A/N:Yeah yeah, if I owned Harry Potter I think life might be a whole lot more enjoyable. But for the record, these new characters that are being introduced in this chapter are, in fact mine. So yay for me!
A shrill whistle came from the belly of the train as it huffed and puffed through the countryside. 15-year-old Victoire Weasley was sitting in a compartment, staring dreamily out of the window and wondering if she should send Louis a letter tomorrow so that he wouldn't forget to feed and pasture Rouge while Victoire was at school. She let her thoughts wander to the previous day, the last of the summer, when she had taken him out across the beaches near Shell Cottage. The sharp sea air whipped at her face as his hooves, running flat out against the sand, literally propelled them into the sky. Bill had told Victoire she wasn't allowed to fly Rouge when there wasn't anyone with her, but she had delighted in the flight.
"Patch, just let me see it!" cried a voice, which pulled Victoire out of her memories and into the present. The voice had come from a girl, Allie Williams, whose normally pretty face was screwed up in frustration, and her long, chestnut, curly hair was mussed all over the place. Allie was trying desperately to convince the tall, thin boy next to her to show her the object he was hastily trying to put away.
Victoire smiled wryly as she looked onto her friend's argument. She, Allie, and Patrick Gallagher had been the best of mates since first year, when they had been stuck together on the train ride to Hogwarts. Allie and Patrick were both in the compartment already, and they had comforted Victoire when she told them how nervous she was about attending Hogwarts as opposed to Beauxbatons. Later that evening, they'd all been sorted into Gryffindor. Patch and Allie fought often, small and stupid spats that usually required an intervention from the third part of their trio.
"Patcheen, what have you got?" Victoire asked calmly. He looked at her, a red tint creeping up the back of his neck and into his dark hair.
"You'll laugh," he muttered, trying to stuff the book back into his school bag. Victoire saw her chance. Whipping out the wand of cherry wood and unicorn hair, she pointed it at the offending corner.
"Accio book!" she cried, and the large volume sped out of Patch's bag, flew in a wide arc, and landed in Victoire's outstretched arms.
"Hey, give it back!" Patch whined, swiping at it. But Victoire was too quick for him.
"Voila!" she read with a flourish, "Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches." Victoire and Allie succumbed to a fit of giggles, while Patch snatched the book back angrily.
"Oh come on, we're just having a bit of fun," Allie laughed, shaking Patch's shoulder as he put away the book. "Why would you even have that anyway?" she asked, her tone suddenly changing as if they were discussing a very serious issue.
Patch scowled. "Braeden gave it to me today before I got on the train. Said he expects me to 'keep the good family name' now he's not at school." Patch's brother, Braeden, used to be known around Hogwarts for how many girls he managed to take to the Room of Requirement before he graduated.
The girls both rolled their eyes. "Little Patcheen, what are we going to do with you this year?" Allie giggled. "Next thing we know, it'll be YOU running up and back the seventh floor corridor."
She narrowly missed getting hit by a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The rest of the journey passed with lots of giggles from Allie and Victoire as they poured over Braeden's book, reading the best parts aloud. It was the silliest thing they had ever read. Even Patch got in on the fun, and they all spent the next few hours trying not to die of laughter.
It was dark when the train finally arrived in Hogsmeade station. The three friends were barely off the scarlet steam engine, when a tall boy with spiky, turquoise hair ran up to them, breathing heavily from his jaunt. Victoire's high cheekbones turned scarlet.
"Hey, Teddy," chimed Patch brightly. The two of them shook hands. Then Teddy looked at the furiously blushing Victoire. Their eyes locked briefly before he spoke.
"The Weasleys are looking for you, Victoire. They want to sit together tonight because Roxanne is being Sorted," he said quickly, and cocked his head in the direction of a small huddle of students, all with Gryffindor badges and robes. They waved merrily at Victoire and her friends.
"Come with us," Victoire beckoned to her friends, and the four of them hurried up to meet with the rest of the family: Molly, Fred, Lucy, and Dominique. Eight Gryffindor piled into one of the thestral-drawn carriages, which, luckily, none of them could see. Victoire ended up being squashed on the end next to Teddy. The left side of her body burned where it touched his. Beside her, Teddy's hair turned fire engine red.
"Weasley, Roxanne!" Professor Longbottom called. A small girl with relaxed black hair and golden brown skin hurried up nervously to the three-legged stool. She perched herself cautiously on the edge, and the Deputy Headmaster slid the shabby hat over her eyes. There was a pause in which every Weasley in the hall held their breath.
"Gryffindor!" the hat finally shouted, just as they all knew it would. A cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table and the Weasleys in particular, as Roxanne jumped down from the stool with a smile on her face. They all slapped her back and shook her hand as she squeezed between her brother Fred and Allie.
"Going to be a great Gryffindor chaser, like your mum, eh?" Allie whispered as she hugged Roxanne. Her mother, Angelina, had been a chaser and captain of the Gryffindor team when she was at school.
The Sorting finished, and all the students of Hogwarts feasted on turkey, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, Shepard's pie, lamb stew, Yorkshire pudding, and the like. The house elves outdid themselves, just as they had done every year Victoire had been in Hogwarts.
Fed and watered, the students trudged wearily up to bed. Allie hurried off to lead new first years to the dormitories, one of her duties as a newly appointed Prefect. So Victoire went with her cousins, Patch, and Teddy up to the four-poster bed that was waiting for her in Gryffindor tower.
It was only after they were partially climbing the Grand Staircase that Victoire realized what was wrong.
"Ah, zut alors!" Victoire cried, snapping her fingers. "I forgot my bag in the Great Hall!" she told her cousins. Patch offered to accompany her back down, but she declined and sprinted down the stairs so she could get there before the doors locked shut.
Panting heavily, Victoire clambered through the portrait hole, sighing with relief that she had gotten her satchel back. She was walking across the empty common room when she heard a voice emanating from one of the couches.
"Victoire, wait," said the steady voice of Teddy, rooting her to the spot. She spun around and looked to see him standing and striding towards her.
Her bag dropped to the floor as he took her in his arms and kissed her full on the mouth.