QLFC Round 13 — Real Randomness

ROUND PROMPT: S1F / Hometown — Write about a rumour in/about your location (Montrose).

OPTIONAL PROMPTS:

2. (quote) 'I have a cunning plan.' - Baldrick, Blackadder

9. (setting) a Muggle restaurant

13. (word) stranger

A/N: I hated this round so much and kept on procrastinating and bitching about it until I really had to write. I couldn't even have finished my fic in time without the help of my teammates, Shannon (plot-bunny) and Jordi (beta-love), so an enormous thank you to them. Now we're off for a well deserved break and if we make it to the finals (there are still couple sets of scores to be released so anything can happen) then it's congratulations us, but if not, I'm not too sad about it. It's been a long season.

Two weeks ago

VICTOIRE WEASLEY ENGAGED! RUMOURS ABOUT THE SUMMER WEDDING?

Rumour has it that right after making another three-season contract with the local Quidditch team, Montrose Magpies, aspiring young Chaser Victoire Weasley (23) was seen having other good news in her life as well. Miss Weasley was seen in a Muggle restaurant last Wednesday with a shining new ring on her left hand. The rumours about her engagement to her long-time boyfriend, Ted "Teddy" Lupin (27) have been circulating for the past two years, but only now we have actual proof of the current relation status of the young couple.

The star-crossed lovers have been dating seriously for the past few years and the engagement news had been long awaited. The newly taken photos of the happy young couple only strengthen the idea of how the union between the fair beauty and the blue-haired punk rocker will last for years to come.

According to our trustworthy source straight from London, the young couple has been harbouring crushes on each other from a young age. "To be honest, even when we were at Hogwarts, Vicky hardly looked at other boys. She only dreamed about being Ted's bride," one of the bride-to-be's old classmates tells us in an exclusive interview. "Really, she had all the boys drooling after her, but she never even gave them a chance because it was always "Teddy, Teddy, Teddy" and most people I know even thought Ted Lupin was kind of a loser. No offense to Victoire, but I think she still sees him through some pink shaded glasses or something. That, or she just likes feeling better than him."

Victoire slammed the paper on the table, eyes flashing in anger.

"They make me sound so needy and annoying and the last part is so not true!" Victoire complained to Teddy, sitting on their usual table in the very same Muggle restaurant they were seen in earlier. "Do they really not have anything else to write about? True, we got engaged, but Katelyn Manners has made it her life's work to bother me. Just last month she paparazzed me outside our change room! And last time when I thought she had left me alone, she wrote an article about how I was on a diet because she saw me buying low fat cheese!"

"You know what, Vicky," Teddy said soothingly. "Just forget about it. She's not worth it."

Victoire sighed in frustration. "But Teddy..."

"No buts, sweetie. I have a cunning plan. We'll teach her a lesson."

I'll give her something to write about.

Present day

SCANDALOUS PHOTOS! VICTOIRE WEASLEY SEEN WITH A MYSTERY MAN AGAIN!

Dear readers, rumour has it again! Our photographers have seen Victoire Weasley out again without her boyfriend, but by no means alone.

Victoire Weasley (23) has been seen several times this and last week with an enigmatic, dark stranger. The two were seen being clearly closer than average friends and sparks clearly flew between them. The couple was seen leaving while holding hands and snogging right outside the popular restaurant, the very same where Miss Weasley was seen just few weeks ago for the first time with her engagement ring

But it seems the relationship between Victoire and her boyfriend Teddy Lupin (27) which has previously been thought to be perfect and which has, by many sources, been dubbed as star-crossed love, is apparently nothing but a hoax. The facts are now coming out and the Quidditch princess and the former Hogwarts bad boy aren't in as good terms as they want us to believe.

Our reporter hasn't gotten Victoire to comment the identity of the stranger or the rumours about her failing relationship, but we caught Teddy Lupin outside of their apartment in Montrose. Mr. Lupin wasn't very shocked by the news, nor did he seem worried about the blooming romance between his girlfriend and the mystery man. In fact, after hearing the facts from our reporter, Mr. Lupin had begun laughing and even called Victoire's secret lover a strapping young lad.

Is Teddy Lupin actually gay? Is the whole relationship between him and Miss Weasley staged? Who was the enigmatic stranger?

Teddy put down the paper, trying to stifle his laughter.

"It's not funny, Teddy," Victoire said, but her lips twitched upwards nevertheless as they got up from the table and headed to the door. They were eating out at their usual restaurant because Teddy insisted they got out of their apartment for a while, to hell with the paparazzi.

"I know," said Teddy with a grin. "It's hilarious."

"Really, though," Victoire continued, "they even called you gay. How can you even be so calm about it?"

Ted shrugged nonchalantly, taking Victoire's hand and opening the door with his free one. The door bell clinked, signalling their departure. He glanced around; the street was almost empty.

"Well, I'm not saying never, I'm always open to trying new things... but I would never think to experiment without you by my side," Teddy said, louder than necessary. "Perhaps we could get your strapping young man to join us?"

There was a flash of a camera and they could see a glimpse of Katelyn Manners, right before she apparated away. Ted pulled Victoire—who looked more shocked than Teddy did—close and kissed her temple.

"You've got to learn how to embrace rumours, Vic," said Teddy with a smile. "That way, you're the boss of them. People you care about the most will know the truth anyway. Katelyn Manners is an ass. No one important even reads her stuff seriously anymore."

"You read her stuff, Ted."

"Yes, but I do it in a sarcastic manner," Teddy said proudly. "Rumour has it that it's about me anyway."