Victoire Weasley had taken a real confidence knock in first year. She hadn't taken Teddy's purposeful distance from her lightly- in fact, she'd begun to hate herself for it. Victoire had never had confidence issues before, but all of a sudden, she found herself evolving into this shy, self conscious girl, who tried to hard to just blend into the background. Teddy Lupin had initially distanced himself from Victoire for three reasons.

Number one- despite the fact that it was an excuse the first day on the train, Teddy genuinely did want Victoire to make some new friends, for her sake.

Number two- Teddy knew that he was Victoire's only friend. If he'd been to open to Victoire, she would have wanted to spend every waking hour with Teddy- leaving him no time to spend with his own friends.

Number three- Teddy's best friend Joseph Davies could read him like a book. If Teddy spent time with Victoire in front of his friend, it would be all too obvious to Joseph that he was completely in love with her… and Joseph would tease him to no end for being in love with a first year.

But as the year progressed, his reasons to continue his attitude towards Victoire only increased. She did a great job of concealing her beauty- always tying up her glorious blonde hair- which she would never brush. She'd let an over grown fringe hang over her beautiful face, hunching her back and staring at the ground. People hardly even notice she existed, and when they did, they laughed at her. Teddy knew it was wrong- but he cared far too much about what people thought of him- what his friends thought of him- and that's why it kept going… for far longer than Teddy had ever wanted it to.

Before he knew it, it'd become a sort of routine. The pair of them would be best friends in the holidays, and strangers inside the castle. It was almost a taboo… Victoire would be herself at home, smiling, radiating beauty- the pair of them would never even mention how they acted at school… in fact, they never really mentioned school at all. They behaved as though they didn't go to the same school, ignoring the fact that they wouldn't even look at each other at Hogwarts.

Victoire had sworn to herself during the summer before fifth year that she'd behave differently. No longer would she dwell on her confusing friendship with Teddy, or her love-hate relationship with Millie Boot. She'd be herself. As she walked down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express on the 1st September 2015, she held her head high. For the first time in years, she wore her hair down- it floated behind her like a golden cape, sparkling like diamonds in the light. People would stare at her through the compartment windows, for this was the first time that a lot of them had seen her face for more than a fraction of a second.

'Is that Victoire Weasley?' she heard a boy saying, as she glided down the hallway, she smiled to herself, showing off her set of glittering white teeth.

'Woah! Victoire?' called Millie Boot from one of the compartments, 'long time no see!' she said,

'Hi there, Millie!' said Victoire, trying to seem pleased to see her… there was a reason Millie hadn't seen her in a while.

'You look…' said Millie, thinking of the right words, 'well, you look amazing!' she look gobsmacked,

'Thanks, Millie,' smiled Victoire,

'What happened to dowdy little Vicky,' said Kate Pond cruelly, 'I can hardly recognize you when you're not staring at your feet,' Victoire shrugged,

'New year, new me,' she said simply, Millie's eyes twinkled at her,

'Now you look like my friend,' she said, 'come and sit here, honey,' she said forcing Kate to move closer to the window. Although Victoire had come to terms with Teddy's absence in her life at Hogwarts many years ago, she'd continued in her self conscious streak regardless… for there'd been more than one reason for it. Millie Boot. Millie was the most popular girl in the year. She was stunning, with rich caramel tousled hair, and glowing skin that was always lightly bronzed- as though she'd been hanging out on a beach in California. Her colouring contrasted strikingly with her light grey eyes. Victoire, however, was by far the most beautiful of the two of them… she just never gave anybody the opportunity to notice it. Millie always had the most stylish clothes, that were exact replicas of the ones worn by famous witch singers and muggle celebrities, where Victoire used to default to grey roll neck jumpers and unflattering jeans at Hogwarts.

It was always a mystery to Victoire as to why Millie decided to stay friends with her… if friend was the right term to use. Millie allowed Victoire to follow her around, but never let an opportunity to put her down slide.

'Haha, Vicky, now I know you're a true Weasley,' she'd say, 'looks like you can't afford nice clothes,' it was Millie who kept Victoire in her post-Teddy state, for far longer than necassery.

'Why didn't you answer my owls in the summer?' demanded Millie. Because you're always horrible to me, and I didn't want to see you! Victoire wanted to say,

'I was very busy,' said Victoire,

'Doing what?' asked Millie,

'I went to France,' Victoire lied fluidly, 'visiting my mother's family,' She had been to France. For about three days. Nowhere near long enough to classify it a valid reason for ignoring Millie's owls.

'Oh, well, how was it?' Millie enquired. It was unusual for her to take such an interest in Victoire's life.

'It was great,' said Victoire, 'my great grandmother's a veela- she's amazing,'

'Wait, you're family are veela?' said Kate, 'how did we not know this?'

'Shut up, Kate,' snapped Millie, 'so you're blood related to veela, Victoire?' she said sweetly,

'I'm an eighth veela, yes,' she confirmed, knowing what Millie was thinking,

'Ah yes, I can see it now,' Millie said, grinning, 'no wonder we're BFF's' she said, linking her arm through Victoire's.

'BFF's?' exclaimed Kate, her face turning an unattractive red, 'but you were literally just saying how much of a downer Vic-'

'Shut up Kate,' Millie spat, she turned to Victoire, 'does she ever stop talking?' she said bitchily.

The rest of the journey consisted of Millie quizzing Victoire endlessly about her looks,

'But you must be wearing makeup,' she insisted,

'I'm not!' exclaimed Victoire,

'How can a girl look like that,' Millie said, gesturing to Victoire's face, 'without makeup! It's just not possible!'

'She's an eighth veela,' sneered Kate, 'of course she's beautiful,' she added spitefully. It was unusual for Victoire to be spoken about in this way. She wasn't used to people being jealous of her.

They arrived at the station in Hogsmead after a lengthy journey on the Express, Victoire hauled her trunk out of the compartment, down the corridor, and onto the platform. She could hear people whispering about her,

'You're sure it's Victoire?'… 'Dude… somebody grew up over the summer,'… 'Literally mate, hotter than Millie Boot,'

Feeling strange, Victoire followed Millie to one of the thestral drawn carts (of course, she was unable to see them, but nevertheless, she knew they were there) Kate slumped behind them, with a bitterly angry look on her face. In a way, Victoire felt sorry for her, but the feeling was sufficiently diluted with memories of all the cruel things she'd said to her in the past.

'Is there space for a few more in this cart, Millie?' asked James Greene, a boy in fifth year with floppy brown hair. He was speaking to Millie, but his piercing hazel eyes kept flitting to Victoire.

'Sure,' giggled Millie, James thew his trunk onto the luggage carrier and joined them.

'Hey Victoire,' he smirked, sitting down beside her.

'Hey, it's James, right?' she said coolly,

'Yeah- good summer?' he said, leering at her,

'Not bad,' she told him, 'how was yours?'

'Can't complain,' he said, 'I-' Millie interrupted him,

'Jamesy and I met up a few times,'

'Oh, really?' said Victoire, 'that's nice,' she said, turning to James,

'Oh- er- yeah,' he said, 'it's a shame you couldn't have come too actually, Victoire,' he said, trying to suppress the idea that he and Millie were an item. Millie was not used to this kind of dismissal, and bit back equally venomously,

'Hmm, yes it was, hun,' she said, looking at Victoire, 'James can be a bore,' James shot daggers at her. He changed the subject,

'You alright Kate? You've got a face like a bulldog liking piss off nettles,' he joked, Kate looked furious. Victoire snorted,

'Fuck off, James,' she grumbled,

'Oi, Drew!' called James, gesturing to his friend, 'come join us,' Drew Court was astoundingly handsome, with spiked black hair and sharp cheekbones.

'Oh, hey mate!' he called back, 'I was actually going to sit with- who's your friend' he said, changing the sentence as he looked at Victoire,

'Victoire Weasley,' said James, watching as Drew's jaw drop,

'Oh, yeah… yeah of course,' he said, backtracking his mistake, 'yeah, I'll join you mate,' he added, 'help me with my trunk,' James hopped off the carriage and assisted Drew in throwing his trunk on the back, along with his beady eyed tawny owl.

'Cute owl!' said Victoire, smiling at the creature,

'I got him just before first year,' grinned Drew,

'Has he got a name?' asked Victoire,

'Yeah- this little boy's called Budgie,' he said, poking his finger through it's crate to stroke the owl's feathers,

'Mild irony?' suggested Victoire,

'You got it,' said Drew, a glimmer of a smile lingered on his lips. There was more to Drew then Victoire had previously thought. He wasn't just a pretty face- as she'd assumed over her previous four years at Hogwarts. On the journey up to the castle, the pair of them discussed Victoire's family- drew was fascinated by the work of her uncles- he'd always wanted to be an Auror.

After arriving in the grounds, they climbed down from the carriage,

'I would ask to sit with you at dinner, Victoire,' said Drew, 'it's a shame I'm a Ravenclaw,'

'Oh you are aren't you,' said Victoire, feeling mildly disheartened, 'I'll speak to you after dinner then?'

'I'd love to,' said Drew, before a boy who Victoire vaguely knew called after him-

'Come on, Drew! We have to secure our seats at the dinner table!' the Ravenclaw boy called,

'With you in a minute!' Drew yelled after him, 'see you in a bit,' he said to Victoire breathlessly, patting her on the arm before departing.

'Vicky and Drewy, sittin' in a tree, doin' what they shouldn't be,' chanted Millie over Victoire's shoulder,

'Oh, shut up,' she smirked,

'Oh Merlin!' shrieked Millie, 'it's true! It's true, it's true, it's true!' she erupted into a fit of laughter,

'Oh sorry… I obviously didn't get the owl… is it first year again?' said Victoire, blushing redder than a radish.

Millie locked her arm round Victoire's before making her way to the great hall, grabbing a space on the bench before the first years came in for sorting. It was always weird for Victoire to see the younger years being sorted… it didn't seem so long ago that it was her sat at the front, with the heavy sorting hat falling over her eyes. This year, it was James Potter's turn to be sorted. She waited for the whole alphabet of eleven year olds to be called up to the stool, until it was finally James' turn. Excited murmurs echoed through the hall,

'Harry Potter's son!' she heard uttered numerous times, 'A lot to live up to' they said, 'I wonder if he'll get seeker in his first year too!'

'GRYFFINDOR' the hat cried, as the sea of people around Victoire erupted into applause. She wouldn't have expected any less.

'Well done, James!' she said, pulling him into a hug as he sprinted down to Gryffindor table, 'I knew you'd make it,'

'Cheers, Victoire!' he said, beaming.

'Oi oi, get in there mate!' wolf whistled a third year,

'She's my cousin,' said James, his face a picture of disgust, 'see you later, Vic,' he added, continuing down the table to meet the other first years. Victoire watched him as he passed Teddy, who ruffled his hair and gave him a high five.

She kept watching Teddy even after James had moved on, wondering how different things would have been if Teddy had given her that reaction when she'd been sorted into Gryffindor four years ago. As she watched him, she noticed his eyes dart towards her, it seemed the boys around him were pointing at her, they laughed amongst themselves. Teddy looked remarkably uncomfortable, as he forced laughs at their comments. Victoire wondered what they were saying, but she didn't have time to try and listen,

'Drew Court is properly staring at you!' exclaimed Millie, Victoire giggled, and then instantly hated herself for it. Since when had she been so sickeningly girly?

Thank you so much for reading!

I've gone a bit mental today and posted two chapters- I just couldn't wait to get the story going. I'm literally addicted to writing this! I can't wait to post the next chapters- I have a few scenes written out that are REALLY exciting... It's probably not healthy to be this excited about my own fiction... what can I say, I'm passionate!

If it's not too much trouble, it'd be an honour if you left a review. I adore reading what you have to say about my work. It really motivates me to keep writing more chapters... although at the moment I think I have enough creative steam for four people...

Thank you my darlings!

Em x