August 2004, at the Underhill family home

Kira looked down at the world from her perch, high in an old oak tree. She had scrambled up, squirrel-like, while her babysitter's back was turned, and now watched with childish glee as Augusta searched for her. She sat on a thick branch, just out of sight of the older girl thanks to the leaves which had not yet fallen, and swung her feet idly. She was, she thought, being very discreet.

Her high-pitched giggles begged to differ.

After about ten minutes of this game, Kira took pity on the older girl, and called out, "Look up, silly!" When she was finally spotted, she waved cheerfully at Augusta, as if she had just noticed her there. "I'm finally taller than you," she laughed, rocking forward and back happily.

Ramsay peered up at Kira, shielding her eyes from the setting sun.

"Would you come down here, you adorable little bird?"

She sounded somewhat exasperated, but was also a tad giggly, amused by her charge's silliness. She'd taken a bit of time off of work—the trainee program with the Auror Corps, to be specific, which she would soon be graduating from (assuming she passed her exams)—to take care of Kira during the break between her first and second years at Hogwarts while her folks traveled abroad for a bit of well-deserved alone time.

Truth be told, it was rather blissful: she loved spending time around the quirky little book worm, and now that she had attended her first year at school she and Ramsay had a little more in common—the ability to actively practice magic. Well... Kira couldn't at home, for now, but that was okay. Ramsay was perfectly content to help her with her schoolwork and make sure she understood the material.

"If you don't come down, little bird, you know I can bring you down myself," Ramsay threatened with a grin.

Kira stuck her tongue out at her babysitter, grinning.

"Augusta, you know birds never spend long on the ground. The view is better up here, anyway."

With a devilish grin, Kira swung herself around so she was now hanging from the tree limb by her knees, hair dangling toward the ground. She wrapped her arms around herself and continued, "Or maybe I'm a bat! I wouldn't like to eat bugs, though." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "If I used wingardium leviosa on myself, would I be able to fly?" It was questions like these that had landed her in Ravenclaw at the beginning of her first year.

Her face lit up. "Ooh, 'Gusta! You should cast it on me and then I can be a bat-bird!" She could also transfigure her into either species, but Kira was a tad squeamish about the idea. "Oooor, you could come up here and watch the sunset with me."

Ramsay rolled her eyes.

She loved this little girl, but she was so obnoxious sometimes.

"Watch the sunset together, huh? That sounds sweet," she cooed, and immediately stepped forward to pull herself up into the tree. It was likely an easier task for Ramsay than it had been for Kira, long-limbed and tall as she was, and in no time at all she had seated herself beside her little friend.

Ramsay snaked an arm around Kira's little shoulders and pulled her up against her ribs, laying her chin on the girl's head.

"I'm glad we get to spend the summer together, sweetie... it's been too long since we spent time together. Training for the Auror Corps has eaten up most of my free time for the last few years."

As Augusta joined her in the tree, Kira crowed with delight. Another victory over the stuffiness of adulthood.

Flipping herself back up and leaning against the older girl, she nodded. "It's always school this or training that... never any time for fun. Well, school is fun sometimes but it's not the same kind of fun as not-school, and especially not as fun as being with you." She always talked more than she wanted to around Augusta, probably because she wanted to sound cool and smart and she wanted Augusta to like her.

Bumping her head gently against Augusta's chin, she commented, "You didn't answer my question, you know."

Ramsay kissed Kira's forehead tenderly, giggling at her prattle. She was a noisy girl when they were together. Not unlike Ramsay, she had noticed that Kira was much more reserved in the company of others—for whatever reason, they seemed to grow much more comfortable around one another than they were with anybody else.

"Right, your question... so—I don't think so? I think you need to be grounded for it to work, but... hey, I dunno, I could be wrong. We'll give it a whirl some time, see how it works."

Peering down at the little thing in her arm, she smiled gently.

"I bet somebody's getting sleepy, though. You've been up since very early."

Kira always rushed to awaken when Ramsay was around, as if she couldn't wait to spend time with her 'big sister.' Ramsay felt quite the same way, of course.

"Do you want me to carry you up to bed? I know you're not quite so little these days, but... well. You'll always be my little girl, you know."

She ran a hand through Kira's soft hair lovingly, smiling down at her with a very deep affection. Strange, it seemed, that an eleven year old girl was more or less her best friend—but she had always had difficulty getting along with others. Oh, she could work as a part of a team, but... well, other people didn't quite seem to get her. To mesh with her. Not like this tiny one did, anyhow.