Eight
Coming to visit the Potters always felt like an adventure. Well, sort of. I liked my room there, and I liked visiting with Harry and Ginny. They were always nice to me and let me eat sweets even when Grammy said no, and they told me lots of fun stories.
They also left me alone when I wanted to be, which was kind of them. They let me read in my room and didn’t bother me. Which meant I could hang out on the ledge without getting caught. Which was even better.
Last year, James and Albus’s cousins moved in next door. I had met them a few times, they seemed okay. Victoire was around my age which was fun, that way I didn’t have to hang out with so many babies all time.
I think she was mad about having to share the ledge with me; I thought it was kind of funny. It’s been more fun since she moved in.
I looked out the window, and she was already out there, a book in her hand. She was a nerd like that. But it was nice, we could both sit out there and read and laugh and no one was there to judge us, or tell us to put our books away, or tell us what to do.
“Hey Vickie.” I called out, half hanging out of the window. Sometimes I didn’t even go out there all the way, just dangled my feet over my windowsill or bent over backwards. Grammy would disapprove, but this wasn’t her house was it?
Vic didn’t even flinch, just continued reading. “Don’t call me that.”
“Vickie, Vickie, Vickie.” I repeated as I clambered out. I bet if I jumped out of my window I could almost land at hers. I would have to try that someday.
She only glared at me from behind her book.
“Edward.” She seemed to be too old for an eight-year-old sometimes. But Grammy said that about me too, that I had an old soul trapped in my body. It didn’t really feel like that, I just felt…weird sometimes.
“Wanna count stars with me tonight? I can show you the Big Dipper.” The sun was still shining, but I knew it was gonna be a good night to look at the stars. Maybe we could even see a shooting star.
She placed the book next to her, making sure to hold it steady so it wouldn’t fall through the crack. That always made her upset when our things fell; I always thought it was funny. I guess it happened to her more, or maybe she got in trouble for it.
“Hmmm…” She moved her head from side to side, a sort of fake thinking thing she did. I knew she would say yes, she always did.
“I suppose so, I’ll have to sneak out after my parents fall asleep.”
I nodded in agreement.
She gave me a shy smile before scrambling back up her ledge and through her window. “I’ll see you tonight, don’t be late,” she reminded me, her blonde pigtails disappearing into her house.
“Can you see it?” I pointed, and she tilted her head next to me, knocking into my shoulder.
“No, they all just look like dots to me.” It was a mostly quiet night. I had waited until I heard Ginny and Harry shut their door before I had climbed out onto the ledge and was surprised to see Victoire already sitting there studying the sky.
I was trying to show her the different stars, but I guess she just couldn’t see them like I could.
“Can’t we just name the stars ourselves?”
Her small fingers traced shapes into the sky that I couldn’t see, but she seemed to be pleased with herself. I glanced over at her, a bit annoyed at the prospect.
“We can’t just go naming them whatever we please! There are rules Vic, they have proper names!”
She just shrugged, unphased by this idea. It annoyed me further. “I’d name that one, right there—” she pointed at a star just visible above her roof, “Teddy Lupin. After my best friend.”
I was not as annoyed anymore.
She continued on, pointing out different stars and naming them after people. The one by my roof was Ginny, and the one next to Teddy was Victoire. A tiny star was Louis because he’s a baby, and Dominique was actually Mars but I didn’t correct her.
The moon rose slowly, and Vic’s voice was getting softer, my eyes were getting heavy. “We’ll be in trouble if we fall asleep out here.” I sat up, poking her to make sure she’d heard me.
Victoire stirred, her signature look of annoyance as she sat up. Her hair stuck straight up in the back, and I decided not to comment on it. We were too tired anyway.
“Thanks for showing me the stars Teddy.” She yawned as she crossed the ledge and crawled back into her window. I gave her a shy wave before tumbling in my own bed that’s situated under the window perfectly.
That night I dreamt of flying through space with Victoire creating stars with just her fingers next to me. It was one of the few I remembered when I woke up.