Victoire woke up on the day of the Quidditch match with the familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach, like it was ready to take flight on the pitch, but at the same time dreading it.
Evelyn had left early once again, leaving Victoire with an empty dorm as she simply pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt for breakfast. Her robes were already in the locker rooms along with all of the other supplies she needed for the game.
The breakfast table was buzzing about the impending game. She made her way over to her friends, where Evelyn was sitting, a worried expression on her face. Her eyes lit up when she saw Victoire, but quickly began scanning the room again. The anxious look didn't disappear until she saw Zach. He looked nauseous and stressed, something Victoire remembered feeling on the morning of her first match.
"Zach?" his eyes didn't look up, but she knew he'd heard her. "I felt the same way you do when I had my first game, but as soon as I was up and flying it all disappeared. I usually get that feeling before every match, never as bad as the first though. We've been training hard, you're a great keeper. You'll do brilliant." Zach nodded, but her words didn't seem to have any impact on him. It wasn't until Evelyn leaned over and whispered something unknown to Victoire in his ear that his face relaxed.
He grabbed a bagel and grinned at Victoire. "Shall we go then?" He held out an arm for her to link with his. "See you guys after the game."
Victoire was slightly stunned at his sudden change in his behavior, but decided to brush it off. Connor and Evelyn wished them both luck as they departed for the locker rooms, Zach with the bagel dangling from his teeth.
When they arrived in the locker rooms there was nobody there, as they were several minutes early. Victoire went over to the female side of the space and changed quickly. Within the next few minutes the rest of the team had arrived, chattering loudly excited for the game. The young third year was the only other girl on the team. While Victoire could tell she was an excellent player, she wasn't sure the fragile girl could handle the intensity of a real game. Teddy was already assembling the guys for the team meeting, he glanced over to where the girl was standing. Victoire was beside her and his eyes connected with hers. He seemed to understand the meaning in her look, and turned to the rest of the team leaving Victoire to handle the new seeker on her own.
"You know this is normal, right?" she sent a smile down to the girl. "Everybody gets nerves on game day. See Zach?" she pointed to her friend. "Just this morning he was terrified about his first game too."
"What if I can't catch the snitch though?" the girl had such grief and agony in her face.
"I've seen you play Amber. You're an amazing seeker. You'll catch the snitch. Even if you don't none of us will be mad at you for that. This is a game. Sometimes we turn up winners, other times losers."
"We can't be losers. If we lose I'll be a…I'll be a disgrace to my family!" she cried. Victoire couldn't blame the girl, her parents were Oliver and Katie Wood.
"I know how that feels. Having something to live up to, but I've met your parents. They would never judge you even if you didn't catch the snitch, and your family is the only opinion that matters. Who cares about what the others think? If they don't care for you, why should you care for them or their opinions? Besides, you know what I think? I think that you'll be the best seeker ever! Better than either of your parents, better than anybody else at school. One day you'll be the famous Quidditch star!"
Amber Wood looked at her through watery eyes. "You think so?"
"I know so."
"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go win this thing!" the rest of the team, who had been watching the two girls interact for the past few minutes, cheered in response.
Today's game was against Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw would be a tough team to beat for their first game of the season, but Victoire was confident they could do it. Ravenclaw may take pride in their strategy, but Gryffindor wasn't lacking either.
The team walked onto the pitch, heads held high, ready for a great game. Teddy shook the hand of the other team's captain and they were ready to take off. Victoire watch Dominique walk out onto the pitch with her team. Dom played beater as well as Victoire, but she had chosen to take a chaser spot because the past couple of years there had been no beater spots open. Victoire figured as soon as one of them opened up her little sister would be filling it. Molly was cheering for her cousins in the stands along with the other Weasleys.
A few signals were given, and they were off. Amber was circling high above looking for any sign of the snitch while Teddy and Evan performed an intricate play they'd perfected over the years. They scored their first goal and then Ravenclaw took the quaffle. The game went on like that for what felt like ages. Each team scored several goals, and each keeper blocked even more. Zach was proving worthy of his position as he caught another quaffle that had been hurdled at the hoops he was guarding.
Victoire saw Amber go into a dive from the corner of her eye, the other seeker seeming to spot the golden ball at the same time as she did. The game's commentator quickly expressed this new development to the crowd as the two seekers grabbed for the snitch, neck and neck. Victoire aimed a bludger at the other seeker, though it did throw her opponent off course, it was for nothing as both players had lost sight of the miniscule object that would end the game. The game went back to the way it had been, though there was a certain edge about the stands and teams. They were on their toes, waiting for the snitch to be spotted again.
The crowd wasn't disappointed. Just minutes later the score was tied 90-90, but the seekers were in a mad dash after the snitch once again. Darwin silently communicated with Victoire, and it was decided they would attempt to knock the other seeker off again. It would be a complicated hit. Darwin would have to hit it to Victoire, who would have to be in the correct position to hit Ravenclaw's seeker as oppose to their own. Both the targets were moving extremely fast making it harder to aim. She and Darwin had mere seconds to pull it off, but the two had been passing beaters back and forth to each other since Victoire's third year. The bludger came flying towards Victoire, who quickly redirected it. The whole thing was a perfect play. The bludger came in contact with the other seeker, hitting her in just the right spot to knock her out of the race to the snitch just as her fingers began to curl around it, but not enough to cause any serious injury. Amber's hand clutched the snitch as she held it up in triumph causing the stands to erupt with screams of joy or defeat.
Victoire took her time in the locker rooms. She knew that when she arrived in the common room the victory party would be in full swing. Instead of immediately joining in like many other members did, she took a long, hot shower and put on the sundress she had brought to change into. Dressing up made her feel pretty, even though many of the Gryffindor students would still be decked out in their spirit wear.
Amber had decided to wait for her and was sitting by her locker. When Victoire saw her a look of surprise graced her features. "You didn't have to wait for me." She said softly. "It's your first win. You're going to be the center of attention."
The young girl smiled. "I don't think so. I wouldn't have caught that snitch if you hadn't hit the other seeker out of the way. Teddy was raving to Darwin earlier about how great you two were."
"What are teammates for? Hitting bludgers at the opposing team. Now let's get to that party."
Victoire was correct in her assumption that the party would be in full swing when she arrived. She and Amber entered the room to be immediately surrounded by praise. Victoire quickly went to Zach, who was dancing with Evelyn and Connor, to congratulate him on his first game.
"You were amazing!" she gushed, hugging her friend.
"Not as great as you! You should've seen it Victoire. The entire team stopped what they were doing to watch you and Darwin. Heck, you even had the other team watching. All eyes were on you, Darwin, and Amber! That was amazing!" he was shouting over the music, but pure joy was evident on his face.
"Speaking of Darwin, I better go find him." She gave Zach another hug and bid her other two friends goodbye before pushing her way through the crowd of celebrators to where Darwin was standing in a corner listening to the occasional congratulatory shout at him.
As she approached him he called to her. "We are the best beaters ever." He gave her a grin, and held out a hand so they could dance to the upbeat tune that was playing from the muggle stereo somebody had enchanted to work.
"We were perfect! I don't even know how we managed to pull that off!"
"It's because we're so amazing." He gave a hand flourish causing her to laugh.
She put on a posh accent. "Why Darwin, we are more than amazing. We are….marvelous!" he joined into her laughter.
They stayed like that for several minutes, joking and dancing, when somebody else appeared. He murmured a few words into Darwin's ear and her dancing partner quickly handed her over to him.
"Teddy." She breathed, slightly stunned that they were dancing together. They hadn't done that since they were little.
"Victoire. You were fantastic tonight. The way you handled Amber before the game. And Zach too. He said you helped him also. But Amber, you knew exactly what to say to a terrified little girl and it was amazing to watch."
She blushed before speaking. "It was what you told me when I felt like I could never be better than my last name. You always told me I could do it. That I could be Victoire, not just another Weasley." And then suddenly they were talking about everything they'd done for each other as children, all the while twirling around the room.
Soon they were laughing as they had as children and they stayed like that dancing and talking long after the music had stopped and everybody else had gone to bed. He twirled her out one last time, and as she came back into him their lips collided. Victoire had never kissed anybody the way she kissed Teddy, he made her feel wanted more than any other boy ever had.
That night was the only night she had ever been fully aware of what was happening. She hadn't been drinking, nor knocked unconscious. She didn't stop him as her dress was taken off, he didn't stop her as she unbuttoned his jeans. Both of them were so broken they fit beautifully together.
She woke up the in the early morning before anybody had come back down to the common room, wrapped in his arms. She didn't want to get up, but she did. She slipped the dress back over her head, gave him one last kiss ensuring he was awake, and slipped back up to her dormitory.
AN: So I usually don't do author's notes. Honestly, as soon as I finish up the chapters I've already written I likely won't continue this story. I really just like getting some of my writing out there, though I might begin a new one. I'd like to offer up anybody who comes across this story and reads it and opportunity to join something me and a few other fans have made. If any of you are interested into joining the Wizarding World, in a way, I'd love for you to PM me or review. I have a site called Geminio ( ) and it's a next generation Harry Potter role play site. We would love to get more writers.