Like a lantern, Chapter one.
My entire life, I thought it was just going to be me and Fred. Just us, forever. But things never stay the way that you think that they will. That fact hit me like a stack of bricks. And with the help of Victoria Settler, I was shown the way. She was like a flashlight, using her light to guide me. Like a lantern.
I met Victoria Settler in first year. It was about three or four months into classes. During a Quiditch game. George and I sat I the stands, eager to see the game. We were planning on trying out for the Gryffindor team the next year, so our eyes were glued on the field. Victoria and her friends came and sat next to us. Victoria sat next to me, slightly falling on me. She started blushing and apologizing. Catherine Bowler sat next to Victoria, John O'Brien next to Catherine, Rosalind Spark next to John, and Patrick Waters next to Rosalind.
Catherine Bowler was a girl, about a couple of inches shorter than me, with dirty blonde hair that went to her shoulders. She had small glasses that covered her light brown eyes. She always seemed to be adjusting her glasses. Catherine was slightly overweight, but no one paid it any mind because she was so nice and quiet. John O'Brien was tall, about three inches taller than me buy the time he was in first year. He has shaggy black hair that covered his eyes. He was freakishly skinny; often Victoria and her friends would call him a stick. He would laugh because he most likely agreed. His eyes were a crystal-ish grey, so light that they almost seemed white. Rosalind had dark brown hair that went to the top of her back. She was one of the more athletic girls in Gryffindor, and it showed. She too was tall. But not as tall as John. She was… probably two inches shorter than John. Patrick was short, the shortest in the group of frien, not much over 5 feet tall. He had beach-blonde hair and green eyes. His face was sprinkled with freckles.
And then, there was Victoria.
Her hair was blonde, but nowhere near as blonde as Patrick's. In first year, her hair was cut to it didn't quite touch her shoulders. But every other year afterwards, her slightly wavy hair went down, almost to her waist. Her eyes were an amethyst color, which was sort of a mixture between dark blue and purple. Like blueberries and red grapes. During her first year, she had braces. Only half of first year though. When I met her she was four inches smaller than me and I was 5'8". She would eventually would grow to be 5'6", whereas I would only become 5'9" at most.
In the stands, her friends were joking around and one of them gave her a little shove. Fred and I were also taking our seats. She tripped and fell. I quickly caught her, making her friends go wide eyed. She looked up, he cheeks bright red. I helped her back on her feet and she quietly apologized.
"I- I am so sorry, I didn't- I just… sorry." She said quickly. I laughed
"It's ok." I said. I sat down next to Fred as Victoria turned and quietly yelled at her friends for pushing her. They all tried not to snicker.
"Isn't that Victoria Settle?" Fred asked, looking t her over my shoulder. I turned and looked at her. Victoria's dad worked in the Ministry of Magic. He was quite a valuable employee to the Minister. Victoria, when she was eight, she had her picture in the newspaper. She was standing with her dad, mum, little brother, and the Ministers family.
"I guess." I shrugged, turning back to my brother, "So?"
"I don't know." He said, "She's kinda cute, I suppose."
"Yeah, suppose she is."
She took her seat next to me and quickly punched John. Catherine sat next to her, telling her not to hit him. Throughout the game, I snuck several looks at her. She seemed as invested in the game as we were. That night, in the Gryffindor common room, we had a victory party. Percy came down and started whining about the noise.
"I am trying to get some sleep!" he shouted over the noise, "Everyone in here should be getting into bed!"
"Percy, don't be such a prat." I said rolling my eyes
"Yeah," Fred said, "You always spoil everyone's fun. Just this once, leave everyone be." Percy looked around and grabbed a girl by her arm. She turned and it was Victoria
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but would you agree if I said that some people should be heading to bed?" he asked
"No," she laughed, she shook out of his grip, "Gryffindor won, why shouldn't we be celebrating?" she walked over to her friends who were motioning her over. Percy stomped up the stairs and back to bed.
…
One day, in fifth year, Fred and I pulled of a magnificent prank. Though, it only was a shame only the professors noticed. We sneaked firecrackers into all of the cauldrons in the potions room. We thought they would go off sometime during classes, but they went off at night when several teachers were there. So, we got detention.
The next night, we had to go into the Forbidden Forest to help Hagrid look for some kind of creature that got loose. When we got close, Victoria was talking to Hagrid outside of his house. Fred and I shred a look and continued on. When we actually got to the house, Hagrid explained what we had to do. Victoria didn't leave. In fact, Hagrid said that Fred would go with him and I would go with Victoria, because he didn't trust Fred and I alone in the woods. So I picked up the lantern and Headed into the woods with Victoria at my side.
Victoria was quiet as we walked. She stayed close to me and frantically looked around us with wide eyes. By fifth year, I had begun to realize I fancied her. So my heartbeat had skyrocketed by the time we got to Hagrid's house to when a loud noise in the woods erupted and she screamed and wrapped her arms around me. Her face was hidden in my chest and her arms were tightly wrapped around my torso. She quietly whimpered for a few moments. I placed the light on the forest floor and held her. I put my left arm around her waist and kept her close against me with my right hand on the back of her head. Slowly, her whimpers became quieter and eventually subsided.
"Do you see anything?" she asked quietly. I looked around, only seeing darkness and a few plants in the light of the lantern
"No." I said, "It was probably just Hagrid and Fred." She looked up at me face. Her eyes looked panicked
"Or," she said quieter, "Maybe it was Sirius Black. I mean… he did just escape from Azkaban." I sighed
"It's not likely." I said, trying to make her feel better, "Of all the places he could hide, why would he come to Hogwarts? He'd probably go to a completely different continent." She bit her lip, looking less concerned, but still scared, "It's ok, nothing's gunna happen." I picked up the lantern and we continued walking. But I walked with my arm around her shoulders and her arms still wrapped around my torso
A couple of hours later, we have gone deep into the woods. A tree branch brushed against Victoria, making her scream and jump back. I went over to her and she quickly fell into me again. Her breathing was heavy, but quiet. She asked if we could start heading back to Hagrid's house, so that's what we did.
When we got back, Hagrid and Fred were already there, tying some animal to a post with a rope. The post was with several others which held about five other beasts, similar to the one they were tying, all looking confused. Victoria still clung onto me, tightly. When they finished, Fred turned and looked back and forth between us. He grinned and took the lantern out of my hand, placing it with a couple others, shooting me a wink. The three of us made or way back to the castle in silence. It was clear that Victoria had calmed down, but she still walked leaning her head on my arm which was still slung around her shoulders. Every couple of minutes, Fred would give me a nudge and looked back and forth between Victoria and I with his eyebrows raised.
We got back to the castle and everyone was asleep. Before we got to the Gryffindor tower, Fred said he had to go check something and ran ahead, leaving Victoria and I alone once again. She slipped her hand into mine, without looking at me. When I glanced at her, her face was tinted with blush and she had a slight smile. At the bottom of the stairs, I waited for her to drop my hand and walk up the stairs. But she didn't.
"Um… George?" she said quietly. I looked at her and she was only an inch or two away from me
"Yeah?" I stuttered. Her grip on my hand tightened as she looked down
"Well… just…" she looked up again at me, "Thanks. I mean… I was really freaked out."
"Uh, y-you're welcome." She quickly kissed my cheek and ran up the stairs. Fred came out of a closet in the corner of the common room and ran over to me
"Did, did she just…?" he asked gripping my shoulders
"I… I think so." He started pushing me up the stairs
"You are going to tell me very fucking detail." He said