hmm... I think I'm a good witch," Nina said with a smile. "I free you from my enslavement. We don't do that here in my kingdom."

"Yay!"

"See isn't being a good witch much better?" Nina said.

"Sure," Lucy said with a laugh.

Nina got up from the bed and walked over to where Minerva was still sorting clothes. She looked down at the pile of clothes. "You're getting rid of all these clothes?"

"Yes," Minerva said. "I don't really wear them and they're just cluttering up my closet now. Some of these are even older than Lucy."

"Wow," Lucy said, jumping off the bed and walking over as well.

Nina reached down and pulled out a dress. "This one's cute."

"If you like any of them you can have them," Minerva said.

"Do you want to help me go through these clothes, Lucy?" Nina asked, sitting down on the floor in front of pile of clothes.

"Okay!" Lucy said, running over to her.

Nina pulled Lucy into her lap, took off Minerva's hat and put it back on Lucy's head. She pulled up dress after dress, asking Lucy her opinion, and then threw them into two separate piles. A small pile of clothes she would keep and a larger pile of donation clothes. Minerva finished sorting through her clothes and sent the ones that she was keeping back into the closet. She looked over at Lucy and Nina and smiled.

"Lucy, do you have any clothes you would like to donate? You've grown so there are probably some clothes in your closet that don't fit you anymore," Minerva said.

"Yeah," she said. "Probably."

"I probably have some too," Nina said. "I've been meaning to clean my and Daniel's closet for awhile now. I guess we can do a late spring cleaning, huh?"

"I guess," Lucy said, not really wanting to spend her time cleaning.

Nina smiled. "Hey, you know what that means right?"

"What?" Lucy asked curiously.

"If we get rid of all of the old clothes that are taking up too much space in our closet," Nina said with a smile, "we get to replace them with new clothes!"

"So we can go shopping!" Lucy said excitedly.

"Yes!" Nina replied.

Minerva rolled her eyes but smiled. "This is supposed to be about decluttering and downsizing," she said. "Not getting an excuse to buy more things."

"When should we go?" Nina said, ignoring Minerva. Lucy shrugged.

"You haven't even cleaned yet," Minerva persisted.

"Are you and Daniel going to come with us?" Lucy asked her mother.

"You do need more Muggle clothes," Nina pointed out.

"Do I?" Minerva asked.

"Yeah, you need more casual clothes. I mean, whenever you go out with us you're super dressed up," Nina said. "We'll be over here wearing jumpers and jeans and you're there in your long dresses looking all fancy."

Lucy laughed while Minerva rolled her eyes. "Well excuse me for wanting to look nice," she said with a shake of her head.

"I never said that you shouldn't look nice," Nina said with a laugh. "I'm just saying that you don't have to show us up all the time. Right, Lucy?"

"Right," Lucy said. "Besides, dresses suck."

"No, they don't," Minerva said with a smile.

"They do," Lucy replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright well, get up off my floor. Both of you," she said, ushering them up. "Get to work in your own rooms."

Lucy and Nina stood up, Nina clutching the clothes she had pulled out of Minerva's pile. As they walked towards the door Minerva flicked her wand and her donation clothes flew into a plastic bag. The bags floated down the stairs towards the entrance. Lucy watched them go and then turned back to her mother.

"Mum?" she said. "Will you help me do my closet?"

"Of course, darling," Minerva said with a smile. Lucy smiled, took her hand and pulled her pulled her towards her own bedroom.

Saturday, June 20th 1998

"Why do I have to go too? I don't need more clothes," Daniel said, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. It had been a week since everyone had cleaned out their closets and Nina and Lucy planned a shopping trip for the five of them to buy some new clothes. "I'll just be carrying your bags, won't I? Why can't they just ask Maria to get them whatever they want? Maria can get them anything!"

"Oh stop whining," Minerva said, flopping down in an armchair. "I'm being dragged out too. Never really liked shopping, now did you?"

"Neither did you," Daniel pointed out. "If it weren't for Dad neither of us would have ever bought any new clothes."

Minerva smiled, thinking back to family shopping trips that usually started the same way as this. Minerva and Daniel sitting in the living room whining while someone else pulled them out the door. "He didn't like shopping for himself but he did love dragging us out of the house and buying us things."

Daniel smiled a little. He sighed. "And now I have Nina to make sure I buy new clothes. Though, I do think she does this a lot more often than he did."

"She does like to shop," Minerva said with a smile, "and so does Lucy now."

"Nina's fault."

Just then Minerva heard laughter coming down the stairs. "Here comes the little monster," she said.

Daniel smiled as Raj and Lucy walked into the living room. Lucy was sitting up on Raj's shoulders. She had to duck so she wouldn't hit her head on the top of the archway into the living room. She and Raj were already wearing their coats and shoes.

"Ready to go?" Lucy asked excitedly. "Ready to go?"

"I guess," Daniel mumbled. "Where's Nina?"

"She's coming," Raj said, tossing Daniel and Minerva their coats. "Shall we head out?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Lucy cheered. "Get up, get up!"

"I'm getting up. I'm getting up," Minerva said, standing up with a groan.

"Getting old, Minerva?" Raj asked with a laugh.

Minerva gave him a look as she put on her coat. Daniel stood up too and walked with them to the entrance. Nina walked down the stairs and saw them. She got on her shoes and coat as well and off they went. Raj drove them to the mall and they went from shop to shop looking through the racks.

"I honestly don't know why I'm here," Daniel mumbled. He was carrying half of Lucy, Nina, and Minerva's bags while Raj carried the other half. Nina had taken Lucy to try on the clothes so Raj, Minerva, and Daniel were going through racks of clothes alone, waiting for them.

Minerva smiled as she looked through some clothes. "You whine a lot."

"Lighten up, Daniel," Raj said with a laugh. "It's not so bad."

He gave them both a look. "I think I might go back to the car," he mumbled. "I could go home and pick you guys up later."

"Or," Minerva said, "you could enjoy spending time with your family. That's always a good option as well."

"Augh."

She laughed and looked over at him. "You didn't find anything in the men's section?"

"He didn't like anything I pulled out for him," Raj said.

"How old are you again?" Minerva asked.

"Nineteen, not as old as you obviously as I can remember my age," he said. Minerva gave him a look. He smiled and pulled an ugly looking blouse out. "I think this would look great on you."

"I agree," Raj said with a laugh.

She looked over at Daniel and raised an eyebrow. He just smiled and put the shirt back. Minerva rolled her eyes and pulled out a black blouse. "What about this one?"

"That's nice," Raj replied. "Are you going to go try these clothes on?"

"No, I don't feel like it."

He smiled. Nina and Lucy came back holding a few shirts each. Lucy walked over to her mother and held up the clothes in her hands.

"I'm going to get these ones," she said.

"Those look nice," Minerva said with a smile. "But wouldn't you like to get a little bit more colour in your closet. You have a lot of these same colours."

"That's what I said," Nina muttered, walking up to Daniel and putting an arm around his waist. He smiled and pulled her closer.

"I like these colours," Lucy replied.

"Okay," Raj said. "Why don't we pay for these and then we can go get some food from the food court."

Daniel nodded and grabbed Lucy's clothes from her hands. He held out a hand for Minerva's clothes as well. Minerva handed him the clothes in her arm and then took Lucy's hand. "Come on, we can go find a table while they pay."

Lucy nodded and walked out of the store with Minerva. Mineva led the way to the food court and looked around. The mall was pretty packed today. It seemed like all of Rochester was out shopping today.

"Do you see a free table?"

Lucy didn't respond so Minerva looked down at her. "Lucy?"

Lucy quickly looked up. "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Minerva smiled. "That's alright, what are you thinking about?"

Lucy shrugged and pointed a little ways away. "There's an open table," she let go of her mother's hand and ran towards the table.

Minerva smiled and walked after her. They sat down at the table and Minerva looked around at the line of fast food places. "Where would you like to get food from?"

Lucy shrugged. "What do you feel like? Maybe burgers?"

"Burgers sound good," Minerva said. "We'll wait for Raj, Daniel and Nina first though."

"Mum?"

"Yes, love?"

"The other day I was reading about The Witch Trials," she said a little nervously. "They used to burn people at the stake because they thought they were witches."

"That was a long time ago, Lucy," Minerva said with a small smile. "They don't do that anymore."

"That's why you're not supposed to tell anyone," she looked around quickly and lowered her voice, "that you can do magic."

"Yes, it was, but that's not really the worry anymore," Minerva said. She took Lucy's hand and smiled. "Don't worry, darling. No one's going to burn you at the stake."

Lucy smiled. "I know... I just... why would they do that? That's so stupid."

"It is stupid," Minerva said. "I don't really know why they would do that. I mean it happened hundreds of years ago, people thought differently than they do now."

"They used to torture women to make them admit that they were a witch and then they would burn them," Lucy said. "I read some of the stuff they used to do... it was scary."

"Why are you reading that?" Minerva said. "You shouldn't be reading that stuff."

Lucy shrugged. "Uncle Raj wouldn't burn us at the stake if we told him about magic."

Minerva smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't think he would," she said, "but that's not why we haven't told him."

"I still don't get why we can't tell him. He's our family," Lucy said.

"I don't know, Lucy," Minerva said with a sigh. "Now is just not a good time."

Lucy sighed as she sat back in her chair and looked around the food court. She saw Raj, Nina and Daniel walking towards the food court and waved. They saw her and came over.

"Okay, we eat and then we leave. I think we've done enough shopping for the day," Daniel said, putting the bags down under the table.

"Oh but we still haven't gone to -"

"No, it's getting late and I want to go home," Daniel said cutting across Nina. Raj, Minerva and Lucy laughed. "Lucy, what do you want?"

"Daniel, why are you so grumpy?" she asked instead of placing an order.

"I'm not grumpy. Now, do you want to eat or not?"

"Okay, okay. I'll have a cheeseburger without tomatoes," she said quickly.

Daniel took everyone else's order as well and then got up to buy the food. Minerva watched him go and shook her head. "He's a little grumpy."

"A little?" Lucy said.

Nina laughed. "He doesn't like shopping and he has a headache," she said. "We should probably just go home after we eat."

"I'm alright with that," Raj said with a smile. "We have done a lot of shopping today. The three of you bought a lot of stuff."

"Oh, and you didn't?" Minerva asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I, unlike you, Minerva it seems, can control myself," Raj said with a laugh.

"I can control myself just fine, thank you very much," Minerva replied.

"I wanted to go to the bookstore quickly before we leave," Lucy said. "Can we go? Please?"

"Alright, that is a store I would be willing to go to," Minerva said with a smile. "I'll talk to Daniel."

"Yay!" Lucy said.

"This is controlling yourself?" Raj asked, earning him a look from Minerva.

Nina laughed and shook her head. They waited for Daniel to return and they ate their food. Minerva talked to Daniel and he begrudgingly agreed to go to one last store. They walked across the mall towards the bookstore and Lucy dragged Minerva into the fiction section. She pointed at books on the high shelves and Minerva pulled them down for her.

Lucy looked at a book and read the summary. "This one is about a princess named Lia," she said, "who fights a dragon. Anne said it was good."

Minerva looked at some other books. Muggles definitely loved books about magic. She smiled to herself as she read a ridiculous magic spellbook. She shook her head and put it away. She took Lucy to the front desk so she could pay for her books and then found Raj, Nina and Daniel waiting in the science fiction section. Raj was reading a little bit of a book while Daniel told Nina, who looked a little bored, all about the intricacies of some fictional universe that she cared very little about. Nina rolled her eyes and told him that it was time to go. This made him happy. He took Lucy's bag of books, putting it with the others, and led the way back to the car.