a/n; Hate me all you like, but just know before you throw things at me that I'm sorry. :) Real life caught up. Buuut, it's the holidays, so I decided to update a new chapter as a present! :)

Oh, and incase any of you were wondering, Matt and Ginny got in another fight when the triplets were three - explaining why they don't know him. :)

five; lucky charms - Louis

"You have them?" Victoire asked me as she ran with me through the halls. Dominique caught up with us after a few seconds, and then she was ahead of us, leading the way to Gryffindor Tower and my dormitory.

Pushing kids aside, the three of us finally got to the portrait hole. Victoire gasped out the password, which we'd learned from Roxanne, and we were admitted. Bolting up the spiral staircase, Dominique crashed into my dorm loudly, causing my roommates to look up in surprise.

"Lou, what's - ?"

"Not now!" I snarled at them, which was very out of character for me. I was in a hurry, and I needed to get to my trunk. Looking at it, I saw I was too late. Victoire and Dominique already had the albums spread across the floor. I hurried to join them.

"Which one's our third birthday, Lou?!" Victoire demanded impatiently. I pointed wordlessly at a leather album that said Triplets' Third Birthday in gold writing on the cover. "Oh." Dominique rolled her eyes and brushed her long hair out of her face, the better to see the now exposed pictures.

Searching frantically, she finally found the group picture. "There!" She nearly screeched, pointing at a handsome, familiar, young man who was giving Aunt Hermione a piggyback ride, and had his chin rested on Aunt Ginny's shoulder. Without speaking, Victoire and I huddled around our sister, staring at the photograph. As we watched, our new teacher kissed our aunt on the cheek, and then spun around, causing our other aunt to shriek with laughter.

I'd never given him a second thought. He was just a friend of theirs, coming to celebrate our birthday. But what if there was more to it? We had to find out. Looking at my sisters, I knew they were thinking the same thing.

But what could we do?

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I woke up the next morning feeling anxious and unrested. The answer to what we had to do came to me in my sleep. But I didn't know if I wanted to go through with it. It was kinda....mean. And wrong. We could get expelled for it.

But as Victoire said, what if there was some family secret kept from us, concering this new guy? Dominique thought it highly unlikely, but agreed that it was a possibility. I was in the middle - not sure which one of my sisters was closer to the truth. And I needed to know the truth.

Did you know? I've never lied in my life. Yes, I've kept my mouth shut while others were lying, and I've told Victoire she looks great, no matter what she's wearing, but I've never actually come right out and lied.

The thought that my entire family could be lying to me put a knot in my throat.

Glancing at my alarm clock - which remained unused, I always got up before it - I decided it was time to face the day.

I dressed and packed my bookbag while my dormmates were just stirring. And I was out the door before they'd opened their eyes.

But where to go now?

I stopped, thinking hard. I could go to Ravenclaw Tower, and pick up my sisters, so we could converse on our way to breakfast, or I could go down to the Entrance Hall and wait for Jennie. I was completely torn.

However, like most times in my life thus far, the decision was made for me. Victoire and Dominique were walking down the corridor toward me, bickering as usual. Rolling my eyes, I lazily lifted a hand in greeting. They stopped arguing.

"Did you think of anything? I didn't. And neither did Dom, here." Victoire glared at our sister, then turned back to me. "Well? Did'ja?"

"Yeah, I did. But I don't like it." I said uncomfortably as we started walking to one of the secret passageways Teddy showed us in our first year.

"Why not?" Dominique demanded. I looked at the ground.

"Well...it involves sneaking, fibbing, hoodwinking, and the possibility of expulsion." There was silence for a moment.

"I love it!" Victoire grinned, punching a fist in the air. "That'll show that Eklund guy who runs this popsicle stand!" I couldn't help but chuckle. Victoire blew things way out of proportion.

"Well, okay. Here's the plan."

As I explained my idea to them, they both started looking less confident and more anxious. When I finished my explanation, Dominique was nodding in a somber way. We were standing at the entrance to the nearly empty Great Hall.

"It's dangerous. And likely we'll get caught. But we have to do it. That guy is weird, I'm telling you." She nodded toward the new professor, who was now seperating the marshmallows in his Lucky Charms cereal, and placing them in a different bowl. As we watched, he poured milk in the cereal and ate it quickly. Then, he began counting how many of each kind of marshmallow there was.

All three of us raised an eyebrow simultaneously.

"He is weird." I said fervently.

"Who is?" A voice from behind us asked. I spun around and my eyes were instantly attacked with a very bright shade of turquoise.

"Oh, no one." Victoire lied easily. Dominique glared daggers into Teddy's vibrant head and stalked away. That wasn't new. She despised Teddy more than she despised Victoire.

Before either of them could comment, I saw a green-clad girl walking shyly towards us. I excused myself and went up to her, grinning.

"Hey, Jennie. How're you liking Hogwarts so far?" I asked, leading her into the Great Hall and to the Slytherin table. After a moment's hesitation, I sat down next to her. She smiled tentatively.

"I'm liking it a lot. The people here are really nice." She glanced quickly at me, and then stared back down at her empty plate. It would take a lot to make her my best friend.

But hell, I was up to the challenge.

a/n; Was that any good? No, it really wasn't. xP Don't worry, the next chapter'll be up SOON. :)