"There's some stuff to make pasta set out on the counter," Ginny said to Victoire as she gestured to the kitchen from the center of the Potters' sitting room, just minutes after Victoire had arrived. "No matter what Albus tells you, he likes it."

Victoire smiled. "Right."

"We're not strict about their bedtimes," she continued, straightening out her dress robes rather automatically, "but nothing too late of course. And, oh, James and Al refuse to go to bed at the same time as Lily since they're so grown up now." She made a face. "Just make sure she's down before you start pestering them about going to bed. Both will most likely go up to their rooms on their own anyway, so it's not an issue."

She nodded.

"James and Al will busy themselves with this model castle thing they're trying to build together, while Lily will most likely read the entire night. If James and Al do start fighting, or if they gang up on their sister, just tell them that we're not taking them to the Cannons-Wasps match tomorrow."

"They've been arguing loads lately," said the sudden voice of Harry, who had then entered the room wearing dress robes of his own. "James enjoys holding Hogwarts over his brother's head. How he's there now and Al isn't."

Ginny sighed. "Fred and George were the same way with me and Ron."

"He wasn't this bad last year," Harry said, reaching up to attempt to flatten his hair. It didn't respond.

"Speaking of James and Hogwarts," Ginny added, looking back at Victoire, "if he brings his wand downstairs, or in any way threatens to curse Al or Lily, he's done. Just tell him I said that."

"Got it," Victoire said.

"We appreciate you doing this for us on such short notice," said Ginny, walking over to adjust her husband's collar. "We almost didn't go tonight."

"If I had my way, I would have said sod it to the whole thing," Harry muttered. "I'm not a fan of these Ministry banquets."

Ginny gave him a playful swat, saying something under breath to the tune of, "Are we swearing in front of the kids these days?"

"She's not a kid," Harry said, gesturing to Victoire.

"Technically I am until Saturday," Victoire mumbled. "But it's fine. Honestly. Not as if I don't hear that sort of thing constantly. Especially at school."

"Especially at school," Ginny said with a small laugh; Harry was already nodding. It was him who added, "Sod is harmless compared to what school's teaching her."

"We should get going," Ginny said as she gave Harry back a quick rub. "Hey, guys!" she called up the stairs. "We're leaving! Vicki's here."

In that next moment, the sounds of shuffling feet and doors opening and shutting suddenly carried from the upper level of the house. Seconds later, a small, red-headed girl came running down the stairs. Her eyes brightened and the smile on her face grew wider the moment she made eye contact with Victoire.

"Victoire!" said an eight-year-old Lily Potter as she flung her arms around Victoire's waist.

"Hey, Lil," she said, leaning over as much as she could to reciprocate the hug; squeezing her mid-section with all her might.

"You look so pretty," she said, still smiling at her before turning to her parents who were putting on their cloaks. "Oh Mum, you do too!"

Lily had run over to hug her mother and father goodbye, and Victoire watched as Harry took a few steps to the side and suddenly looked up the stairs toward the first floor. He then turned back toward Victoire and pointed up, which caused her to look as well. Peering over the edge of the banister, two dark-haired boys were staring down at the group standing below them.

"Hi," Victoire said with a wave.

"Hi," Albus said with a shy smile. James said nothing.

"Are you two going to come down to say goodbye?" Ginny asked.

Albus made a gesture to move, but James stuck out his arm to stop him. It caused Albus to look tentatively from his brother down to his parents.

Harry sighed. "Something wrong, James?"

"I'm too old for a sitter."

Ginny and Harry exchanged tired looks. "We know, but we already told you that Vicki's not here for you. She's here to watch Lily and Al."

"But she's still watching me."

"We weren't leaving you home alone to watch your brother and sister," Harry said matter-of-factly. "There would be no home to return to."

James sighed dramatically, disappearing from sight then. A moment later, a door somewhere quickly slammed shut. Albus had turned to look at the source of the noise before he turned and made his way down the stairs.

"And he's not even an actual teenager yet," Harry muttered.

"Don't let your brother mope all night," Ginny said as she kissed both Lily and Albus on the tops of their heads. "And behave." She turned to Victoire. "We'll be home around midnight."

"If not before. if I can swing it," Harry said from somewhere out of sight.

"Have fun," Victoire called after them, watching the pair say one last round of goodbyes before they Disapperated with a pop. She turned and shut the door behind them.

When she rounded on both Albus and Lily, she found them both staring at her expectantly.

"So, how have you two been?" she asked.

Albus shrugged. "Alright."

"I've been wonderful!" said Lily. "I've been reading this amazing story about dragons."

"That sounds fun," said Victoire as she began making her way towards the sitting room. "You both have grown so big since the last time I saw you."

"I've grown almost half a foot in the last year," Albus said proudly, now standing up straighter.

Victoire smiled. "You definitely look much taller."

"He looks the same to me," Lily mumbled.

"Well, what do you two want to do tonight?" Victoire asked. "You can do your own thing if you want. Or perhaps we can play a game?"

"Do you know how to play Extreme Exploding Snap?" asked Albus.

"Is it anything like regular Exploding Snap?"

"Not at all," Albus said, looking at her as if that was a dumb question. "It's much more fun. James taught us how to play when he got back from school."

"You have to play with two decks of cards," Lily explained, "and you have to explode as many cards as possible."

"I thought the point of the game was to not be caught with the exploding cards?" Victoire asked.

"Yeah, but that's why this is more fun," Albus said, making his way over to a nearby desk drawer. He pulled out two brand new packs of cards. "Just got these for Christmas!"

For the next hour, they all sat down to have a go at this new and apparently very exciting game. Victoire could barely follow one way or the other, but after about forty-five minutes, she found herself brushing the card ash out of her hair and checking to see if her eyebrows were still intact. She had no idea whether she was winning or losing terribly, but Albus and Lily seemed to be enjoying themselves. Their laughter even seemed to pique their brother's curiosity from upstairs.

"Hi, James," Victoire said once she noticed him slowly making his way down. "Do you want to play?"

"No, thanks," he said, entering the room cautiously. A card suddenly exploded in Lily's hand and she giggled madly. Albus scored a point for her.

"Who's winning?"

"I am," Albus said, checking his list. "Then Lily and then Vicki." He glanced at Victoire. "You're not very good at this."

"I'm hopeless," Victoire agreed.

"What's for dinner?" James suddenly asked.

"Pasta of some sort," Victoire said with a smile, prompting Albus to groan.

"I hate pasta.".

"You do not," James muttered, staring at the back of his brother's head. "You just like to be difficult."

"I like to be difficult?" Albus asked, rearing around on his brother as if he had just been challenged.

"Are we hungry, then?" Victoire interrupted, not liking where this was potentially going and feeling the need to redirect.

"Not for pasta," Albus grumbled, though Lily and James seemed fine with the option they'd been presented..

"Well, great, then I'll start dinner," Victoire said as she stood and dropped her remaining snap cards onto the table. Several of them exploded as they hit the surface.

"Those don't count because you already quit!" Albus said urgently, wanting to be sure that rule was established. "That means I'm the winner!"

"Aren't you special?" James said sarcastically.

Albus cast him a dirty look.

"So James," Victoire said as she made her way to the kitchen, gently pushing him on the shoulders to guide him along with her. "How's school going? I see you around the common room all the time, but you're always so tied up with your mates."

"It's fine," he said rather plainly, letting her push him along. "You go there. You know what it's like."

"I do..." she said as she found a small cauldron and took it to the sink to begin filling it with water. "But I was wondering how it was for you."

"Why don't you use your wand to do that?" he asked, watching as the cauldron slowly filled with water.

"I'm not allowed. Not for another three days, anyway."

James stared at her; his expression now looked almost confused. "Wait, does that mean dinner's going to take fifteen minutes or something?"

Victoire stifled a small laugh. "Can you possibly last that long?"

Lily giggled from the nearby table, but James didn't seem to find it as funny. Instead, he chose to ignore the comment altogether and returned to the subject of school.

"I like Transfiguration," he said. "And Astronomy. I hate History of Magic."

"I never liked History of Magic much either," Victoire said as she positioned the cauldron over the fire to allow it time to boil. "Binns is so dull."

"Potions is alright, I guess," he added, his mood suddenly seeming to brighten just a touch. "And the same with Herbology, but I don't think I'd like it as much if Professor Longbottom didn't teach it."

"I've always liked Professor Longbottom."

"He's really nice, but I've known him for ages. Before I started school there."

"Oh, have you?" asked Victoire. She was already well aware of the Potters' relationship with Professor Longbottom, but she figured she might as well let James tell the story if it kept him preoccupied.

"He's friends with mum and dad," he said. "He was in dad's year at school."

"I did hear that somewhere," said Victoire, still smiling at him. "You know, when you get to your fifth year, he'll actually tell you some stories about the Battle of Hogwarts and his role in it all. By seventh year he'll tell you the whole story at the Camp Out Night."

James made an obvious face. "Yeah, I know. My parents go to Camp Out Night to help him do it every year."

Victoire blinked. That was true...His parents—along with many of their other family members—did go every year to speak to the seventh year students about the events of the Battle of Hogwarts. It was an event that occurred around a bonfire on the grounds; the students were then allowed to camp out after the fact. Some people turned it into a bit of a party, but it was always an event the seventh-years looked forward to. Obviously James would know that...

"Dad's already told me loads about that night," James said rather proudly, as if he was in on some secret. "He knew I'd hear about it at school."

"He won't tell us anything interesting," Lily said with a pout.

"Because you're too little," said James.

"I'm sure your dad will tell you all about it before you head off to Hogwarts too," Victoire offered as she poured a box of pasta into the now boiling water. "By the time you're my age, you'll have heard it a hundred times."

"Do we have anything else but pasta to eat?" Albus asked, groaning as he said it. He was already rummaging through the nearby pantry.

"Your mum said this was what dinner was."

"Gross."

"You're being a brat," James said.

"You are a brat!" Albus countered.

These two really were at each other's throats lately. Victoire held her hands up to create an invisible barrier between. "Look, I don't want to do this, but I'm supposed to tell you that you don't get to go see the Quidditch match tomorrow if you fight."

The brothers threw each other annoyed looks, but stopped rowing. Given the looks on their faces, it seemed that Victoire hadn't been the first to make that threat today.

Dinner was served several minutes later; Victoire dished out hot pasta to the three of them and herself. James and Lily tucked straight in, though Albus apparently had to put on a performance acting absolutely disgusted. Everyone at the table mostly ignored him.

Lily asked suddenly, "Do you think dad and mum mean that? That they won't take us to Quidditch tomorrow if we're bad?"

"I wonder that, too," said Albus, who had started to drive his fork around his plate in an effort to avoid eating what was on it. "They've already got the tickets. Are they going to let them go to waste?"

"Mum can get tickets to any match," James said with his mouth half full. "She has people giving them to her all the time. She doesn't care about binning the tickets if she has to."

"I think he's right," Victoire said as she folded her napkin in her lap and picked up her fork. "Actually, I know he's right."

"Then stop fighting!" Lily snapped at her brothers. "I want to go tomorrow."

That plea seemed to fall on deaf ears because not even five seconds after the words had left Lily's mouth, Albus suddenly looked under the table and shouted, "James is kicking me!"

"No, I'm not," he said. "It's probably Lily."

"It's not!" she said. "My legs aren't long enough."

"Someone's kicking me," said Albus, staring straight at his brother. "Stop it."

James smirked. "You're probably imagining it."

"I know it's you," Albus said, his stare turning into a glare.

James didn't stop smirking. "It's not."

"The person doing it better stop," said Victoire, her tone daring the kicker to proceed. She even let her gaze hover specifically on James, but he averted his eyes to his dinner immediately.

When no one commented any further, the group fell silent for nearly a minute. The only sounds filling the kitchen were that of chewing, silverwave scraping plates, and Albus' occasional grunts of displeasure at the bites he was forcing himself to take.

"Victoire?" Lily asked, her voice cutting through the silence. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Not at the moment."

"Why not?"

She laughed. That was the question, wasn't it? "I don't have an answer to that, Lil."

"I heard some boys saying they fancied you," said James, sounding bored.

"Oh, did you?" she asked, feigning interest. "Were any of them over twelve?"

James considered this. "Yeah, a few are third-years. They were just talking about how they think you're pretty."

"That's because she is!" Lily said.

"They say other stuff, too..."

"Like what?" Victoire asked slowly, not entirely sure she wanted to hear this.

James shook his head. "Nothing I'm going to repeat." He looked over at her and actually seemed a bit embarrassed for having brought it up. "You're my cousin. It would be highly inappropriate." He stuck out his tongue.

Victoire let her eyebrows jump up in a slightly aggravated way; her faith in boys not exactly restored at the moment. "Charming…"

"What do they say?" Albus asked, looking from Victoire to James.

"I tell them to stop," James said. "I think people forget we're related sometimes."

"Would it be alright for them to say if we weren't?" Victoire asked.

James shrugged, not directly answering the question and instead mumbling, "It doesn't stop any of them. But the girls aren't much better. They way they carry on about Louis or some of those other blokes. They all fancy him or that one Ravenclaw. Reynolds or whatever. He's their Quidditch captain."

Victoire found herself smiling a little, not at all surprised to hear that. "Stu Reynolds."

James rolled his eyes. "They're so annoying about him."

"Is he handsome?" Lily asked Victoire.

"Very," she said, throwing Lily a smile, "very, very, very."

"Do you fancy him?" Albus asked with a laugh.

"That's not something I'm going to talk about with you three," Victoire said, taking a larger than normal bite of her pasta after that.

"Why not?" asked Lily in a disappointed tone. She seemed to be extremely excited at the prospect of talking about this.

"Because," Victoire said with her mouth full, as if that answer was enough. "How about we talk about you, Lil. You have a boyfriend?"

Albus and James snorted a laugh at that; Lily simply shook her head.

"I don't really know any boys who aren't them," she pointed at her brothers, "or my cousins."

"I remember that feeling," Victoire said. "Except I did have Teddy around when I was little."

"Did you ever fancy him?" asked Albus.

"Maybe when I was a little younger than Lily," she said. "He was the only boy I knew."

James and Albus let out identical sounding, "Oooohs," as if Victoire had just admitted something tremendously scandalous. Lily seemed rather surprised into silence.

"Oh, don't even start that," she said after she'd taken her last bite of dinner. "I didn't actually fancy him. We were little."

"Does he know?" Lily asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Teddy?" Victoire said, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Yes, he knows. He hated it when we were kids, but it was honestly nothing. It was so long ago." She stood from the table and made her way to the sink to wash her empty plate off. "It's a funny story we tell now."

"I think," James suddenly said as he examined a piece of pasta on the tip of his fork. "Lily fancies a Muggle boy who she sees around the park from time to time. She gets all shy when he's around."

"I do not!" Lily said, though as she spoke her cheeks began to flush.

"I think so, too," Albus said before exchanging a mischievous smile with his brother.

"I don't!" Lily shouted.

"She gets all giggly when she sees," James added in a deliberate attempt to goad his sister. Albus started making kissing noises.

"Stop it!" Lily said as her voice started to quiver. "Stop it now!"

"Leave your sister alone," said Victoire.

"It's the truth, thou—" James began before he suddenly got a face full of pasta. Lily had just thrown a handful at him out of nowhere.

He gaped once or twice, seemingly shocked by what had just happened, but suddenly shouted, "Lily threw food at me!" before he threw a handful of his own pasta back at her.

Albus' jaw dropped.

Victoire rushed over to them, pieces of pasta flying in all directions between James and Lily, and immediately called out, "Stop that right now!"

"They're both so mean to me!" Lily screamed as she threw her last handful at Albus, who up to that point had done nothing but stare. Several pieces actually landed in his open mouth.

"Stop it, now!" Victoire yelled as she wedged her way in between James and Lily. It was a moment too soon since, at that exact moment, Albus chucked his own barely touched dinner directly at the pair of them. Only it hit Victoire in the side. A large collection of red-sauced noodles were now clingling and sliding down the entire length of her torso.

"Oh, you're kidding," Victoire groaned in frustration.

All three kids stopped dead in their tracks. You could hear a pin drop in that room; they were all staring up at her a little fearfully.

"I didn't mean to," Albus stammered. "I meant to hit—"

"Does it really matter who you meant to hit?" Victoire asked.

"Lily started it," James mumbled sheepishly.

"Because you both were teasing me!" she said, tears now forming in her eyes. "Because you're both awful, now we're not going to get to go and see Quidditch tomorrow!"

Albus' face suddenly went a little white, all while James started to look at the small mess of pasta on the floor and on the table.

"We can clean it up," he pleaded. "If we clean it up, and if we're really good for the rest of the night, will you please not tell mum and dad?"

"My clothes are covered in pasta, James," Victoire said as she brushed the pieces that were still stuck to her off and onto the floor. "How do you plan on cleaning that up?"

"You just use your wand and—" He stopped and suddenly realized. Just as she'd told him earlier, she was not of age yet. That meant no magic. "Oh no…"

"It's all your fault," Lily cried as the tears started to fall down her face.

Victoire took a deep breath and put a consoling arm around her. "It's alright. We'll work something out. It's just a little pasta." She glanced at James and Albus. "You two better clean this up."

"Why doesn't she—?" Albus began before James kicked him under the table.

"Are you going to tell our parents?" James asked.

"I haven't decided yet," said Victoire as she wiped tears and red sauce off of Lily's face. "If you're all on your absolute best behavior for the rest of the night and you listen to everything I ask of you, I may not." She looked around the floor. "Now, clean this up and then both of you will wash up. Lily, follow me upstairs and we'll clean you up now."

Lily sniffled and stood as Victoire led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "They're so mean," she said once they were upstairs and in the bathroom. "I wish I didn't have any brothers."

"You don't mean that," Victoire said as she ran a flannel under the faucet and then handed it to her.

"I do, too," she said, taking the flannel and wiping her face. "If I had sisters this would never happen."

"Trust me, sisters can be just as bad." She sat on the toilet and found herself eye level with Lily. "Sometimes worse. And your brothers will grow up."

She sniffled.

"You know, Dominique and Louis and I used to fight all the time when we were smaller, and now we get along for the most part."

Lily pulled the flannel off of her face and looked at her.

"It's true," she said with a smile. "I can't even tell you how many pranks they used to pull on me."

"James and Albus do the same thing to me. Albus got in trouble for giving me a Nosebleed Nougat last month and telling me it was a toffee."

Victoire smiled at her as she turned and started to run a bath. "Well, I can't make any promises, but I have a feeling things will work out one day."

"Are you going to tell mum and dad about all of this?"

"We'll see," she said as she laid a reassuring hand on Lily's head. "Don't worry about that right now, all right? Finish washing up."

Lily nodded as Victoire excused herself and made her way back down the stairs to the kitchen. As she pushed the door open, she saw that James was putting away a mop while Albus was wiping down the table.

She sighed loudly, causing the both of them to look up at her.

"Do you really have to pick on her like that?" she asked, grabbing a towel for herself to help Albus with the table.

"We were only joking," said James.

"She's eight, James," Victoire said as she glanced around the room. She wished she could use her wand and clean up this mess in one flick. The spell was right on the tip of her tongue. "She's almost four years younger than you and she looks up to the two of you."

"She does not," said Albus, rolling his eyes.

"She most certainly does. You really should be nicer to her. She's the only sister you have."

James and Albus said nothing, though Victoire swore she heard one of them scoff. The pair finished cleaning in silence; once they had, Victoire informed James that he was up next to bathe after Lily. After giving him a head to toe once over, she added, "You're in far worse shape than Al is."

"Do I have to take a bath, too?" Albus asked.

"Once James is done, yes."

He made a face. "I took a bath yesterday."

"Another one won't hurt you."

After everyone was bathed, clean, and pasta free, Victoire sat on the couch, plating Lily's hair as she read aloud a book to Victoire about dragons, animatedly telling her random facts about them. James and Albus were stationed at the nearby dining room table, quietly building a model castle together. They had been so quiet, in fact, that Victoire had actually been startled by their voices once or twice as they corrected Lily on a dragon fact. She had almost forgotten they were there.

"I think I'm going to bed," said Albus with a large yawn after an hour.

Victoire looked up at the clock. It was a little after ten. "That's probably a good idea for you too, Lily." She snapped an elastic band around the end of the plait in her hair.

"Do I have to?"

"I'd say so. You can read in your bed a little longer if you'd like, but it's about time we got you settled for the night."

Lily seemed to think this was fair enough and obediently began following Albus towards the stairs. It was then that James suddenly spoke.

"Lil…"

She turned and looked at him.

"Sorry about earlier," he said without looking at her. He instead focused on gluing something that was in his hand.

Lily smiled a little and looked at Albus. He shrugged and nodded his head in a manner that seemed to say he felt the same way, though he wasn't about to vocalize it.

"Thank you."

Victoire gave James a very pleasant smile before she followed the other two up the stairs to tuck in Lily, as per her request. Albus had let Victoire know straight away that he was old enough to tuck himself in, and had said his goodnights at the top of the stairs before disappearing behind his bedroom door.

Victoire followed Lily into her room, which was decorated in purples and yellows and had posters of various horses and dragons on walls. There was a very neat and organized corner of her room where she had several framed photographs of various Quidditch players hanging on the wall; all of them were autographed to her.

"Are you going to read some more?" she asked as Lily went and climbed into her bed.

She nodded as Victoire pulled the blankets back on her. "Just for a little bit."

"All right, then," she said with a smile as she made her way towards the door. "Not too long, though."

She nodded, though she clearly had something on her mind. Victoire threw her a funny smile before asking, "You alright?"

Lily began twisting her blankets in her hands. "Are you going to tell mum and dad about earlier?"

Victoire glanced out into the corridor to see if anyone was listening. "Between you and me? No."

Lily smiled.

"That doesn't mean I can't change my mind," she added as an afterthought, though she did smile. "Good night, Lil."

Victoire snapped the door shut behind her as she exited Lily's room, laughing a bit before she turned and noticed that Albus's bedroom room door was cracked open. A pair of bright green eyes were staring back at her, but the second they made eye contact the door snapped shut.

"Good night, Al," she said as she walked past the door and knocked on it. She made her way to the head of the stairs to go back down, but was surprised when she suddenly met James coming up.

"Going to bed?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Going to your room, then?"

He nodded and continued on down the corridor toward the room Victoire knew belonged to him. "Night."

"Goodnight," she said before quickly adding, "That was very nice of you to apologize to your sister."

He shrugged. "I guess so."

"I think there's a good chance you may get to see Quidditch tomorrow after all," she added as she made her way down the stairs. He hadn't wanted her to see it—she could tell that much—but she knew for a fact that she had just caught a glimpse of him smiling at that.