"One," "Two," "Thr-"

*Click*

The door opened before she could count to three and a jet of silver light flashed with the words 'Rictusempra!' echoing behind it. Maeve, who had been red with anger, was now on her knees, wheezing; doing her best to stop herself from laughing.

"Ben, you little scallywag! Huuu- dare you hex your poor aunt! I was fuming with rage, I tell you, positively seething, and now... now I'm doubled over in laughter!"

The tinge of anger in Maeve's voice was overshadowed by the by peals of laughter escaping her lips despite her great efforts. She struggled very hard to keep a stern expression, but her face ultimately betrayed her.

"Hey there, aunt Maeve. Whatchu doing down on the floor? Lost your knuts, have you?" said Ben, as he munched on a carrot.

"This is not... not funny, ye scamp! Stop it this instant, I can't... hahaha... take it anymore! Oh, me sides are going to split from all this laughing! Please, make it stop!"

"Well, that's what ye get for putting that Goldy Locks before yer nephew," he said, walking away.

"Now, I'm leaving you behind. You can join us once you've got yer wits about you," he announced, strolling along the corridor.

Incidents like these had become the cornerstones of their relationship. Meave had always enjoyed annoying Ben. There was something about the annoyed look on her nephew's face that gave her immense satisfaction.

But as time passed, it got harder and harder to annoy him. In just a year, her nephew grew tremendously and was now full of surprises. No matter what she did, he always had the counter ready.

Tables had somehow turned and now she had that annoyed look on her face more often than him. Surprisingly, she found herself enjoying such back and forth with him. It was as if she was back to being a kid, only this time, she had a worthy opponent.

Ben had just taken a few steps down the stairs when he felt his legs come to a crawl, as if walking through water.

'The Slowing Charm,' he thought and tried quickly reaching for his wand, but he was too slow and Maeve got to it first.

"Ben, love, we can't be havin' ye cast any more spells. It's against the law, ye know." She said, snatching the wand from his pocket.

'Stupid wand,' Ben cursed the wand for the weak jinx. He was still using his original wand at home to avoid any unnecessary questions, and it was still a pain in the ass. He usually had it on his person for show and stored the lightning wand in his storage space.

But lately, he had been using the unruly wand more often to train his control, which would come in handy once he started practicing with wandless magic.

"Now, how about I hold onto this wand for the rest of the day?" She said, with a playful twirl of the wand between her fingers.

Ben could only show a look of annoyance at his helplessness. Not that he was really helpless, but he couldn't think of a way to free himself without drawing unnecessary attention.

"All right, then, let's be off! We wouldn't want to miss Gilderoy's book signing, now, would we?" she said, releasing Ben and relishing the annoyed look on his face.

"Phew, whatever," he grumbled, his eyes rolling with annoyance.

"What's so good about Lockhart, anyway? He's clearly a fraud," he muttered, walking down the stairs behind her.

"Aww, feeling a bit green-eyed, are we?"

"Oh please, I couldn't give two sickles about that charlatan," he scoffed.

"But ye do. Every time his name comes up, you get this weird look in your eyes," she said, observing him closely.

"That's cause he's a fraud. I don't get how you can't see it?" Ben said frustratingly, his voice tinged with irritation.

"Oh, what rubbish, you don't have to be so worked up. You, me boyo, will always be my favourite," she said, wrapping him in a warm embrace.

"Who wants to be your favourite? I just want you to leave me alone," he said, his words muffled against her chest.

"Dream on, kiddo, it ain't happening," she said with a smile, squeezing him tighter.

---

By the time they got to Flourish and Blotts, there was already a throng of witches jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. Nigel generously volunteered to withdraw gold from Gringotts, and Ben swiftly followed suit, leaving the women to navigate the bustling crowd of fan girls on their own.

When they returned, they walked in to Hagrid, pulling apart Lucious Malfoy and Arthur Weasley, looking like an adult tearing apart two clashing kids on the playground. Arthur Waesley had a cut lip and Malfoy a bruised eye. 

Malfoy was holding a worn out transfiguration book that he thrust into Ginny's hands, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you." Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip, he beckoned Draco to follow as he swept out of the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Arthur Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that - no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - bad blood, that's what it is - come on now - let's get outta here."

Nigel hastily moved out of the way, dragging Ben with him to let the giant pass.

'Wuss' Ben thought to himself.

"Eh there Ben - good to see yeh," he said, passing by, "Yeh too Nigel."

"Great work there Hagrid, see yeh at school," Ben replied, waving him goodbye.

Turning around, he saw the store assistant frozen, wanting to stop the group from leaving after causing so much ruckus, but not daring, as he barely reached Hagrid's waist.

"Hey dad, you go on ahead, I'll go quickly say hello to some friends," Ben said without even looking back at Nigel.

"Wait--Ben--"

"They're just over there," he said, pointing to the group leaving after Hagrid.

"Harry! Wait up!" he called out.

"Oh hey Ben," said harry, "are you shopping for supplies too?"

"I am. Did you get the present I sent you?" Ben asked.

"I did, thanks," said Harry, patting his chest.

"Did you like it? You better have liked it. It took a lot of work to send it to you," Ben said with a cheeky smile.

"How'd you send him a present, anyway? Harry said a house-elf was blocking all his mails," asked Ron.

"Oh hey Ron, didn't notice you there for a minute." He said to Ron, deflecting his question.

"You need to get your eyes checked, mate."

"Nah, my eyes are just fine. I just saw your dad almost take out Malfoy Sr's eye though, and it was just awesome."

""Yeah it was,"" said the two twins who dropped in out of nowhere, with their faces full of pride, and then disappeared down the street laughing.

-END OF CHAPTER-

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