your dreams stay big, your worries stay small [vic]

[Deleted]

Being the father to the Minister of Magic was weird. His own brother actually patted him down before he was allowed to go see his daughter. Bill had brought food, as was the custom when he came to see Victoire. It wasn’t just any food, though – it was greasy, good for the soul but not for the body kind of food. He’d picked it up at a nearby Muggle restaurant to ensure that there hadn’t been any cheating with magic to make it. Muggles weren’t the greatest at a lot of things, but they did make some damn good food for the soul.

Bill stopped just outside the door to his daughter’s office, raising his fist to knock. One of the things he had learned quickly when his daughters had become teenagers was that entering a space without permission was a cardinal sin. He knocked quickly, with a series of long and short knocks that theoretically spelled his name in Morse code. That was yet another Muggle creation that his father had lectured him on once when he was young, but his name was the only thing that had stuck. At least it was a good identifier, if the smell of fish and chips wafting from the brown paper bag in his arms wasn’t enough for Victoire to realize who was waiting on the other side of the door.

@victoire <3

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Victoire wasn't even drowning in paperwork today. In fact, she had a hangover.

She had gone out with Royal last night and, foolishly had gotten rather drunk in Paris thanks to French wine and no thanks to her best friend. She had been hiding out in her office all morning with a potion to numb the throbbing in her head, but she was also too busy beating herself up mentally to let the potion really do it's work. She still looked perfect, of course, but her father would know better once she let him in the door.

She heard the knock and jumped up as soon as she had translated the Morse code. The smell didn't even register in her nostrils until she was halfway to the door. She squealed with excitement and picked up the pace, swinging the door open, a giant smile on her face. "Papa!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck quickly before pulling back and taking his hand, "come in, come in!"

She paused, glancing back at her staff in the room outside of hers and gave them all a curt nod, "please don't disturb me unless it's urgent. Send Teddy," she said, gesturing to her guard/ex boyfriend beside the door before shutting it behind her. "I'm so happy to see you," she said, turning back to her father.

@bill

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Bill smiled when he heard the squeal from behind the door, right before it opened. He managed to get one arm around Victoire’s waist in a half hug before she drew away, grabbing his hand. Maybe he didn’t get to see his daughter as often as he would like, but when he did, it was certainly an event. He waited until Victoire had shut the door and given her obligatory greeting before smiling at her, eyes gleaming. “Is there a story behind the hangover, souris?” He asked. Bill realized after a moment that he had used one of the French pet names that his wife was so fond of. Oh well. He was going to have to accept he was slowly turning French.

Bill busied himself with opening the bag, pulling out Styrofoam takeout boxes and putting them on her desk, one by one. He hoped that the grease wouldn't stain the wood, or at least that it would be easy to clean. “Poutine,” he said, pointing to the first one. “Curry,” he gestured to the next. “And tacos.” Why Muggles thought it was a good idea to put Canadian, Indian, and Mexican restaurants all under the same roof was beyond him, but it was interesting nonetheless. It had been forever since Bill had tried some of those dishes, and he was looking forward to it. Variety was the spice of life, or something like that.

@victoire <3

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And there he did it, calling her out on her hangover and using a rather strange choice of French endearment for her. She chuckled, "if I were a mouse and I drank as much as I did I'd be dead," she chuckled, translating the word into English to create a little joke. Then she groaned, "spent some time in Paris with Royal last night, needless to say I got carried away," she chuckled. "Wasn't actually planning on coming ion today but... desperate times,," she moved toward the desk but didn't sit on the opposite side. Instead she summoned her chair over to be placed beside the guest chair sot hey could sit beside each other while using the desk as a table.

Then he opened the bag and set them on the desk, showing what was there. She smiled, loving the random assortment he had brought for them. "Did you get all this in one place?" she asked, sitting in the chair she had brought over and gesturing to the one across from her. She picked up one of the forks and a spoon and started on the curry first.

@bill

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Bill couldn’t even imagine what a mouse would be like after imbibing enough alcohol to give a human a hangover. Like his daughter said, probably dead. Its stomach would probably explode from the amount of liquid in it…and that was not an image that Bill needed in his head before he was about to eat. “Between the two of you, is there any wine left in France?” He teased. Bill was glad to hear that Victoire and Royal were friendly again, though; the two had been thick as thieves in school, but the former Minister’s death had presumably been hard on Royal. Bill hadn’t heard from him in a long while.

“Oh, souris.” Bill said, shaking his head. “The times are hardly desperate enough that we need a hungover Minister to come into the office for a day. Unless there’s some crisis I haven’t heard about.” The question was obvious in his last statement; Bill certainly hoped that there wasn’t anything new on his daughter’s figurative plate. He worried about her enough as it was. He pulled one of the Styrofoam trays towards him, grabbing a fork and beginning to dig into the poutine. It was surprisingly difficult to eat while maintaining any level of cleanliness. “Surprisingly, yes. If your grandfather’s obsession with Muggles had extended to food, I think I might have been a lot less judgmental as a child.” Bill replied.

@victoire <3

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At her fathers joke about there being any wine left in France Victoire wrinkled her nose in a playful glare at him. "Yes," she said because chuckling more. He was right, of course, on his next comment about today not actually being quite that desperate, but Victoire couldn't stand not going into work, even if she had told her team that she wasn't coming in. She would go stir crazy sitting at home just nursing her headache. No, she would rather be here, easily accessible. "Nothing new," she assured him, shaking her head. "But... you know, I just don't like... I just needed to be here," she said, adding a firm nod and going back to the food in earnest.

Then she affirmed that he did get all the food in one place and she tilted her head slightly and nodding a bit, "well, these muggles sure are taking Americas melting pot policy to heart. It's delicious" she added, taking a few more bites before addressing her father once more. "So what are you doing today? Are there any more curses to break anymore?" she chuckled. There were so many of the breakers for so many years that it hardly seemed realistic that there would still be work but... magic was powerful and people were stupid so curses were there. They'd always be.

@bill

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Bill made a face when his daughter said that there was still wine in France. It was a small country, and he knew a thing about how the two of them were when they were together. Bill half-smiled at Victoire when she said there wasn’t a new crisis. They needed a little quiet sometimes, especially Vic. Bill worried about his daughter, just like all fathers did, and the fact that Victoire had to worry about an entire country worried him even more. He just wanted to protect her.

Vic seemed as surprised as Bill was about the food all coming from one place, and he smiled at her. “Imagine the things we could do if we embraced the same policy.” He said, shaking his head minutely. He hadn’t always been the most tolerant person – Bill’s dislike for werewolves wasn’t exactly unknown – but he knew that there were amazing things still left to be done in this world, if people were willing to put their egos aside and work together. “There are plenty of curses to break, thank you very much.” Bill said indignantly. “But Gringotts has a whole team of cursebreakers, and I don’t need to go to every site we’ve been called to like I did when you were younger.” The amount of cursebreakers at the bank was actually kind of mindboggling. Bill was pretty sure they were over capacity, but that made his life easier, so he wasn’t complaining.

@victoire <3

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Vic nodded as her father said to imagine the things they could do if they embraced the same 'melting pot' policy. She was sure he was talking about more than just the food, and her mind went straight to the muggle/wizard relationship. That one was a bit complicated. She chuckled as he went on to say there were plenty of curses to break and how Gringotts had the whole team. She nodded as he said he didn't need to go to every site like he used to. "Well, that's good. I think it's better to have a lot of people on a job like that rather than just the chosen few. Just like we're in need of more aurors," she said, her voice slowly slipping into her business tone. "With everything going on I think the curse breakers and aurors may even do work together. Even though you technically work for the bank, I'm sure we'll be in need of your help now more than ever. I don't trust our enemies to not leave new and fun things around, you know?" she spoke quickly, but he would be able to keep up. He was no doubt used to her rambling about things like that.

@bill <3

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Bill nodded along as his daughter spoke about the shortage of Aurors. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time there had been enough Aurors during wartime. When his younger siblings graduated Hogwarts, there was definitely a push towards becoming Aurors, especially in Ron and Ginny’s years. They had even lowered the N.E.W.T. test score requirements for those who had fought in the war, if he wasn’t mistaken. “Whatever you need me for, you know I’ll do, my love. The bank doesn’t need me as much as you do.” Bill told Victoire. If that meant working with Aurors, fine. Most of them were good people, and he could avoid the bad apples easily enough – Bill wasn’t above scowling if he needed to, and the effect with his scars was quite scary, he was told. “Though I do dispute your choice of the word fun. Creative, most definitely, but not fun.” He stated plainly. The things that people thought of were actually quite amazing, when he stopped to think about it. “When I retire, I think I’ll write a book. 101 Strange Curses I Encountered Before the Age of Thirty. It could be a best-seller like Royal's!”

@victoire <3

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Vic smiled as her father said he would be there for whatever she needed him for. She was sure that even if she wasn't his daughter he'd offer to help whoever the Minister was. Her father was a good person, with a sense of duty and wanting to do what's right. She had learned that from him, hadn't she? "This is in the Banks best interest as well. Keeping things safe, I mean," she said. She chuckled as he said that 'fun' wasn't the right word for the things baddies would be leaving around. She sighed once her chuckle had died down, "magic can be really annoying sometimes," she said softly, poking at her food with her fork. Then he made that comment about the book idea and she smiled again, "I'd read that book. Heck, I think a lot of people would. Informative and entertaining," she said, raising an eyebrow in challenge. Royals book sat on her desk, but she hadn't opened it yet. She glanced at it, chewing on her lip. Why hadn't she touched it yet? Other than receiving it and then bringing it here, she hadn't moved it at all....

@bill

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Bill nodded when Victoire said that it was in the bank’s best interests for everything to stay safe. The goblins had a very…interesting sense of the world, to say the least, but the last time a hostile force had taken over the government, it hadn’t been good for the goblins. He nodded again when she said that magic was annoying sometimes. Bill wasn’t surprised by how often he had been nodding in their conversation, though – he had taught Victoire well, and then she had gone above and beyond what he had taught her to be an even better person than he was. That was how time was supposed to work, wasn’t it? Every generation got progressively better. Even if that wasn’t reality, it was the dream.

“I’m not sure how good of a write I am, souris.” Bill said with a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll hire someone to ghost write it for me.” He smiled. “Do you need me to go, love? I know you’ve been horrendously busy, and I don’t want to keep you from your extremely important job.” He winked.

@victoire <3

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Vic chuckled along with her father as he said he wasn't sure how good of a writer he was. She tilted her head to the side, contemplating the Ghost writer idea. Then he asked if she needed him to leave and she frowned. She reached over to place her hand atop on of his, "my extremely important job can wait... two more minutes?" she asked with a slight pout on her lips. She, Dom and Lou had mastered that pout over the years, thanks to their mother.

"About that writer," she started up again, "I think it would actually work if you just pulled someone aside and told them all your stories, then they could turn it into a well written book for you, you could split the profit. You know? Plus, it could be a fun group project," she suggested with an eyebrow raised, taking another bite of the food.

@bill

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Sometimes, Bill hated that his wife had taught all of his children how to pout and get their way. Other times, like this, he loved it. “Fine, but only two more minutes.” He replied, feeling an awful lot like he did when his children were younger and begged him to let the stay up a little later. He really needed to get better at saying no, but that was alright, because at least it avoided arguments, most of the tie.

“You see, this is why you’re the Minister and I’m just a cursebreaker.” Bill teased. “It’s really not fair that you got your mother’s looks and her brains.” He paused. The conundrum of how to get around his lack of writing skills had been solved, but not who was actually going to be the writer. “I don’t suppose you know anyone who would be willing to undertake such a project, do you?” It was a shot in the dark, but still worth asking after. Once Victoire responded, though, Bill would take his leave – his two minutes were up.

@victoire <3

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Vic smiled widely as he promised two more minutes. She chuckled as he spoke about how she had gotten both her mothers looks and her brains. "Not too mention I got the nerve from both of you. Twice as much as most people can even fathom," she joked with a laugh. Then he asked who she knew that could help with this writing thing and she chewed her lip in thought, even though it was burning time.

"You could ask Teddy," she said finally, feeling strange having those words come out of her mouth. Then she cleared her throat, "or Royal. Either one would be happy to help and would be great at it, I'm sure," she smiled encouragingly and nodded before finally sighing and standing up. "Guess our times up. Love you, papa," she said, leaning over to embrace him and kiss both of his cheeks before he had to go.

@bill
(you can do one more or that can be the end

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Bill laughed loudly when Victoire said that she had gotten her nerve from both of her parents. Well, that was certainly true – you didn’t grow up the child of a Cursebreaker and Triwizard Champion without getting at least a little taste for adventure. He imagined that never was a good thing in Victoire’s line of work, especially when people thought that she was too young (or too female) to be doing her job correctly. Bill knew otherwise; Vic was the most competent Minister that he could imagine.

“I’ll talk to both of them later.” Bill commented. He hugged his daughter with a smile. “Love you too, mouse.” He replied. It physically hurt him to have to leave the room, but he knew that work was important, and Victoire was already doing enough difficult things without having to force him out of her sight. Still, the meeting left him feeling happier. He hoped that Vic was happy, too – that was all he ever hoped for.

@victoire <3  
(end!)