Title: Elegance

Character(s): Victoire W.

Summary: though fireworks go off in Vic's mind she can't help but think 'this is the end' because her prince is all grown up now, and she's just Vic. She's just a girl who's not Wendy yet – because she's trying so hard not to be Peter.

Notes: Okay so this is part of the 'if you dare' challenge using the prompt 'years' (Vic's seven years of Hogwarts?) okay... Hope you like - and don't hesitate to review!

Warning - rated T for curses (yes I mean bad language)

Victoire Weasley is elegant.

She is graceful and dignified and her manners are polite with all sugar no spice. She's the oldest Weasley didn't you hear? So she's got so much responsibility weighing down her shoulders.

She walks with a spring in her step, however – but then again she's always got to keep up her facade of being the grown up one.

But she's barely old enough to think fully for herself, and so she's set so many high-striding goals, before she can even get one pace into the pitch. Didn't Daddy ever say to aim as high as you can climb?

But Victoire's a princess and she's been told not to climb the tower until she's got a prince to come help her when she falls... but her prince hasn't even acknowledged her yet.

In fact, Victoire doesn't think she'll ever find her prince. She's only ten though and she's got so long to grow and blossom, so who's to say she won't?

Within no time however, Victoire turns eleven and an owl comes and drops off her letter into her pink bedroom with all of her pink princess possessions. The letter looks out of place in her bedroom, which is neat and orderly like a prodigy child's room should be.

But then Victoire is whisked to Hogwarts on the train, and she's off to her first year. Victoire is happy – not excited – but she doesn't make a big event because adults always keep their emotions in check, and she's meant to be grown up. Isn't she?

The train finally comes to a stop and Victoire's ready to get sorted. But she isn't impatient, no – after all, didn't you know Princesses always wait for years until their princes come and save them? So of course, she has to practise now.

However, now Victoire's excited and she's literally jumping up and down, ready to be sorted. She seems not to care for the moment, however, because she's a Gryffindor through and through, and she's going to be able to sit down with the other lions any moment now. Gryffindor runs in the family didn't you know?

But that seems not to matter when the hat shouts out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Daddy's shocked when he finds out (he doesn't send as many letters as he said he would) and Mummy's slightly disappointed (she's wondering whether she should have tried more), but Victoire is glad to be different because it seems that she's got potential to be so much more.

After all, it seems that Princess Victoire has learned that she could do a whole lot more with her life instead of just waiting for her prince to slay the dragon down stairs; after all she's magic and that's all that matters. Furthermore, she's learned that she's got the capability to aim for the stars – after all she's a Ravenclaw and so she'll be able to extend her arm and grab her goal from the side lines.

She stays at Hogwarts over the Christmas break and though she should care, Victoire doesn't mind because she's always stuck in the school library where the books have a musty fragrance that smells like home, and where the scratching of quills makes her fall to sleep because it's like music to her ears.

But then soon it's the end of the year and Victoire hasn't seen her family since the start of autumn last year, and now its summer...

Victoire leaves the train and she meets her family – daddy (who's still shocked that his princess isn't as he thought) and Mummy (Who wants to change her now) giving her false smiles and half hearted hugs.

At dinner Mummy suggests a resorting because the hat was obviously wrong (though it wasn't) and Daddy talks about how bravery is a strong characteristic in a person, and though they mean well, Victoire retreats back to bedroom without a word.

Her room is still orderly, pink – everything that Victoire is not anymore, and Victoire immediately asks herself whether Mummy ever listened when she said she didn't like the colour pink or if Daddy ever listened to the fact that she didn't want new clothes but books instead.

Victoire smiles sadly at her room – so far past the point of reasoning, before taking action. She rushes down the stairs, ignoring Mummy's question of whether she wants to go visit Grandma Weasley who wants to know all about how she's doing in Ravenclaw, as she runs into the kitchen.

Back in her room, Victoire bags all of the teddy bears and the dolls she's been given, and with some underage magic she flicks her wand and changes the walls from pink to every shade of blue she's ever encountered. After all, she is a Ravenclaw for a reason...

Soon she's back on the train for her second year, and now she's so much more excited because she understands that princesses are meant to belong and that sometimes they don't have to be withdrawn. She knows that sometimes they should shine.

Second year is a whirl of fun and excitement – and rebellious fourth year Teddy who she notices all the time around school – drags her away from studying down to Hogsmeade Village.

Victoire doesn't know yet, but Teddy's taught the princess a few more things.

Then suddenly she's at home again – back off the train going back into her Gryffindor household. Dom greets Victoire stiffly (they've never really been friends) but little Louis (he's a star!) runs up to her and cuddles her saying he wants to be in Ravenclaw too.

Louis is only five, but already Victorie is proud of her little brother.

Third year is thrown back at Victoire, and suddenly she is starting to hang around Teddy Lupin now, instead of her Ravenclaw friends, and now she's breaking rules more often.

Teddy throws his head back and laughs a lot, but Victoire can see the pain that shows in those ever-changing eyes of his. Victoire doesn't know why but Teddy seems only half there all the time. His happy, non-serious side is always shining through.

But its third year now – and because they can go down to Hogsmeade (with permission), Victoire is full of excitement. Teddy has promised her that he'll take her to the book shop, but somehow he preoccupies her with Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack. And to be honest, Victoire is glad after a while that she hasn't gone down to the book shop.

After all, she's had fun with Teddy, and he's made her day – her year! In fact, the Ravenclaw princess feels as if she's found her prince. (She's not sure about the happily ever after though...)

Then O.W.L's comes around for Teddy, and Victoire is cast out to sea because the boy she's grown so accustomed to has disappeared from her life. She remains bubbly though, and tries to go back to her friends in Ravenclaw.

They don't accept her anymore – something about being a slut – and so she starts hanging around boys more than girls. Victoire doesn't understand what she's done wrong to her Ravenclaw friends, and soon she's got a boyfriend of her own.

A princess needs to have a distraction while she's waiting for her prince, right?

On the train back home from her third year, Victoire doesn't talk much to anyone because well, Teddy's gone and she's broken up with her latest boyfriend (apparently he only wanted her for the sex).

Nothing much happens over the summer, except Dom goes by Dominique now. Victoire goes by Vic, because she's simple – short and to the point. During the summer, Daddy tries to talk to Vic, (though that doesn't end well) and Mummy just plain ignores her, and instead focuses on Dominique. Vic knows that she shouldn't be jealous – but she was their princess first.

Then Vic hops back on the train once again, off for her fourth year, with Dominique following in pursuit.

Teddy doesn't talk much to Vic, (though Vic avoids him all the time), and Dominique keeps yelling at her whenever they're in the same room (Something about being a slut. Vic wonders if her old friends taught her that word).

Part way through fourth year, Vic gets asked out by Marshall Reynolds and though she only has eyes for that Metamorphagus prince, she says yes. After all, she's still waiting for the day she gets saved from her tower by him anyway, so she should be allowed to be acting this way.

She breaks up with Marshall after five months, terrified of his possessive actions. She's a princess, and hell would be brought if he treated her like something that he owned.

After all she's a princess, and princesses are meant to glow and stand out.

A few weeks after she finds out she's pregnant (out of wedlock,) and she's so scared about everything. So she gets a muggle abortion, and never tells anyone (though she wishes she did) and lives with the regret, that maybe she would have been happier if she had had kept the baby after all.

The end of their fourth year comes quickly to an end and Teddy reappears in Vic's life, making her feel as if she's innocent once again.

Over the summer, Daddy goes away on a business trip with work, and takes Dominique and Louis with him. Apparently he's giving Vic and Mummy some time to get over their differences.

Mummy starts the conversation, and Vic answers everything with vague answers which mummy has to read into. Vic says she's okay (which means she's really not) and she says that she hasn't been having problems at Hogwarts (though the girls still call her names). She says that Mummy's not missed the chance to talk about boys (though Vic's already got experience) and so mummy nods and she says 'okay'.

Fifth year comes around and Princess Vic is named a prefect through the eyes of the school, and she walks onto train with a shiny badge on her chest. She flounces into the compartment like the dreamer she is, before looking over at the Head Boy and Girl.

She can't help but abandon her post of dignity as she lets out a squeal at who the Head Boy is. After all, she had never given thought to the fact that Teddy might be the top figure of authority!

Nothing much changes during Vic's fifth year – except the pressure of O.W.L's is stressful and prefect patrols leaves Vic without any time to relax what-so-ever. In fact, several times she stays up all night in attempts to finish an essay, because she's struggling with all of her responsibilities.

Vic doesn't recall anyone saying that being an adult would be so hard. But then again – Mummy and daddy always kept her away from all of the worrying things in life – kind of like Jasmine from that muggle film 'Aladdin'.

Fifth year ends with both stress and relief – and one day Vic is at breakfast when Teddy comes down. He's wincing due to one of the famous Gryffindor end of year parties, and being the Ravenclaw that she is, Vic's got a hangover potion in her pocket.

She can't believe that it's the end of her time with Teddy – and she lets out a small sob before running out of the Great Hall. She's not elegant or poised, because she's broken – she's a broken doll (a princess), that all dreamers throw away eventually.

Teddy races after her, and after some speaking he kisses her – and though fireworks go off in Vic's mind she can't help but think 'this is the end' because her prince is all grown up now, and she's just Vic. She's just a girl who's not Wendy yet, because she's trying so hard not to be Peter.

Sixth year doesn't go quite as pleasantly as she would have wanted it to have gone. Without Teddy around, the bullies seem to tackle her unconscious and she's fading. The worst thing is no one seems to notice the white patterns on her wrists.

No one but Dominique – Dominique (though they've never been close) urges her sister to stop falling and to stand up for herself once in her life. Vic doesn't understand for a moment, but she's a Ravenclaw, and so she gets it soon enough.

Though she still has people calling her names in the halls (Slut, slag, whore!) and she hasn't heard from Teddy since the day he kissed her, Vic keeps her head held high (it's what adults do) and she carries on with everything.

Eventually her scars fade to white lines, and she can't even see them anymore.

During the summer before seventh year Teddy sends a letter, though Vic isn't sure whether she wants to read it and so immediately throws it into a draw and turns away from it. She goes down stairs to where Louis (he's not so little anymore – he's ten now, full grown that one) is sat, with his blue scarf on.

Vic smiles, despite her confusion as to why he's wearing a scarf to start off with.

At the train station as she departs for her last year of Hogwarts, Vic isn't that upset that she's only wearing her usual prefect badge. After all, adults don't live in a world where everything is given to you on a silver platter. Vic knows this.

She smiles to herself, as she places both her and Dominique's trunk on the train (her and Dominique are a whole lot more close now).

'Vic!' a shout brings Vic out of her subconscious and she turns to see her old best friend, Teddy, standing outside the train with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Vic's lucky that the train still has an hour until it leaves (Dominique always liked to be early).

Teddy confesses his feelings for Vic, and then speaks about how he's liked – loved – her ever since he first laid eyes on her. He says things for what seems like an age and finally Vic silences him with a kiss.

Victorie Weasley is elegant, dignified. She's responsible – everything thing that a seventeen year old isn't usually classed as. But she's also the girl who found her prince.

Because didn't you hear that princesses have nothing better than to wait in towers – while girls have the capability to shine?