Victoire did her very best to keep her nose clean for the next two weeks. She resisted the temptation to sneak into Hogsmeade - or back into the Forbidden Forest - despite the maddening boredom that had started to take hold, though she and Micah did sneak down to the kitchens while studying late into the night on several nights. She wasn't sure whether it was the approach of the first Quidditch match or preoccupation with Juliet, but Fred did the same.

They did, however, go back to explore the room with the invisible door, which turned out to be significantly more interesting than she'd originally given it credit for. It couldn't give them food - though she hadn't really expected it to - but it did seem capable of giving them almost anything else. Fred, Lexy, and Micah had even found that it was capable of projecting the visuals to go along with the radio's commentary on Quidditch games to the center of the room.

Victoire did not find the revelation anywhere near as exciting as they did.

It ended up being Gallagher who actually identified what the room was. "It's called the Room of Requirement," he told Victoire, who'd joined him at the Slytherin table for a late lunch when one Quidditch game ran longer than her patience had allowed for.

"How do you know?"

He grinned. "You're not the only one who reads." The tips of his dark hair brushed against his jaw line as he stretched his neck. "That's where everyone hid out during the war, you know."

"Oh! My family's always been vague about it, but I thought it was just a room McGonagall had charmed or something."

"Nope." He glanced over her shoulder at the Ravenclaw table. "Vales looks a little annoyed. Fred abandoning her in favor of Quidditch this weekend?"

"Yesterday's match ran until midnight, and today's is still going. If he's not here for dinner, she's going to be in a terrible mood tonight."

"Lucky you." She made a face. "Yeah, I'm glad that all of my siblings are too old for me to really know the people that they date. What a nightmare. My sister Viv really hated it - Robb and Quinn dated her friends all the time while they were here."

Victoire winced.

They were just finishing their food when an owl swooped in. The Great Hall was nearly abandoned by that point, and as it drew closer to them, she grinned. "Hi," she said cheerfully, pulling a loose feather free and rummaging in her bag for a treat. It took it and held out its leg; when she pulled the parchment free, it grabbed another treat from her hand and took flight.

"Who's it from?" Gallagher asked as she began to unroll it.

"Teddy. Do you mind -"

He retrieved a book from his bag and pulled the platter of biscuits toward him. "Go ahead."

She turned her attention to the parchment.

Vic,

You've mentioned a banshee that you 'met' a few times now, but you keep ignoring my follow-up questions about it - I'd think you were just fucking with me, but the fact that it's you makes me think you probably aren't. (And, if that's the case - what the hell is wrong with you two? Don't seek out banshees.) If this is just a ploy to make sure I come meet you for your Hogsmeade weekend, congratulations. It worked.

Of course, I put in for the time three weeks ago, so it wasn't strictly necessary.

I'm sorry (again) for not getting back to you with a definitive answer before now - it's just so hard to predict when things will take longer than we think they will - remember Cyprus? I got back from France last night and on-schedule, though, so I'll be there. Can't wait to see you. (And Fred? You said he's got a girlfriend now - tell him I won't be offended if he'd rather go to Madam Puddifoot's with her.)

I'll plan on meeting you by the gates on Saturday morning. Please don't get killed by a banshee (or anything else) before that.

Teddy

"Ready?" Gallagher asked as she refolded the parchment. She nodded. "Is he coming to meet you for the Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Yeah."

"He must be bored. Doesn't he have anything better to do with his Saturday than hang around here?" His mouth twitched when her foot collided with his leg. "Sorry."

"You don't look sorry." She swung her legs over the bench and got to her feet. He grinned and followed suit.

As it transpired, the Quidditch match did run late, and Juliet was more than a little put out when Victoire got up to the dormitory that evening.

"Is Fred mad at me?" the other girl asked as soon as Victoire let her bag drop to the floor.

"No, of course not." Victoire ducked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and braid her hair. When she left the door open, Juliet followed her in.

"Are you sure? I just - he said he wanted to spend time with me, but then - and -"

"Quidditch," Victoire told her. "They're all obsessed, you know that - they were holed up following the match."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Juliet stiffen slightly. "They?"

"Yeah - Fred, Micah, and Lexy." This time, she saw Juliet's grimace in the mirror. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Victoire shrugged and picked up her toothbrush. After a minute, Juliet let out an exasperated breath. "Victoire!"

"Mm?" she managed to grunt around her toothbrush.

"Just - I think that she likes Fred."

Victoire was glad that she had a mouthful of toothpaste; it saved her from having to respond to that particular accusation immediately. She took her time about spitting it out and rinsing her mouth; when she was done, she looked up at Juliet's face in the mirror. "Why do you say that?"

The other girl shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a feeling." To Juliet's credit, she didn't ask Victoire for confirmation, though it was clear that she wanted to.

"I think she's just annoyed that Fred has less time," Victoire said after a minute. "She doesn't know you like Micah and I do, you know, so it's different."

That was clearly the right thing to say; she hadn't actually confirmed or denied what Juliet had suggested, but the insinuation that her housemates weren't as bothered because they liked her made her smile. "Thanks," she said. "I don't want to be, you know - annoying or jealous or anything."

"I don't think you are."

"He's just so - you know? And I like him so much. He's so brave. Look at what he did in the Forest."

Victoire forced a smile and then leaned down to wash her face.

She came to regret not setting Juliet straight on Fred's heroism when she'd had the chance. It probably wouldn't have made a difference, but at least she'd have tried, and she couldn't help but feel like Juliet's mistaken perception of Fred as doing something so vaguely heroic the professors couldn't even punish him for it contributed to what happened next.

Victoire had wandered up to her dormitory one Wednesday afternoon after Herbology had been unexpectedly canceled because some idiot Slytherin first years had tried to look for the philosopher's stone in the devil's snare, and all three Herbology professors had been stuck cleaning up the considerable mess. Victoire had no idea where that particular myth had come from, but this was the second year in a row that it had come up.

When she threw open the door, her eyes went straight to the movement across the room - and she immediately wished that they hadn't. Her cousin and Juliet were so absorbed in each other that they hadn't even heard the door open and close - neither was wearing a shirt, and from the disarray of their hair and Juliet's skirt, they'd been at it for awhile. Juliet let out a low moan as Fred tore his mouth away from hers and moved down to her neck. One of his hands stayed on her breast, but the other started to drift down from her stomach. "Oh, yes," Juliet breathed.

That, more than anything else, was what cured of speechlessness enough to squeak, "What."

Fred and Juliet both snapped their heads toward the door. "Oh, fuck," she heard her cousin say loudly.

"Ohmygodwhatareyoudoinghere?" Juliet yelped as he rolled off of her and groped for his shirt.

Their movement broke Victoire's momentary paralysis, and she clapped her hands over her eyes. She heard the rustle of clothing, both Juliet and Fred apologizing, and then heavy footsteps hammering across the room.

"I'm sorry," Fred said again, stopping right in front of her. "We must have just lost track of time, we thought everyone would still be in class for awhile."

"We really did!" Juliet was still on the other side of the room. "Victoire -"

"Obliviate me," Victoire squeaked.

"Vic, we're both decent. You can open your eyes."

"Obliviate me!" she repeated without lowering her hands.

"No! Jules, put your wand away, she's not serious."

"Yes I am," Victoire said. "Obliviate me."

"For fuck's sake, Vic, I'm not doing a memory spell on you!"

"But -"

"No. Ask Teddy this weekend, if it's that important to you, but I'm not messing around with your mind."

Victoire heard lighter footsteps hurry across the room. "Vic, I really am so, so sorry. I really didn't - we thought you'd be in Herbology!"

"It got canceled," Victoire managed to get out before there was a knock on the door. She dropped her hands and spun around just as it creaked open.

"Are you okay -" she heard Wendy manage. She stopped very abruptly when she saw Fred. Her eyes went from him to Juliet to Victoire, and then her frown deepened. "Oh. What is he doing up here?"

"I - it's my fault," Victoire said before either Juliet or Fred could answer. She was fairly certain that her face was still red enough to give her away, but she had to at least try. "I was - I wanted to give him fireworks."

She hoped that Wendy would not actually ask to see the fireworks. She was sure she didn't have any - she generally regarded fireworks as being for people with no imagination. She was fairly certain that she'd said as much to Wendy before, and from the skeptical look spreading across her friend's face, Wendy remembered it.

Thankfully, she also didn't press the matter. "You guys, I'm really sorry, but I have to report this. If he was a Ravenclaw, Jules, I might be able to look the other way, but…"

Juliet hadn't moved since Wendy had come in. "Yeah," Fred said after a minute. "I know."

She glanced toward the window. Victoire followed her gaze, and realized that his broom was laying on the floor next to it. "Take that back to your dormitory and go down to his office from there," Wendy told him. His face relaxed a little, and as he hurried across the room to pick it up and yank the ajar window wide open, she said, "Fred - I really am sorry."

"I know," he repeated. Then he was gone.

Juliet sniffled. Victoire looked over and found her friend - whose hair was still very tangled - in tears. "You have to report it?" Juliet said softly. "I - you have to?"

Wendy sighed and pushed the door closed behind her. "Juliet, I'm sorry," she said. "But - Fred's not even a Ravenclaw. I sympathize, I really do, you know I do, and I promise I won't tell anyone else, but I need to report it or they'll take away my prefect's badge."

"But they don't need to know," Juliet said. The tears were starting to fall. "I don't want to get in trouble, I just wanted some time alone with him, and -"

Wendy grimaced at Victoire. "I didn't hear that. Pull yourself together and then I want you both to meet me at the bottom of the stairs." She slipped out and pulled the door closed behind her.