A/N: okay, so I am covered in rice. really. we had Chinese food for dinner, and I was trying to get some more out of the box, but then it all fell on me. not only did I not get rice, but I'm now covered in the stickyness. Anyway, here's today's fortune: "It's always worth taking the trouble to praise people." So ponder that.

I'm not actually very happy with this chapter. I had so many ideas, but I just kept finding problems with them. Oh well, here it is anyways. Hope ya like it!

Disclaimer: hmm, I don't think I've done a disclaimer before. Kinda a whim. Well, I don't own harry potter. I do own lots of hello kitty stickers though!

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Top Ten Reasons I Hate Fancy Dresses:

They're uncomfortable

They're hard to get on

They're uncomfortable

They're noisy

They're uncomfortable

They're pointless

They're uncomfortable

They're difficult to walk in

They're uncomfortable

I tried to think of a tenth reason as I walked down the corridor with Ian and Meghan. It wasn't that I disliked all dresses; I just really could have done without ball gowns. But I had to admit – the dress I was wearing for my Cinderella costume was pretty amazing. The bodice was structured, with slightly poufy sleeves down to about my elbows, and a really poufy skirt. The whole thing was a beautiful shimmery blue.

I had been forced into it.

Meghan had helped me find a costume, and while I was all for a modern remake of the fairytale princess, she insisted I wear this dress. Hmm, it was growing on me, I had to admit.

The pounding music could be heard all the way down the corridor from the Great Hall, where the party was being held. We were about ten minutes late, so the three of us hurried up, trying not to trip over Ian's trailing bandages. Yup, a mummy. So original, right?

We reached the door and peeked inside. It was a huge mass of costumed people dancing in the middle of the floor. About half of them were wearing masks, like me and Meghan. Edging into the room, I was pleased to see that no one else had dressed as Cinderella. Going with a Muggle character had obviously been a good idea.

So you would assume that since I'm part veela I'm an amazing dancer, right? Well, you would be wrong. About as wrong as you would be if you were to assume I was graceful and poised. Yeah, clumsiness isn't a big helper with the dance situation. This would be why I was none too happy about Meghan and Lorelei pulling out onto the dance floor. Even so, it was a song I really liked (a cover from some old band called the Weird Sisters that my Aunt Ginny really likes), so I was soon doing my best to just dance and forget my awkwardness. Even so, people were still giving me about a two foot radius, though whether this was due to my large skirt or tendency to step on peoples' toes I'm not sure.

About five dance tunes and twenty minutes later it switched to a slow song, and I quickly made my escape to the refreshments table. I grabbed some punch and sat down in an empty chair towards the edge of the room. It was interesting just to watch people. Over there was a pirate dancing with a faerie, and next to them a mermaid and a vampire. I laughed at the people dressed up as Harry Potter. And yes, there were quite a few Harry impersonators. My choice of costume seemed cooler and cooler as I looked around and saw multiple Quidditch players as well, quite a few of them sporting Holyhead Harpies robes.

As I was sitting and watching the dancing, Jessamine, dressed as an angel, came up and started talking at about 400 words per minute. "Oh my gosh! Is that you Victoire? Of course it is. You look so pretty. I mean, you always look pretty and everything, but you look older too, well, you always seem to be older than you are because you're so tall, but that dress!! OH, and your hair, I love it! You have to show me how to do that, and the tiara! Oh my gosh you really look like your fourteen or fifteen or something, your costume is so beautiful! Who are you? Oh, you must be a princess! Aren't you dressed as someone from a Muggle fairytale or something? Someone said you are. That's so awesome, and really original, because, I mean, most people wouldn't think to dress up as something from the Muggle world. . ."

I was laughing slightly, amazed that she had said all this in only about two breaths. "You're costume is really pretty," I said, smiling.

"Really? Thanks, I worked so hard to find a dress that would work, and some realistic wings too, because they were all either too colorful or for really little kids. But then my mum sent some she had found, and they just went perfectly with this dress! I almost didn't even bring the dress this year, because we don't usually have fancy stuff, but I just loved it so much! I got it for Easter last year, and my little sister got a matching one, and it was sooo cute!"

Before Jessamine could say any more, some guy walked over to where we were sitting. He was pretty cute, with longish brown hair and a Quidditch costume. I vaguely recognized him, maybe he was that Ravenclaw third year, what's-his-name . . . Mark?

"Hi," he smiled, glancing at Jessamine before turning to me. "I'm Chris." Okay, so maybe he wasn't Mark. "Wanna dance?" Wait, what?

I looked over at Jessamine, who smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. "Uh, sure," I said, standing up. Why not?

We walked over to the dance floor, where another slow song was starting. He put his hands on my waist, and I placed mine on his shoulders. We swayed in time with the music, not really dancing. Okay, this was officially awkward. At least I couldn't trip if I wasn't moving.

Knock on wood.

"So, you're in Gryffindor, right?" You think he would have asked my name or something, but okay.

"Yeah, I'm Victoire."

"That's a cool name. Are you French?"

"My mom is; she went to Beauxbatons."

"Cool."

And let the awkwardness resume.

We just stood there and swayed for a few minutes. Eventually the song was over, and we smiled at each other awkwardly and moved away. Yeah, I used the word awkward a lot. There's a reason for that.

As the music resumed, I noticed it was yet another slow song. I made my way over to where Meghan was getting punch. When I got there, I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when she held up her finger, giggling, and pointed at something. That something was Ian, talking to Stacey. I started giggling too as he shot us a glare. Oh, it was so cute, I mean, Stacey was even blushing.

Just then I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Teddy. He was dressed as a – well, honestly, I'm not sure what he was dressed as. He had just gone crazy with his metamorphosing. His hair was rainbow striped, he had one purple eyebrow and one green, his nose was a pig snout, he had over-exaggerated his ears, and his skin was stained slightly blue.

"Hi!" I said brightly.

He smiled and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the dance floor. I raised my eyebrow and he laughed. "Just fulfilling my duty to make sure you have a good time." The music had turned to a faster song.

"You could have tried harder with your costume," I said as he spun me around.

"What? I put a lot of effort into this, thank you very much!"

"I don't see any difference," I teased, looking at his features critically.

Teddy pretended to be offended, and twirled me again, letting go of my hand halfway through. I immediately tripped and started falling, but he caught me, laughing. Mock-glaring at him, I punched his arm lightly, accidently stepping on his toes. He pretended not to notice.

"So I see Meghan and Ian are talking to you again."

"Yeah, are Justin and Ben back to normal too?"

"Yup. I have chosen to be very suspicious. We're gonna have to keep our guard up." I nodded my agreement.

We kept dancing until the end of the song, and I forgot about trying not to step on his feet. Luckily for him, he was very adept at dodging such clumsiness.

After the song was over, he waved, moving off to where I could see his friends. I waved back and made my way to Meghan, who was talking to Lorelei, Thomas, and Jake, a Hufflepuff in our year.

"Hey guys!" I said, and for some reason Lorelei stared at me in horror, and Jake was just plain staring. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," said Meghan, coming over and straightening my tiara. "But you're getting hyper."

Oh. Yeah, that was some pretty sugary punch. Jake was still staring at me, so I turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Oh my god, Victoire?" he sounded shocked. I wasn't really sure if I should be offended or not. "You look like you're a fifth year or something!"

Isn't that what Jessamine had just been saying? Hmm, must be true.

Lorelei and Meghan nodded in agreement. "All the guys here are staring at you. I don't think most of them recognize you."

I rolled my eyes and started talking about other peoples' costumes. We were just laughing at some of the weirder ones when I felt another tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I was face to face with Blake Saunders, who was widely acknowledged as the hottest guy in fourth year.

He smiled at me and I felt my stomach jerk a little. "Do you want to dance?" he asked, still smiling.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As he led me off to the dance floor, where a slow song had conveniently just started playing, I glanced back at my friends, who were all staring at me a bit awestruck. Well, the girls were.

Willing myself not to trip, I put my arms on his shoulders and we started swaying. I was hoping it wouldn't be awkward like trying to dance with Chris.

"That's a really cool costume. Is it something Muggle, 'cause I don't really recognize it."

"Yeah, it's a Muggle fairytale. I'm supposed to be Cinderella."

"What's that, an illness?" I burst out laughing, and he chuckled too, even though he obviously didn't get the joke.

"No," I corrected, still giggling. "It's a princess."

"Oh," he said, still not really understanding why I was laughing. "Your laugh is pretty. It's contagious." I grinned at him, elated.

We continued dancing, and it was really nice. Not awkward like dancing with Chris had been.

The song ended, and I started to move away, but Blake caught my hand. "Want to go for a walk?" he asked.

I nodded. We moved out into the gardens. We just walked and talked for a while, discussing the party. Eventually we had made a circle, and were back by the doors again. Blake looked at me and started leaning in, as if in a trance. Oh my gosh, was he going to kiss me? Did I want to be kissed?

I turned my head at the last second, and his lips brushed my cheek. "No," I deadpanned.

He ignored me and tried to kiss me again. I punched him. My fist connected with his face, and his eyes widened. But still he didn't give up. Either he was a real jerk, or this was my unwanted Veela powers making themselves known.

Or both. Whatever it was, I did not appreciate it.

I tried to get his hands off my waist. No go. Pulling my arm back, I punched him again. He stopped trying to kiss me, but didn't let go of my waist.

As I was just about to hit him again, he was gone. Oh wait, there he was, over there. Being beaten to a pulp by Teddy, whose hair was bright, flaming red. I had a strange sense of déjà vu, and probably could have figured out why if my head wasn't so confused.

By the time I remembered to move, Blake appeared to have a broken nose and was in a crumpled heap on the ground.

I kinda hated him at this moment, but thought I should do something. "Teddy."

He ignored me. "Teddy!" No response. "Theodore Lupin, don't kill him!" I screamed.

Teddy stopped and looked at me, then back down at Blake, then at me again. I could see his reluctance as he moved towards me, but he stopped destroying Blake's face. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the Entrance Hall, leaving Blake on the ground. He deserved it.

By some unspoken agreement Teddy and I headed past he Grand Hall and back to the common room. Neither of us really felt like partying at the moment. When we got there, Teddy was no longer breathing so hard, and his hair was slowly turning turquoise.

I felt so tired I was about to collapse. I could tell it was probably almost midnight, but the party wouldn't be over for a while.

"Thank you." I said, giving Teddy a big hug. He returned it, and I could tell he was calming down. When I looked up his hair was completely blue.

He let go and kissed my forehead. I felt something slide onto my wrist. It was a bracelet. I smiled. It was a tradition, like the chocolate frogs.

"Thanks," I smiled, and then yawned.

Teddy let out a quiet laugh, though he was obviously still upset. "Go to bed." He pushed me towards the stairs.

I started up the staircase, still yawning. "Vic!" he called. I turned around. "Happy Birthday."

For all you Maximum Ride fans out there, I did in fact loosely base Jessamine off of Nudge. I figure every story should have a chatterbox. :D

Hope you enjoyed it! I know I said there would be something with Pravus, but I couldn't think of how to work him into the chapter, so now Teddy has a new enemy! And this time its someone older, and he still beat them to a pulp! Yay Teddy! Please review!