Most Gryffindors were not feeling very fresh the next morning. Some of them were sick from ingesting lots of junk food the previous night. Some were groggy from running on a lack of sleep as they had celebrated the night away due to Harry's win. A very small few were experiencing a hangover.
Fred had bought out the Firewhisky that Vicki had given him over the weekend and forced it down a few people's throats for a laugh. He ended up having a few swigs himself but once he learned that Vicki was not ignoring him he decided to stop drinking for the night so he could approach her bright and early the next day.
"Look at all these smug looking Hufflepuff and Gryffindors. They all got to party the night away, and we Ravenclaws spent the night in isolation doing homework. It's not fair!" Stephanie Fawcett whined loudly to Vicki as they walked down to breakfast that morning.
"Most Ravenclaws would prefer to spend the night in isolation doing homework." Vicki pointed out to her friend.
"Most Ravenclaws aren't as cool as us." Steph retorted with a giggle, causing Vicki to nod smugly in agreement.
"Oi! Hartwell!" Fred Weasley yelled as he saw the two popular Ravenclaw girls walk into the Great Hall ahead of him.
The two girls turned around. Stephanie Fawcett rolled her eyes at him for interrupting her flowing conversation but Fred did not care one bit. It was Vicki's reaction he was worried about. Their last interaction wasn't friendly and he was dreading any initial animosity.
He was relieved when a big smile spread across Vicki's face. He was about to properly call her over but to his delight he saw Vicki say something to Stephanie and the two parted – Stephanie entered the Great Hall and Vicki turned around and trotted up to him.
"Well I was going to bring you breakfast fresh from the kitchen but I nicked so much food from the kitchens last night I felt a bit guilty about going back today. But these cakes were made fresh last night, and they're pretty good." Fred explained to Vicki as he held up a paper bag he was carrying.
"I've never been one to turn down cake, that's for sure." Vicki smiled towards Fred.
The two were silent as they climbed the staircase to the first level and entered the first classroom they could find. The two of them took their usual position they sat in when they were alone – their backsides being seated inappropriately on the top of the table and their feet resting on the chairs below.
Fred unpacked the leftovers he had grabbed from the party last night and he set it onto the table to sit in-between them. He had managed to even secure some coffee knowing how much Vicki liked the bitter drink.
"So uh, I wanted to bring you breakfast as an apology." Fred spoke up, feeling a bit awkward as he did so. Fred's discomfort wasn't lost on Vicki.
"You don't say sorry very often do you?" Vicki grinned.
"Not really, no." Fred responded.
"You don't need to apologise today. I can understand why using your great creation to help your current enemy would upset you. I'm sorry for that." Vicki nervously stated.
Fred studied Vicki's face and smiled. He could tell she wasn't mad at him and that's all he had wanted to see. He wasn't after an apology from her.
"We can either be a bunch of sorry sods and keep apologising to each other or we can move past it. I'm not sure about you, but I'm leaning towards the second option." Fred winked towards Vicki.
"I definitely am a fan of moving past it." Vicki smiled.
Fred was hugely overjoyed. He didn't think it would be this easy to win Vicki over. Then again he realised he was used to arguing with stubborn fellow Gryffindors usually too proud to be reasoned with. It was a refreshing change to have a logical Ravenclaw in his company, and he knew he was thinking ahead of himself but he knew it would be convenient if Vicki ever became his girlfriend, their little lover's spats would be nothing.
He sent her a smirk as he saw her nibble on a biscuit. She had no idea the thoughts racing through his head and he found it amusing. If only she knew…
"Let's hug it out then." Fred grinned, deciding to use his courage and push his luck by forcing physical contact onto Victoria. He slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his chest.
Vicki was caught off-guard by Fred's advance and went limp as he held her for a few moments. It was due to this that he lost his nerve and let her go suddenly, afraid he had overstepped his boundaries and made her uncomfortable.
Fred's fears were incorrect. In fact they were almost the polar opposite.
Vicki eyed him after he let go as she felt her chest tighten at the physical contact. She had tried not to think of their kiss a few days ago as she thought it was not wise to dwell on something that meant nothing. But a simple hug was now causing butterflies to erupt inside of her.
"So I need to tell you all about last night's party in the Gryffindor common room. It was so much fun, wish you could have been there." Fred stated to Vicki.
She nodded and half listened as he began to launch into sharing stories from the previous night. Vicki was staring intently at him in wonder. She couldn't believe that he had gone to so much effort to make things right between them after a small misunderstanding. She hated to compare the two, but she knew Roger would have never done this for her.
This train of thought unlocked many other doors in her mind. She always knew how Fred would always know exactly what to say to make her feel better but felt she had never appreciated it until now.
All of his good qualities appeared in her mind. He was kind to her, he had a subtle intelligence no one else seemed to understand, he always knew what to say to her to compliment whatever mood she was in and most obviously he knew how to make her laugh.
"Poor Neville became the second victim of Canary Creams, I'm now quite glad you used it on Tate as it meant he wasn't the first, poor bastard." Fred laughed to Vicki.
Vicki only nodded her head, incapable of speech as a lump had formed in her throat. However it wasn't one of sadness, but nerves. These feelings she had just discovered for Fred – were they new ones that had just developed, or emotions that had been running through her for a while that she locked away due to her failing relationship with Roger?
"Are you sure you're right? Something is wrong? Blimey Vicki – I'm so sorry I snapped at you." Fred asked with concern etched on his face as he noticed Vicki was unusually quiet and not as receptive to his conversation.
"I'm right, but won't be if you don't stop apologising. Seriously, it's okay. I think it's very sweet you've made the effort to do this for me. I can't think of anyone who's ever put so much thought into making me happy before." Vicki admitted, as she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear.
Fred beamed at the compliment but his playful nature did not allow him to bask into it. His response came out as if he were on auto pilot.
"If you reveal this secret to anybody, I'll have to kill you." Fred joked.
"Scout's honour," Vicki exclaimed as she put her hand up before realising this was a muggle phrase "Err, Merlin's honour? Ah, forget it. I promise."
The rest of the week seemed to go very quickly. The entire school was still abuzz with the excitement from the first task. Due to this Vicki had not seen Cedric all week. Even in the classes she normally shared with him he was surrounded by other sixth years eagerly asking him about the egg and the clues hidden within it. Even in Potions where it had been all theory work at the tables and not practical work at the cauldrons.
Vicki could have easily grabbed Cedric or even viciously bared her teeth at the other students and claimed her stake on Cedric. But instead she kept her distance from him and let him soak up his attention. Even though she desperately wanted to talk to him, it was more important for Cedric to enjoy his time as champion.
"After dinner, I'm going to head up to the prefect's bathroom for a swim. Want to join me?" Cedric asked Vicki at the start of dinner as he singled her out and made a beeline for her, shrugging off his admirers.
"Sure, sounds great. I'll see you up there." Vicki beamed as she was happy she'd finally be able to spend time with her close friend.
She hadn't actively avoided Fred but she hadn't gone out of her way to spend extra time with him even though she had less time with Cedric. She and Fred still sat together and joked during Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts but she had not made plans to spend time together outside of class.
Vicki knew her head still wasn't completely in the right place and needed to clear things up before she would decide whether to pursue Fred or wait a bit longer before deciding to dip back into the dating pool. Fred also meant a great deal to her – she was scared of ruining their friendship.
Vicki scoffed down her dinner and ran back up to her dorm. She undressed, put her swimming costume on, put her uniform back on to cover herself up to the walk to the prefect's bathroom and then headed there straight away.
She saw that the bathroom was empty except for one figure who was sitting on the edge of the pool-sized bathtub with his legs swirling in the water.
"So I guess you must now really feel like a champion, right?" Vicki asked Cedric with a cheery smile on her face.
"I must admit it now has finally sunk in, yes." Cedric responded with a slight grin on his face.
"Although I noticed some of your admirers have moved onto Potter which is pretty funny as he's like ten years old," Vicki stated in a derogatory manner for humour before she grew serious again "It seems like the school is uniting again, bar Slytherin. Ravenclaws and surprisingly even Hufflepuffs have warmed up to the Gryffindors again."
"I'll admit I may have had a bit of a hand in that. Potter really saved my neck warning me about the dragons and all, so I've been asking everyone to be a little nicer to him." Cedric explained to Vicki.
"I think it's important for all houses to stick together and for us to unite as a school. You can't tell me that Delacour and Krum did not know about those dragons considering they came well prepared. Karkaroff's scores were ridiculous as well – 10 for Krum who's dragon squashed the eggs and then a low one towards everyone else. Pffffft." Vicki ranted loudly.
"It would be unsportsman-like for me to speak ill of one of the judges. But yes, I can see where you're coming from." Cedric responded with a small smile on his face.
After this topic Cedric and Vicki began to catch up on many things they had wanted to speak about in the absence of each other's company. He spoke about how nervous he was before, during and even after the task, and how he was silently struggling with the fame and admiration that was coming with it. Vicki on the other hand spoke about how hard her Arithmancy work had been.
Cedric began to dig a little about the recent break-up between her and Roger and asked if it had taken any kind of toll on her. Vicki relented and spoke a little about it. She however didn't go into as much detail as she normally did as she knew there was a whole new side she wanted to discuss with Cedric tonight, but she wanted to wait until the right time.
"Hey Vicki?" Cedric asked Vicki after they had a big splash war.
"Yeah?" Vicki responded as she calmed down and hoisted herself out of the water and back on the ledge to sit next to Cedric.
"I'm not meant to ask for help for the next task, but I really don't know what else to do. You helped me with learning Transfiguration, maybe your smart Ravenclaw head can help me with the egg." Cedric nervously stated to Vicki, licking his lips out of habit.
Vicki remained silent but sent a strong nod to Cedric to encourage him to keep talking.
"I've opened it a few times as it's meant to contain a clue towards the next task. But all I can hear when opened is a horrible screeching sound." Cedric cringed as he explained it to Vicki.
"You're going to have to be more descriptive. That is interesting though… the challenge is how to work out what to do with that horrible sound. You say it's a screeching sound – like what? Can you describe the sound?" Vicki asked curiously.
"I can't describe it. It's not like anything I've heard before," Cedric admitted before letting a sheepish smile appear over his face "Sorry, I know this doesn't help at all."
Vicki was silent as she began to digest what Cedric had told her.
"I've got this cassette tape player at home. It's a muggle musical device that when you put a tape in, it plays music. It's been used so many times the speakers have gone horrible, and when it's on full volume you can't hear a thing as it's so distorted. The only way you can ever make out any of the sounds properly is if you turn it down to a more quiet level. You need to muffle the sound on that egg." Vicki mused, explaining it as simply as she could as Cedric was foreign to the world of muggle electronics.
Cedric was silent for a while but then spoke up.
"Can I push the friendship and ask how one would muffle sound?" Cedric asked her.
"'Dunno sorry," Vicki shrugged "I'm sure there's spells to use, surely that's the trick you're meant to do anyway. Otherwise try putting a pillow over it."
"Thanks." Cedric warmly smiled towards her.
The two sat in silence as they swirled their legs in the water and enjoyed each other's company. It was at that moment that Vicki bought up the topic she had wanted to speak about all night.
"I don't know how to phrase this question without sounding weird. But do you ever think it's strange we haven't gotten together? I mean we get along so well..." Vicki nervously asked.
Cedric shot her an odd look and she knew he had taken her strange question the wrong way.
"This isn't a declaration of love, in fact it's the opposite. Normally when two teenagers of the opposite sex click so well their hormones go into overdrive and they get together. That was certainly the case with Roger and I. But us... we're comfortable and we're friends and that's it. It's a very rare gift I'm thankful for." Vicki explained further and she saw Cedric let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah yes, I get you. I had a similar conversation a few days ago with one of my dorm mates. He asked if I would consider you as a love interest. He joked saying we'd have beautiful children and we'd be the greatest Hogwarts power couple ever. It made me realise something." Cedric admitted.
"What?" Vicki asked curiously, not being able to contain herself.
"I like Cho so much that I wouldn't even think of another girl in a romantic sense. Would we get together if I didn't like Cho? Probably not. But as long as my heart yearns for her, there's no other option for me." Cedric sighed and Vicki couldn't tell whether it was one of happiness or one of sadness.
She wanted to say words of encouragement but she found herself stuck. Cedric's words seemed to unlock the last of her feelings as she felt she resonated with them. She certainly didn't think of anyone else romantically, just Fred.
She knew now she definitely had strong feelings for Fred Weasley.
"Can I ask who?" Cedric grinned towards Vicki as he had been studying her facial expressions.
"What are you on about?" Vicki responded as she twisted her face.
"You're thinking about someone, I can tell. Come on, who do you like? I told you about Cho when I first started liking her!" Cedric asked as he dipped his hands in the water and sent a splash towards Vicki.
"Okay! Okay. It's Fred. Fred Weasley." Vicki laughed, half out of amusement of being splashed but also because she was a bit nervous to be telling Cedric this information.
Cedric did nothing but wince which caused Vicki to panic.
"Oh it's nothing. He and his twin really don't like me, that's all." Cedric sheepishly smiled.
"Lucky you're not the one with a crush on him then." Vicki teased as she poked her tongue out.
But then it opened up a question in her own mind. How did Fred feel about her?
I can say a million things (including acknowledging that I haven't updated in forever) but will mention this is the chapter you've all been waiting for ;)
In response to the reviews:
ForeverTeamEdward13: Hopefully you enjoyed the Victoria/Fred this chapter but hey, even with them apart this chapter I'm sure you liked it hehe
Raven Woods 2003: As above, hope you liked the interaction! Let me know.
Paulies1994: If you sensed a love in the making last chapter I am very keen to hear your thoughts this chapter. They will definitely get together, it's just a matter of time now.
grueneHimbeere: Thank you so much for your review, you seriously have no idea how much it means to me. I'm so glad you enjoy my story, but at the same time I'm taking your feedback on board for future chapters. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter - as thanks to you it pushed me to update. Thanks so much!