DISCLAIMER: Teddy Lupin, Victoire Weasley and all the other Harry Potter characters are property of JK Rowling, not me; no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I meant to say last time – "save a broom, ride a Quidditch player" obviously isn't something I came up with – I stole it from one of the 10 million avi's out there with it on. But it's still a good motto to live by, don't'cha think? ;)

The Art of Being Subtle

Chapter Seven - Hermione

Ron & Hermione's house – 16th July – 11:08am

"Auntie Hermione?" Victoire Weasley knocked on the open back door, sticking her head inside her relatives' pretty cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. "Uncle Ron? Hugo? Rose?"

"Come on in, Victoire!" her aunt's voice called from deep inside the house. "I'm in my study!"

Victoire stepped inside, removed her shoes and placed them in the jumble of flip-flops, slippers and Wellingtons by the kitchen door, and went to find her aunt. She knocked on the study door, and opened it slowly. "Auntie Hermione?"

Her aunt looked up at her from behind the enormous pile of paperwork on her desk and smiled kindly. "Hello, Victoire," she greeted her niece. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, thanks," Victoire responded. "Glad school's out," she grinned. "How are you, and Uncle Ron and the kids?"

"Oh, we're all great, fine," Hermione said. "Ron's taken the kids out for the day to watch a Quidditch match – just one of the minor league ones, but I think he wants to get Rose onto one of the school teams, so he's hoping to encourage her by taking her to watch games all the time."

She rolled her eyes and Victoire giggled.

"I think he's hoping she'll be the next Harry – you know, first year and on the school team and all that. It's not going to happen – she's far more interested in books than balls. Er, as it were," Hermione added hastily.

"You wait a few years," Victoire teased. "That'll soon change! Though, I guess I should be happy – she's got the makings of a true Ravenclaw."

"Yes, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw," said Hermione. "It went for Gryffindor in the end though . . . who knows what it'll do with Rose?"

"Ravenclaw all the way," Victoire said firmly.

"Ah, wait and see," said Hermione. "You older girls . . . you will look after her, won't you?" she asked, serious for a moment.

"Of course we will," said Victoire, shocked that her aunt even had to ask. "We'll all keep an eye out for her and Al – and if she ends up in Gryffindor, well, she can go and talk to Roxanne and Dominique at all hour, or me and Molly if she ends up in Ravenclaw, or Lucy if she's in Hufflepuff. We'll be there for her in the middle of the night, and all that. If she ends up in Slytherin, well, that might be a bit of a problem regarding the late night chats, but we'll all still keep an eye out for her. Not that that's going to be an issue, of course," she joked.

"Of course," echoed Hermione. "Yes . . . I'm . . . yes. Goodness, listen to me! I'm all over the place, worrying about my little baby going off to school and it doesn't happen for another month and a half!"

"Don't worry – you're not the first mother to do so," Victoire reassured her. "And I'm positive you won't be the last."

"Of course not," Hermione said, although whether it was for Victoire's benefit or her own Victoire was unsure. "Anyway, lovely as it is to see you, did you just pop round to say hi, or was there something that you wanted?"

"Merlin, I'm so blonde sometimes – I'd completely forgotten!" Victoire said, shaking her head. "My Mum was sorting through our old school stuff, and she found this – it's a winter cloak that she brought for Dom, 'cause she'd outgrown my old one, but it only lasted her one winter, and to be honest, it's barely worn. She couldn't bring herself to throw it out, and she was wondering if you wanted it for Rose?" She pulled the item out of her bag, and Hermione studied it. "Don't worry if you don't – we can always pass it on to Lily, or put it out for charity or whatever, but she just thought that—"

"No, no, that'll be great!" Hermione said, taking the cloak off her niece. "Thanks so much – tell your Mum it'll be great. They're so expensive – and you're right, this is barely worn."

"That's great then," said Victoire. "I'll leave it with you."

"Yes, thank you very much," Hermione said. "Would you like to come through to the kitchen for a drink? I figured it's about time I had a break – I think I've got some lemonade somewhere," she offered.

"That'd be lovely," Victoire replied. They walked into the kitchen together, chatting aimlessly. One of the things that Victoire liked so much about her Auntie Hermione was that she always made time for her, no matter how busy she was, and she never talked down to her, or patronized her, even though she was one of the cleverest women Victoire had ever met.

"So, do you have any plans for the holiday?" Hermione asked. "You're going to France, aren't you?"

"Yes, just for a week – on the third of August," Victoire said. "To be honest, though, it's nice just to be at home, rather than at school."

"Yes, I always found that, when I was at school," Hermione commented, handing her a drink. "Nice to be in your own place for a while."

"Thanks," Victoire said, accepting the glass. "Yeah, you're right. What about you lot? Are you doing anything special? Going anywhere nice?"

"We already went late last month for three weeks," Hermione said.

"Oh, yes, of course – you went to Spain, right?" Victoire asked. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes and yes," Hermione replied. "It was lovely out there – not ridiculously hot, but still pleasant enough, and because we went early, there wasn't the awful crush of tourists around. And we managed to get it cheap, as well, because we were going off-peak," she added. "Are you hoping to do anything else this holiday, other than France, I mean?"

"Well, I don't know about the others, but I'm going to be working a lot of the time," Victoire said. "I need to start saving for medical school."

"Aren't your parents . . .?" Hermione drifted off.

"They're paying tuition fees," Victoire said. "But I've got to cover everything else – living costs and the like. It was my suggestion though – I can't be living off them for the rest of my life, and I've got to start somewhere."

"Yes, very sensible," Hermione said. "Good idea. So, what've you got lined up work-wise?"

"Well, I worked out a shift at the Fox and Goose – that's the muggle pub near Shell Cottage – so I'm doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday lunchtime shifts, and I put an advert in the Prophet a few days ago, advertising myself as a babysitter, and I've already had a good response from that, so things are looking good, I think," Victoire replied.

"Well, if Ron and I ever need someone to sit for us, you'll be our first port of call," Hermione assured her.

"Oh, I couldn't let you pay—"

"Nonsense, it's what family are for!" Hermione cut across her. "But that sounds OK – you'll still have plenty of time to do your own thing and still have money to spend."

"Yeah, that's what I thought – the lunchtime shift doesn't impinge too much on my social life, and it's not like I'll be spending every night babysitting," Victoire agreed.

"Yes – that'll leave you plenty of time to spend with Teddy," Hermione said. "How long have you two been together?"

Victoire chocked so hard on her lemonade it started to flow out of her nose, and Hermione had to bang her vigorously on the back. "We're not . . . it isn't . . . we aren't . . . nothing . . . Ted and I aren't . . ." she coughed out incoherently, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, right, I'm so sorry," Hermione apologised, handing her niece a handkerchief.

"Thanks," she spluttered. "No, we're nothing like that," she reiterated, once she was able to speak.

"Of course, I'm so sorry," Hermione said. "I just assumed . . . sorry. Sounds like I was way off the mark there." Victoire nodded, flame-cheeked, and left very rapidly, in a flurry of embarrassment.

Beach outside Shell Cottage – 16th July – 3:18pm

" . . . oh, and you know that thing that happened with Uncle Percy and you yesterday?" Victoire asked. "You know, when he guessed and everything?" Teddy nodded. "Well, the exact same thing happened today when I was at Auntie Hermione's." She grimaced.

"Ooh," he winced. "What happened?"

"Oh, I was just telling myself about my plans for the summer, and she said something like 'Oh, so you and Ted'll get to see a lot of each other – how long have you been together?' or something," Victoire said.

"And what did you say?" Teddy asked.

"Well, after I'd nearly choked to death on my drink I basically did what you did – wild denying – and she was just like 'Oh, sorry, I thought wrong, so sorry to have embarrassed you' and all that. I don't think she brought my story altogether, but I think I managed to convince her that I have a crush on you or something – she just thinks I fancy you, not that anything's going on, as it were," Victoire responded.

"Oh, good," Teddy said, sounding relieved. "I really think we've got to up the subtly stakes here."

"Yes," Victoire agreed. "But not right now. I mean, we are alone and all . . ."

Ron & Hermione's house – 16th July – 6:59pm

" . . . oh, and Victoire came over whilst you were out today – she brought round a barely worn winter cloak we can use for Rose, which was nice of Bill and Fleur to let us have," Hermione said. Ron nodded his agreement. "Oh, and she tried to deny anything at all was going on between her and Ted."

"Something's going on between them?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That one's been coming for years. But she went bright, bright red, protested far too much when I questioned her about it and left about twelve seconds after I mentioned it, so it's pretty obvious they're together now. Not that we couldn't see that one coming. They're more obvious than we were!"

"We were obvious?" Ron asked, teasing.

"Oh, shut up, Mr Weasley," Hermione teased back. He reached down and kissed his wife on the lips.

"Ew," said Hugo, entering the kitchen. "That's horrible. Can I have a biscuit?"

"No," said Hermione. "You should've had more vegetables at dinner time. It was only half an hour ago."

"But—"

"No buts, mister," Hermione said, looking severely at her son. "Vegetables are very good for you, and very filling." Teddy and Victoire were forgotten in the daily domestic cycle, as Hermione prepared to do battle with her stubborn son over broccoli. Why did Ron always seem to disappear during these moments?