Chapter 2: October 2013
The first weekend of October was an exciting one for the Hogwarts third years. Now that they were old enough, it was going to be their first trip to Hogsmeade. Victoire was extremely excited. Teddy always came back from Hogsmeade weekends with the best stories and purchases. All summer, Victoire had done as many chores around the house as possible so that she would have spending money to use during her trips to the village.
The morning of the trip, Victoire rose early, eager not to miss a second. She took a quick shower and fixed her hair all before Kara and Brianna even woke up. By the time they were stumbling into the bathroom, she was already working on her makeup.
"Come on guys," she insisted. "Get ready, I want to get there before the stores sell out of all the good stuff."
"What 'good stuff' are you talking about?" Brianna asked. "From what I've heard, it's basically a candy shop, a joke shop, and some pub."
"First of all, it's not 'some joke shop'," Victoire said. "It's called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and it's run by two of my uncles – one of them is uncle Ron, remember, he talked about it when you interviewed him that time for Professor Leftbridge's summer assignment?"
"Okay, fine, but it's still a joke shop," Brianna said.
"Secondly," Victoire continued, "there's way more than that. There's this really nice clothing store for one, and there's tons of other little shops we can poke around in."
"Alright fine, I'm getting ready," Brianna sighed, jumping into the shower while Kara started splashing water on her face, foregoing the shower altogether.
Victoire was sad that her friends weren't as excited about this as she was. Luckily, Teddy and Billy had volunteered to show them around the village that morning, and they were almost as excited as Victoire was to play tour guide.
When Kara and Brianna were finally ready, the girls descended to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast before meeting up with the boys in the Entrance Hall. Mr. Clarke was waiting by the castle doors with a list, making sure everyone who left for the village had permission.
"Name?" he asked when Victoire and her friends walked up to him.
"Victoire Weasley," Victoire muttered.
"Ah, you again!" Mr. Clarke exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in a while. Keeping out of trouble?"
"I guess so," Victoire said, faking a smile while he checked her off.
"You guys are friends?" Teddy asked once they were heading down the front steps.
"Definitely not," Victoire said emphatically. "I was out after curfew on his first patrol and he caught me and brought me to see the Headmistress."
"What were you doing out after curfew?" Teddy asked, focusing in Victoire's opinion on the wrong part of the story.
"It was on a dare," Victoire assured him. "I don't usually wander the school after hours."
"You broke curfew on a dare?" Teddy cried. "Please tell me you didn't lose us points over this. If we lost to Ravenclaw over something as silly as – "
"Calm down, it was only twenty points. Ravenclaw beat us by at least fifty," Victoire said. "If you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at Kara. She's the one who dared me."
"So that's what the three of you are doing when you're sitting in your little secret circle in the common room?" Teddy asked. "Daring each other to do pointless things?"
"It wasn't pointless," Kara said. "I didn't just dare her to wander around, I needed her to get my textbook. I left it in the Great Hall."
"You know it still would have been there at breakfast," Billy interjected.
"Yeah, but I didn't like it not being where it should be," Kara said. "Besides, it made for a good dare."
"How many other times have you lost Gryffindor house points like this?" Teddy wondered.
"Almost never," Brianna assured him.
"Oh, almost never," Teddy said. "Well I feel much better now."
"Calm down Mr. Prefect," Victoire said. "Everyone gets into some trouble. Just be glad we aren't roaming the forest at night. That could actually be dangerous."
When they reached the village, Billy jumped straight into tour guide mode, taking them on a walk up and down the street while showing them all the shops. He even insisted they take a walk up to the Shrieking Shack, claiming that no third year could claim to have experienced Hogsmeade until they'd been to see the Shrieking Shack. By the time the tour was over, they were all tired and hungry, so Teddy suggested they grab a bite to eat at the Three Broomsticks.
The place was extremely crowded when they got there. It seemed that every Hogwarts student third year and over had chosen to have lunch at this particular time. There was a small table in the back that was free, so Victoire ran over to claim it while her friends went up to the counter to place their order.
"Here we go," Billy said as everyone came over to join Victoire at the table. "Butterbeers all around." He slid Victoire's glass over to her and she took a nice big gulp. It was her first butterbeer, as her parents had never bought them for their children, and it was delicious. It was like liquid caramel, so sugary and creamy and obviously extremely unhealthy.
"So what are you guys up to this afternoon?" Victoire asked.
"Oh, we're going to meet up with some of the guys and see if Uncle George is in today. He usually makes a point of being at this location on Hogsmeade weekends and sometimes he'll let us have a few free samples," Teddy replied.
"Ugh," Victoire muttered. "I don't need any more free joke stuff. He's already given me loads of products for the past three birthdays."
"Hey," Billy said. "You can never have enough puking pastilles."
"I think you can," Victoire said, making a face.
"I definitely want to check out Gladrags," Brianna declared. "They do sell things besides robes, right?"
"Oh absolutely," Teddy confirmed. "They've got everything. Just be careful, because some of their stuff can get a little pricey."
"I know it's so typical, but we definitely have to go to Honeydukes before we leave," Kara added. "After all the stories, it would be practically a sin not to at least look around."
"We should check out Madam Primpernelle's Beauty Salon and Spa too," Victoire suggested.
"Well it sounds like you've got a whole afternoon ahead of you," Teddy said as their food arrived.
"Well there isn't another Hogsmeade weekend until the middle of November," Victoire pointed out. "We have to make the most of this while we can."
When they had finished their food and paid, the group parted ways, the boys heading off to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes while the girls decided to check out Madam Primpernelle's place first.
"Oh my God, it's amazing!" Brianna exclaimed when they entered. The front area was filled with shelves and shelves of beauty products; makeup, hair products, nail polish, bath soaps, moisturizers… everything a girl could possibly need. Even better, there was a large sign on the wall indicating that the establishment also offered magical massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, hair cuts, and even had tubs in the back for relaxing.
"Hello dearies!" an older lady with an excessive amount of jewelry exclaimed, emerging from the door leading to the back area. "How can I help you today?"
"Oh, we were just looking around," Victoire said.
"Do you have a list of prices for the services you offer?" Brianna asked.
"Oh honey, of course I do!" the lady, who Victoire assumed could only be Madam Primpernelle, said. She opened a drawer behind her desk and handed Brianna a pamphlet.
"Wow," Kara said, leaning over Brianna's shoulder to see the pamphlet. "Some of these treatments are pretty expensive."
"Well of course sweetie," Madam Primpernelle replied. "But I assure you, everything here is of the best quality."
"Of course," Brianna said. "Thank you, we'll probably be back sometime."
They left, and Brianna requested that they check out Gladrags next. Though it looked from the outside like they only sold robes, the minute they stepped inside, the girls discovered that Teddy had been right. The robes only took up a small portion of the shop in the front, and the rest was filled with tons of nice tops sweaters and skirts and dresses – anything a girl could dream of wearing. The girls spent a couple of hours browsing and trying things on, but in the end, only Brianna purchased something – a red sweater that looked absolutely fantastic on her.
At that point, it was starting to get late, so the girls agreed that they would visit Honeydukes like Kara wanted and then head back up to the castle. Typical of third years, Kara bought three sugar quills, a chocolate frog, and a pack of licorice wands while Victoire bought two chocolate frogs, a bag of sherbet lemons, and a box of fizzing whizzbees. Brianna insisted that she refused to spend her money on something so unhealthy, but on their walk back up to the school, she caved and accepted when Victoire offered her one of her sherbet lemons.
They returned just in time for dinner, slipping into the Great Hall and taking seats at the end of the table.
"So, did you have a good afternoon?" Teddy asked, coming into dinner with Billy and some of his other dorm mates twenty minutes late.
"Yeah, how about you?" Victoire asked.
"Not so good," Teddy confessed. "Uncle Ron was in the shop today."
"Oh yeah," Victoire said. "He never gives anything away."
"We're going to try again next time though," Teddy added.
"Of course you are," Victoire rolled her eyes. It wasn't as though Teddy and his friends needed free joke products. And Teddy was a prefect now, so shouldn't he be above such childish antics?
"Maybe we should check out your uncles' joke shop next time," Kara suggested.
"Why?" Brianna asked. "It's just going to be a bunch of fake wands and trick quills."
"I think it could be fun," Kara said.
"It wouldn't hurt to poke in for a bit," Victoire agreed.
"Whatever," Brianna rolled her eyes. "I'm going to owl my mother and see if she'll send me enough to get a facial at Madam Primpernelle's next time."
"Really?" Kara asked. "Why? Your face is gorgeous."
"Well of course it is," Brianna said. "But it won't stay that way unless I maintain it. You guys should think about having treatments done too."
"Maybe," Victoire murmured. She knew her mother wouldn't send her money just like that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to pay for an expensive treatment and use up all the money she'd made over the summer in one go.
"Yeah, we'll think about it," Kara agreed, sharing a side glance with Victoire. She didn't seem 100% sure about the treatment thing either, but neither wanted to say so in front of Brianna.
VvVvVvVvVvV
Before they knew it, October was coming to a close and it was time for the annual Hogwarts Halloween party. As usual, Victoire's mother had agreed to make the girls costumes, and this year, they were going as fairies. Thankfully, their wings weren't as complicated as the ones they'd worn the previous year and they were able to get their costumes on by themselves. The makeup was another thing. Fleur had sent over tons and tons of glitter paint for their faces, along with instructions for how to apply it for the best effect. It took the girls a solid hour and a half just to get each other's faces painted up and ready to be seen in public.
"I'd say this is your mother's best job yet," Brianna said once the girls were dressed and admiring themselves in the bathroom mirror.
"Definitely," Kara agreed. "These costumes are spectacular."
"Thanks," Victoire smiled. "She'll be glad to hear it."
They were already a little late for the party, but that was fine. Brianna informed them that making their entrance fashionably late would only increase their popularity. They headed down and entered just as a new song was starting and the girls eagerly ran out onto the dance floor and started dancing.
"Hey girls, can we join you?" a trio of Gryffindor boys asked, dancing over to them. It was Johnathan Cadwallader, Joseph Alderton, and Nathaniel Peterson.
"Sure," Brianna said, making space for them all to dance together.
They danced together for a few songs, and then the music changed to a slow song.
"We should pair off," Brianna declared. "Johnathan, you dance with Kara. Nathaniel can dance with Victoire and I'll dance with Joseph."
Brianna grabbed Joseph and pulled him towards her, leading the dance while he just blindly followed. Johnathan reached for Kara's hand and she took it, allowing him to sweep her around and into the crowd. Feeling awkward, Victoire looked at Nathaniel and shrugged.
"I guess we should dance?" she said, more of a question than a statement.
"I guess so," Nathaniel shrugged back.
There was an awkward moment where they both reached for each other in opposite directions and Victoire blushed apologetically, realizing she'd gone the wrong way. She'd never danced with a boy before, and she had to admit she was really nervous. They tried again and got it this time. They clasped hands on one side, while Victoire leaned her other hand on Nathaniel's shoulder while he placed his hand on her back, swaying her back and forth in time with the other couples around them.
Once she got into the rhythm, Victoire realized dancing with a boy was actually nice. When the song finished and a second one started, Nathaniel asked if she'd like to dance with him again and she accepted. She was having a really nice time, she realized. Nathaniel was really nice and she was having a lot of fun.
"Do you want to get something to eat?" Nathaniel asked when the second song finished and a more upbeat song started.
"Sure," Victoire said agreeably. As they departed from the dance floor, she looked around to try and locate her friends. Kara and Johnathan were still out on the dance floor dancing, but Brianna was nowhere to be found.
"Cauldron cake?" Nathaniel asked.
"Sure," Victoire accepted it, biting into it and trying to eat the pastry with as much grace as she could.
"You look really pretty by the way," Nathaniel told her.
"Thanks," Victoire smiled. "Your costume is pretty cool too," she added. Nathaniel was dressed as a vampire – he was wearing a long cloak with the collar flipped up, and he had clearly found some sort of spell to give himself temporary fangs.
"Thanks," Nathaniel replied. "My older brother had to do my fangs."
"Is it a complicated spell?" Victoire asked.
"Not really," Nathaniel shrugged. "It was just really uncomfortable to have my own wand pointed at myself."
"You didn't just ask one of your roommates to do it?" Victoire said.
"Are you kidding?" Nathaniel cried. "Those buffoons? I could have ended up without any teeth at all if I'd let them do it!"
Victoire laughed. "They can't be that bad."
"Oh trust me, they are. Adrian's the worst, I think. All he can ever talk about is Quidditch and how he's going to make the team one day. It's so annoying. He never does any schoolwork, he just hangs out by the Quidditch pitch all day watching the teams practice, and then when there's nobody practicing, he takes his broom out and trains."
"Oh my gosh, that's just like Caitlin," Victoire said. "She even wakes up super early every morning to run around the castle five times before breakfast. She's convinced that if she stays in shape, she's bound to make the team eventually."
"Adrian does that too!" Nathaniel said. "Hey, maybe they secretly run together."
"That would be so weird," Victoire said.
"It would," Nathaniel agreed. "Although if they were training together, it would explain why Adrian didn't come back after tryouts all upset about not making the team again. Last year, it took all four of us to convince him not to give up."
"We had the same thing happen with Caitlin last year," Victoire said. "And actually… yeah, this year she was fine after tryouts. I think you're right, I think they're secretly training together."
"I wonder why he never mentioned it," Nathaniel wondered.
"I know why Caitlin never mentioned it," Victoire muttered.
"Why?" Nathaniel asked.
"Oh, we don't get along so well," Victoire admitted. "There was even a time back in first year when she tried to convince Professor Longbottom to transfer Brianna, Kara, and me to a different house."
"Well it's a good thing he didn't!" Nathaniel said. "Gryffindor Tower wouldn't be the same without the three of you."
"Aww, thanks," Victoire said, touched.
"So do you maybe want to dance a bit more?" Nathaniel asked.
"Sure!" Victoire agreed, allowing him to lead her back out to the dance floor.
They danced for another hour or so before Victoire declared that she was exhausted and maybe she should head in. Now that they'd gotten over their initial awkwardness around each other, they got along really well and found they had a lot to talk about.
"Yeah, I should turn in too," Nathaniel agreed. "I'll walk you back."
"Alright," Victoire shrugged as he held the door open for her to leave the hall.
On the walk back, they continued swapping roommate horror stories until they reached the seventh floor. They reached the Fat Lady and gave her the password, and then stood awkwardly in the near-empty common room staring at each other.
"Well this was fun," Victoire said, not sure what she was supposed to say.
"Yeah, we should do it again sometime," Nathaniel agreed.
"Well, goodnight I guess," Victoire said.
"Yeah, goodnight," Nathaniel said. He took a step closer and before she even knew what was happening, he gave her a swift kiss on the lips.
Victoire could feel her entire face heat up as he pulled back, looking at her expectantly.
"Goodnight," she squeaked as he turned and ran up the staircase to the boys' dorms.
"And who was that?" a stern voice asked from behind her.
"Teddy!" Victoire cried out in surprise, spinning around. "What are you doing here?"
"I was going up to my dorm," Teddy said. His arms were crossed and he didn't look very happy. "Who was that?"
"Just a guy in my class," Victoire shrugged, her face heating up even more now that she was being given the third degree. "It's no big deal."
"I would say it's a very big deal," Teddy said. "You're only thirteen and you're already kissing boys? What would your parents think?"
"Don't you dare write my parents about this!" Victoire cried. "I'm thirteen, I don't need you keeping watch over me like some overprotective father anymore. I might've needed some watching when I was in first year, but I'm in third year now and I think I can take care of myself!"
"Well clearly you do still need someone watching over you, because otherwise you wouldn't be kissing random guys in the common room at all hours of the night!" Teddy shot back.
"Excuse me?" Victoire exclaimed. "First of all, his name is Nathaniel. He's not some random guy, we were at the Halloween party together. We danced together almost all night. And for the record, it was one kiss, and it's not even nine o'clock yet."
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd danced together. That makes everything okay," Teddy said sarcastically.
"I don't see what the big problem is," Victoire said. "So I kissed a guy, so what? I'm sure you kiss girls all the time."
"Sure," Teddy said, suddenly seeming flustered. "But not in the middle of the common room where anyone could see me, and certainly not when I was thirteen."
"Well I'm sorry I didn't want to wait until I was middle aged before I had my first kiss," Victoire retorted.
"You know what?" Teddy cried. "You do what you want. I'm done watching out for you. You're on your own now."
That said, Teddy stomped up the stairs, leaving Victoire standing dumbstruck in the middle of the common room.
"What're you looking at?" she demanded when she noticed the only other occupants of the room, a couple of second years, staring at her.
VvVvVvVvVvV
"Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you," Victoire squealed in the bathroom once her friends had returned from the party as they cleaned the makeup off their faces. "Guess what happened after Nathaniel and I left the party?"
"Oh my gosh, you didn't!" Brianna exclaimed excitedly.
"What?" Kara asked, not catching on as quickly as Brianna.
"He kissed me!" Victoire cried. Even though Teddy had made it seem like some big crime, she wasn't going to let him ruin her night, and she knew her friends would be appropriately enthusiastic.
"Seriously?" Kara cried. "Oh my gosh that's amazing!"
"My little Victoire, all grown up," Brianna cooed. "So how was it?"
"What do you mean?" Victoire asked.
"The kiss, how was it?" Brianna asked.
"Oh, fine I guess," Victoire replied. "It wasn't that long, so I didn't have much time to think about it."
"Did he say anything afterward?" Brianna asked.
"No," Victoire replied. "We said goodnight, and then he kissed me, and then he ran up the stairs."
"Oh my gosh, that's so adorable," Brianna said. "I bet he's just shy."
"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "I mean; he did leave kind of fast… do you think I did it wrong?" She started to panic. Maybe he'd run off because he didn't like her anymore.
"Don't worry Victoire, I'm sure that's not it," Kara assured her. "It was probably his first kiss too."
"Yeah," Victoire agreed, trying to shake the doubt from her mind.
"I guess either way you'll find out tomorrow," Brianna shrugged.
"I guess so," Victoire frowned. "What if tomorrow is super awkward though?" she asked.
"It probably will be," Brianna said. "But the important thing is that once you get through tomorrow, however it goes, things will only get easier after."
"I think I'm going to go to bed now," Victoire said. Brianna wasn't making her feel much better and she was exhausted. "I'll see you in the morning."
"We should try and get to the Great Hall early tomorrow morning," Brianna suggested. "That way he's the one who has to choose whether to sit with you or not."
"Alright," Victoire agreed, walking over to her bed and pulling the curtains shut. She didn't get much sleep that night. Every time she started to fall asleep, she woke herself with panicked thoughts of how the following morning would play out. It wasn't until three or four in the morning that she finally managed to fall into a proper sleep.