Sighing, Ted spun one more time on the platform at Sir Otto's All-Occasion Robes in Diagon Alley for his grandmother.

"Now can we go?" he groaned one more time as he noticed a group of people gawking at him through the window.

"You look dashing, son!" Sir Otto squealed in delight. "Alright, Mrs. Tonks, for a full set of custom robes, two Galleons."

Mrs. Tonks mouthed wordlessly. "Soaring prices," she said, digging through her bag.

As if on cue, Harry entered he shop, out of breath. He still had his Ministry robes on. "Hello," he said. "Just got here from work."

"Harry, really." Mrs. Tonks breathed deeply.

"I said I would pay for it, Andromeda. I meant that." He pulled out a bulging sack of coins. "Take it, and use it for his supplies."

"Harry, I really think we'll be fine---" She faltered.

"I'm his godfather. Think of it as a… coming-to-school gift."

Mrs. Tonks held out her hand, giving up. "Thanks," she said, clearing her throat.

Harry Potter, who was Supervisor of the Auror Department, had supported Ted and his grandmother financially since he earned a post at the Ministry of Magic.

"Can you stay?" Ted asked.

"Er, no, sorry. I have plans with Ginny tonight." He frowned, his scar visible through his mussed black hair.

"'S okay."

"What about James, Albus, and Lilly?" Mrs. Tonks demanded. "Who's taking care of them?"

"Um, you are?"

"Alright." She said, still narrowing her eyes. "How old are they now?"

"Relax, Gran, James's is seven, Albus is five, and Lily is three."

"Thank you. See you." Harry hesitated. "Take care."

"Bye!" Ted called as Harry rushed out the door.

Mrs. Tonks opened the bag, gasping, "There's enough for your entire seven years of supplies! Ah, well, Harry is…Harry."

At first, after the Battle at Hogwarts she had wavering jobs, but now she was unempolyed.

Ted's godfather persisted on helping them. He already paid for so much, that she wondered how he could afford to support two families. Of course, she knew how important his post was at the Ministry, and how well it must pay.

Nonetheless, she felt helpless, as she always did when Harry offered money.

"Now can we get my pet?"

Mrs. Tonks cracked a smile, handing two golden coins to Sir Otto. "Sure, dear. Let's go."

They went out of the shop, walking to Oraken's Owl Emporium.

Oraken grinned, "What will the young man want?"

"Which colour, Teddy?" Mrs. Tonks said.

"Hm…I like the gray one there, in the corner."

It was a shimmering silver, with streaks of onyx across its feathers. The owl was a rather small, compared to the others, almost as if it were shunned from the grander birds.

"That it is, then. Fourteen Sickles and two Knuts." The man wiggled his eyebrows.

"Here you go, Oraken." The grandmother handed him the coins.

"Does it have a name, sir?" Ted asked eagerly.

"That one? No. You can name it anything."

"I'll call it…Adelk."

"Good." Mrs. Tonks handed the cage to Ted.

Adelk gazed at him with impenetrable, golden-flecked eyes. It crooned, as if glad to be away from the other owls.

"Hullo, Adelk." he murmured.

"Ted!" screamed a girlish voice.

"Victoire?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Mum said I could come with her. She needed things for home anyway." she said.

Mrs. Tonks said with a smile, "Why don't you two run off and get some lunch while I finish school supply shopping?"

"Okay," Ted said, suspicious of his grandmother's sudden bout of kindness.

"Here's your money," she handed him a handful of Galleons.

"Thanks, Mrs. Tonks." Victoire grabbed Ted's hand, dragging him off to Notorn's Neptune Deli.

"What's the deal with Gran?" Ted muttered.

"What?" Victoire said.

"No, she was being nice. She let me go with you."

"So?"

"You know how she is."

"Well…it might have been Mum. She's all for romance and such and well, she might have told Mrs. Tonks that there's something between us, you know." She spoke very fast and kept her eyes down.

"You're ten and I'm eleven. What could they possibly think?" he laughed.

"Yeah." Victoire sniffed.

"And we're only friends."

Victoire nodded.

"Anyway, I got an owl, Victoire" Ted exclaimed.

"Is that what that's supposed to be?"

"Very funny. His name is Adelk."

"It looks like an overgrown rat!"

Adelk glared at her, turning its head haughtily in the opposite direction, ruffling its feathers.

"It has a name. I told you, he's Adelk."

"Fine. Mum still refuses to get me anything that can think for its own. At least, not until I get the letter. And Dad will go along with whatever she wants when it's about giving me things." She sighed, casting her long, shimmering hair over her shoulder. "Ah, well."

"You know, in a couple of days I"ll be off to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."

"I know."

"Are they letting you come?"

"Yes, of course. It'll be the last time I see you. At least until the holidays."

"You'll miss me?"

"Oh, get over yourself!" she said angrily, as a man set a large plate of sandwiches in front of them. She stuffed one into her mouth, chewing.

"Sorry, Victoire."

"You know you're an arrogant git, but I'll forgive you." she smiled.

"Loving words."

"Anyway, Dom and Louis are driving me up the wall. They keep having Molly and Lucy over. Since Dom and I share a room, it's impossible to have any privacy." she rolled her eyes.

"And Aunt Audrey comes over with Uncle Percy and she drops these agitating hints about how poorly our parents raise us. 'Percy-kins and I always feed our girls well and buy them all they want.' Oh, please." Victoire continued.

Ted laughed. "I don't have any siblings to worry about."

"You're lucky." she said, "Can't wait till Hogwarts. Then I'll have no Dom or Louis."

"Well, you'll have me to bug you." Ted said as he fed Adelk a scrap of bread. She grinned.

From the corner, Mrs. Tonks could be seen holding bunches of bags on both hands. She sighed in relief as she spotted them, approaching them. "You two look cozy,"

"Gran, are you done with the buying?" Ted said quickly.

"Yes, boy, and I see that Victoire has been treated to a lovely meal. Always the gentleman," she said, winking. Ted was very frightened of his usually strict grandmother's change of heart.

"Um, right." Victoire said.

"Well, we must be getting off. Teddy, dear, let's go." she said, tugging on her grandson's hand, leading him out of Diagon Alley.

When they arrived home, Ted was sat on the couch in the sitting room.

"Now, Ted, I must insist on speaking to you regarding your being a Metamorphagus," Mrs. Tonks said.

"What about it?"

"Talk to me like an elder, boy!" she snapped, "And you need to maintain your face and hair the whole year. Don't go around changing yourself for attention or to get on the wrong foot with the professors!"

"Sure," he said. He had mousy brown hair over his head, his usual fallback hair whenever he wasn't altering his appearance. His eyes were a bright hazel, and he had an anxious look on his face.

"Don't toy with me, Ted!" his grandmother said. "I expect not to receive any letters on misbehaving! You want to live up to your parent's legacy, don't you? Nymphadora and Remus were the best and the bravest, and you have the potential to be that too!"

Ted struggled not to laugh with the obvious change from Mrs. Tonks' mood from seeing Victoire to his being a Metamorphagus. He was used to his grandmother using his parents' grandness against him.

"Are you listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Yes." he said automatically, making an attempt to put on a poker face.

Mrs. Tonks continued yelling, as he tried to tone her out, and he noticed a red-headed, small figure waving from the window.

"The Potters are here." Ted said, standing up and seeing his chance for escape.

"I need to go whip something up for them to eat. Greet them, Ted, and I'll be there." Mrs. Tonks hastily ran out of the room.

The door flew open, where a toddler stumbled in.

"Tewwy!" Lily cried.

"Hello, Lily." he glanced behind her. Albus came walking in, and James zoomed in on a small broomstick.

"Teddy, check out the broom Dad gave me!" James roared.

"Looks amazing."

Albus looked around, "We'll get to play with you, Teddy!"

"You're really going to Hogwarts?" James asked.

"Yes, I got the letter."

"Crikey! You'll be the first of us kids to go. You know, out of Victoire, Dominique, Loius, Fred, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, me, Albus, Lily, Rose, and Hugo." James gaped at him with idolizing eyes. "You'll get sorted into Houses, right. That's how it works, Dad told me. I'll probably be in Gryffindor. Dad and Mum were, you know? When I go there, I'll be really…" he ranted on.

Ginny entered, shaking her head. "James, you'll give Ted a headache."

Albus giggled, "Means put a sock innit, Jamie!"

"Mum! He's calling me that again!"

She smiled, "He doesn't know any better, James, he's three."

"Where's Harry?" Ted asked.

"I dunno. He's surprising me tonight, so he just told me to drop the children off here and come back home." she shrugged.

"Tewwy, you awe gowin to school now! You leawin me awone!" Albus cried.

"Don't mind him," Ginny said, scooping his son up in her arms. "He's in a tantrum phase nowadays."

"Can we play Gobstones, Teddy?" James asked hopefully.

"Let him breathe." Ginny put Albus on the couch, as Lily tottered over to Ted. "Where's Andromeda?"

"She's preparing a quick snack."

"You'll be alright if I leave these three on your shoulders? They are a handful of trouble." she said.

"I'll be fine. Thanks, though. It's nice having company."

"These three," she rolled her eyes, "are enough company for a day. Make sure they're in bed at eight."

"Yeah."

"Bye, Ted. I won't be able to see you off for Hogwarts, I'll be working. So, luck in school. Just remember, a good dose of defiance is good every now and then." Ginny winked, then pecked him on the cheek. She left, closing the door shut.

"Mommy gowin?" Lily whimpered.

"She's with, er, Daddy." he said, attempting to play along.

"Mommy! She leawin me like you!" Albus joined in.

"No, no, Albus, you'll be with me tonight." He took him in his arms, where he immediately grew quiet, smiling. Lily was already distracted, poking at the couch's leather anterior.

"Ted, I though we were going to play Gobstones!" James said.

"Wait, I'm tending to Albus and Lily now."

"But they always gets attention. From Mum all the time. All the relatives think they're utterly adorable!"

"James, it's because they're small. And needy."

"Ted, your Gran wouldn't mind if I ride my broom 'round the house, would she?" James chirped eagerly, already mounting his broom.

"Er, I don't think that would be such a---"

It was too late. James had taken off, whooping in delight.

Lilly fanned opened her arms, and Ted picked her up, putting Albus on the couch. Albus yelled, "Mommy leaving me!"

James laughed even louder.

Lilly tugged at Ted's hair, willing it to change. He made it change to a neon orange, then long, cascading black hair, then back to the normal.

Albus began to cry.

"My stars, what is going on here?"

"Gran, there's a bit of chaos, you see. Can you help?"

"JAMES POTTER! OFF THAT BROOM NOW!"

James immediately complied. Albus stopped wailing.

"Tonky!" Lily giggled. "Cewwy me!"

"Aw, poor dear, she wants me to carry her." Mrs. Tonks opened her arms, taking Lily in.

"See what I mean!" James yelled.

"Go to bed. It's late." Mrs. Tonks said.

"But Mum said we go to bed at eight! And it's almost seven!" James cried.

Tonks narrowed her black, sharp eyes at him.

"Alright. Come on, Albus." Together, they ran to the guest room, shutting the door.

"Gran, you didn't need to do that."

"Then what did you expect to do in order to control them?"

"Let me give them Gobstones to play in the room. Lily can stay with you." Lily looked up at the sound of her name.

"Do what you wish! You think you can raise children better than me? I raised you, Teddy. You tell the Potters what to do, then." she said.

Ted ran up to his room, snatching the board game of Gobstones, then knocking gently on the door. He could hear James hushing his brother.

"It's me, Teddy. I have Gobstones. You two can play."

The door opened and James grinned, looking incredibly like his father. "Thanks, Ted!"

"You're welcome."

He closed the door, then checking the sitting room to see where Lily was. She was curled up in his grandmother's arms, fast asleep.

Mrs. Tonks whispered, "Put her in your old crib. It's in the guest room. And then go to your room."

"Why?"

"It's time for a bit of tranquility around here."

"Gran."

"You can do whatever you want to in there. As long as you're not making a racket. Oh, and feed your bird."

"Goodnight, then."

"Sleep nicely, dear." she nodded, continuing to leaf through her Witches Weekly magazine.

Ted carried Lily to the room, where James and Albus were tossing the stones across the board.

He put his finger to his lips, then placed her down.

"Stowy time!" she giggled.

He groaned quietly. "I'll read you…"

"Babbity Wabbity!" she cried.

"Okay, then."

Ted opened the book from the shelf, and began to read to Lily Potter.

Please review. It does really tell me what I'm doing right or wrong. Thank you.