Victoire was pleased to leave Hallows House earlier than scheduled the morning of the 1st January. Louis had come down with bad case of the 'flu', according to Fleur. Victoire secretly knew that there was a very different reason for Louis' constant vomiting. Students were expected back at Hogwarts on the 4th January. Victoire dreaded the date. Not only would she have to see Teddy every single day, but she'd also have to see Drew… and make amends with Jenna- who she'd left on a less than amicable note.

She spent the last few days of her holiday casually avoiding any conversation concerning Teddy with her sister, Dominique. Instead, she chose to distract herself, by talking her through ways of making new friends at Beauxbatons, and how to stand up to the children that were picking on her. Dominique was relatively grateful for the advice, but eager to find out what had happened between her sister and their old family friend on the night of New Year.

But Victoire would not say a word.

She didn't so much as mention the evening's events to anybody. Not Dominique, not Fred, not Louis, and certainly not her parents. She came to the conclusion that the less she spoke about it, the easier it would be to forget. The truth was, she did really like Teddy- and the more she thought about, the more aware she became of the fact that she had always really liked Teddy. The knowledge of this was far too intense for Victoire. She knew that things would only end badly if she chose to act upon her feelings any more than she already had.

Getting onto the scarlet Hogwarts Express was a challenge in itself. Even when Victoire had practically no friends, and the lowest self-confidence imaginable, she had never felt this terrible going back to school. In fact, she'd never felt this terrible in general.

Who would she sit with?

After the fall out she'd had with Jenna at the Yule Ball, surely she wouldn't want anything to do with Victoire… and quite rightly.

Teddy was a no-go, as always. It wasn't even worth contemplating the idea of sitting with him, especially not now.

A few weeks ago she would have jumped to sit with Drew- but in light of the fact that he was now her ex-boyfriend, Victoire didn't think it would be the best idea to join him.

And, regardless of how lonely she felt, the company of Millie Boot and her fellow cackling gang of girls would only make Victoire feel worse.

She opted for an empty compartment, near the end of the train.

To her surprise, a rather meek looking Jenna showed her face from behind the glass. She tapped on it gently.

'Can I come in?' she aked, Victoire nodded. Jenna slid the rickety door across and dragged her trunk into the compartment.

'Do you need some help?' asked Victoire shyly, not knowing how Jenna felt about their friendship.

'It's ok,' said Jenna, who looked rather strained as she hauled it into the over head shelf, 'I've got it,' Victoire swallowed.

'Did you have a fun Christmas?' Victoire asked her,

'It was good,' said Jenna, sitting down opposite her, 'I spent some time with Paul's family,'

'Already?' Victoire snapped, without thinking,

'Yes, already,' Jenna retorted. 'We wanted to see each other,'

'Sorry,' Victoire whimpered,

'Did you stay with Drew in the end?' Jenna asked, Victoire shook her head, staring out of the window. There was a lot of explaining to do.

'We broke up,' she said flatly,

'What?!' Jenna exclaimed, 'When?! What?! How?!'

'At the Yule Ball,' Victoire said,

'But you didn't tell me!' Jenna gasped,

'You were angry with me!' Victoire said,

'You should have come to me anyway,' Jenna sighed, 'come here,' she said, pulling her friend into a hug. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' Victoire sighed, 'I'm kind of over it now… it's been a while since it happened,' Jenna gave her an understanding nod,

'Who dumped who?' she asked,

'He dumped me,' Victoire exhaled,

'But you're gorgeous!' Jenna cried, 'he was so in love with you… I don't understand!'

'I guess things changed,' Victoire shrugged,

'Did he give you a reason?' Jenna asked, Victoire felt her stomach turn. He had given her a reason. A reason that had never felt more legitimate than it did now.

'He said I was getting too close to Teddy Lupin,' she sighed,

'What?' Jenna spluttered, 'you mean your Quidditch captain?' Shoot. Victoire had forgotten about Quidditch. How was she meant to deal with practises after what had happened?

'Yeah,' Victoire breathed. The rest of the train ride consisted of an uncomfortable analysis of what Jenna thought of Victoire's relationship with Drew, and a carefully constructed plan in regards to how to get him back. Victoire didn't have the heart to tell Jenna that getting Drew back was the last of her worries.

They arrived at Hogwarts in the dark, as always. A slushy snow remained on the platform of Hogsmeade station, as the calamity of students clambered out of the train.

'There he is,' Jenna hissed into Victoire's ear, pointing towards the boy that, quite frankly, she had no intention of ever speaking to again. Victoire watched Drew as he messed up his own dark hair with his hands, before picking up his trunk. He and his friends bantered together, shoving one another around and laughing as they approached the carriages.

'He looks happy,' Victoire said, feeling silently relieved,

'It's all an act,' Jenna insisted, shaking her head, 'don't worry, I bet he wants you back,'

'No,' Victoire shook his head, 'I think I should just leave him to it,'

'But-' Jenna intercepted,

'If he wants me back, he'll talk to me,' Victoire told her, 'I don't want to go over there and spoil his fun,'

'Fair enough,' Jenna exhaled, 'Paul wants me to share his carriage, do you want to come?' she added, pointing towards a few sixth year boys.

'Sure,' Victoire shrugged, following her friends tracks.

Paul stood up as soon as he saw Jenna approaching, and waved wildly,

'Hey Jenna!' he said, his breath erupting into steam in the sharp air, 'Victoire,' he added, giving Jenna a rather sceptical look. He obviously knew of the fall out the pair of them had had before the Christmas break.

'We're friends,' she hissed under her breath, only just loud enough for Victoire to hear her.

'Right,' Paul nodded. 'Have you met these guys, Victoire?' he asked, Victoire shook her head,

'Not yet,' she said, smiling politely at the boys stood behind Paul.

'This is Henry,' he said, gesturing towards a boy with a pointy face and rectangular glasses, the boy gave a half-hearted wave. Victoire nodded towards him, 'Steve,' he said, tapping a boy with a very short haircut and a broad nose on the shoulder, 'and Jarred' he concluded, pointing at the last boy, who had tanned skin and floppy dark hair.

The ride into school was an awkward one. Jenna and Paul cuddled together as if they hadn't seen each other in months, as Victoire attempted to make strained small talk with Henry, Steve and Jarred.

'So have you been training this holiday?' Steve asked Victoire, trying hard to make things less awkward,

'Oh, yes,' Victoire lied, 'loads,'

'Brilliant,' said Steve, who was also a Gryffindor, 'you better be on top form for the Ravenclaw game next month then,'

'I should be,' Victoire said, with a false smile, 'can't wait to get back out on the pitch,'

'You know- I would try out for the team… but I think I'm too good and it'd be unfair on the other-' Steve began,

'Oh give it a rest, Steve,' Henry and Jarred groaned,

'He's useless,' Jarred scoffed,

'I am not!' Steve demanded,

'You are too,' Henry said flatly, 'even I can get the Quaffle past you,'

'And that's saying something,' Paul interjected,

'Well- well- you've only ever seen me play with the Quaffle,' Steve defended himself, 'you've never seen me play seeker,'

'Come on,' Jarred groaned, 'give up the act, mate,'

'Nah- my dad's friends with the coach of Puddlemere United, and he says I'm the best he's ever seen-'

'He's obviously never seen this one then,' said Jarred, playfully punching Victoire on the arm. Steve crossed his arms,

'Whatever,' he shrugged, looking disgruntled.

Teddy rushed through dinner that evening, eager to get back to his new dormitory and unpack his things. Moving into Xavier's room felt like a truly fresh start- he was ready to reinvent himself at Hogwarts, and shake of the negative image he'd gained himself before Christmas. He had already been ridiculed and shouted at to no end by the boys in his previous dormitory for writing to Professor Greenhaush during the holidays. They simply could not understand why Teddy had the desire to switch dormitories, and appreciated the change even less when they found out he'd be moving in with Xavier Quigley.

Teddy shrugged their insults and derogatory comments- he knew that the rest of his last year at Hogwarts would be far more enjoyable than any of his time before. He and Xavier were some of the first out of the Great Hall that evening, opting to take pudding back to their dormitory with them. Teddy was not only eager to unpack, but also bursting to tell Xavier about New Year's events. Surely he'd have something intelligent to say about it all.

They burst into the dormitory, and simultaneously jumped at the sight that stood before them. A boy with messy dark hair and strange eyes stood in the bedroom that was formerly just Xaviers.

'Er…' said Teddy, 'Hello?'

'Hey,' said the boy flatly, who continued to unpack his trunk.

'What are you doing here?' asked Xavier, 'This is my… our room,'

'I'm new,' the boy said, still not looking at them.

'Oh, have you transferred?' Teddy asked, trying to be friendly, the boy nodded, 'Durmstrang or Beauxbatons?' he continued,

'Neither,' The boy grunted, Teddy threw him a questioning look. 'It's a small school,' he retorted, 'you wont have heard of it,'

'What's it called?' Xavier asked him,

'Dracumarsh,' he said, 'it's in Romania,'

'You're right,' Teddy shook his head, 'never heard of the place,'

'Why come to Hogwarts now?' Xavier looked confused, 'we're almost leaving,'

'I'm sixth year,' he said, 'this was the only dorm with space,'

'Right,' said Teddy, narrowing his eyes,

'So why did you leave that Dracu-whatever place?' Xavier asked, breaking the silence.

'I was expelled,' he said casually,

'Expelled?' Teddy exclaimed, 'for what?'

'I dunno…' the boy grunted, 'Violence or something stupid,' Teddy looked wide-eyed at Xavier,

'Oh… and they let you in to Hogwarts?' he said lightly,

'Yeah,' he shrugged, 'I mean they tried to get me a place at Durmstrang at first- thinking it'd straighten me out… but they were full- so, it's here or nothing,'

'Great story,' said Teddy, silently panicking. He had to share a room with this boy.

'So, you never told us your name,' said Xavier,

'Nathan Flint,' he said, 'Call me Nate,'

'I'm Xavier,' said Xavier, Nate nodded,

'I'm Teddy,' Ted said, Nate snorted,

'Teddy? Are you four?' he laughed. Teddy scowled at him,

'That's funny,' said Teddy, 'you know I've never heard that one… maybe you should write it down,' Nate's face fell.

'I'll show you funny,' he said through gritted teeth, storming towards Teddy, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.

'Woah,' said Teddy backing away, 'cool down mate,' Nate stood still for a second, shaking with anger before finally relaxing,

'Don't get on my bad side,' he said sharply, retreating back to his trunk.

'Sorry,' said Teddy tentatively, before moving towards his own trunk to unpack it.

'Fuck this,' Teddy heard Nate say under his breath, as he carelessly threw school books out of his bag, 'you actually use these here?' he asked them,

'What?' said Xavier, 'Text books?' he asked, 'of course we bloody use them, this is a school!'

'At Dracumarsh the teachers were intelligent enough to not need them,' he spat, 'they knew everything,'

'Well Dracumarsh sounds fucking fabulous,' said Teddy sarcastically, 'have a gold star,' Nate threw Teddy a nasty look.

'I'll soon be out of here,' he muttered darkly, 'I don't need school,'

'How are you planning on getting a job, then?' Xavier retorted smartly,

'Don't get all smart with me,' Nathan growled, 'or I'll get you,' Xavier swallowed hard.

'Come on, mate,' Teddy said firmly, 'this isn't going to work if you keep trying to be such a naughty boy,' he added in a patronising tone, as he touched his shoulder. Nate shrugged him off violently,

'Don't ever touch me again,' he sneered at Teddy, 'or you'll be next.'

Teddy suddenly regretted swapping dormitories.

Joseph Davies had nothing on this guy.


Bit of a plot twist there! Now Nathan Flint's in the mix... let me know what you think! I'm so glad to have the characters back at Hogwarts... this are going to get really exciting... trust me.

Thanks so so much for all your reviews last chapter- and if you have time, I'd love it if you could review again! As always, I read every single one, and I try to PM people who have questions back!

As a side note, I am overwhelmed by the amount of help and support I have been offered by you all- I feel bad for bringing my personal life into my last authors note- but the reaction I have gotten has been unreal. It's a real privilege to have such excellent people offering their guidance to me, and I give you all my greatest thanks. I couldn't wish for better readers.

Lots and lots of love to all of you darlings,

Em x