A/N: Okay! Here's the next chapter . . . I just hope that you guys don't hate me at the end of it ;)
And stay to the end for my A/N
Warning: A bit of violence in this chapter. It's not gory or anything but this is rated T so I thought that I'd let y'all know.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. JKR owns all!
Can't Catch a Break
Victoire had stood near Xavier for a good five minutes as she tried to see where Teddy had gone. Only after Xavier's entreaties that they go back to where the rest of their friends were no doubt sitting, did Victoire stop her persistent search. Xavier's words had been right, when they found their friends they were all accounted for and sitting 'round a table. Xavier sat down next to Ally and quickly grabbed her hand. She raised an eyebrow at him and silently asked him a question.
Xavier rubbed his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand as he answered, "Crisis averted."
Ally smiled brightly and they sat their staring into each other eyes. Victoire mimed vomiting and sat down in-between Ally and Sandra. One of Kyle's long arms was resting across his girlfriend's shoulder. So when Victoire sat down next to Sandra, he reached out and lightly ran his fingers across her bare shoulder.
Victoire shivered and slapped his hand away playfully, "You're really touchy-feely tonight. I don't know whether to laugh good-naturedly or be disturbed."
"You should definitely be disturbed," Sandra said as she looked at Kyle and ran a hand down his cheek.
"Yet you love me anyway," Kyle commented, giving Sandra a quick kiss on the lips.
Victoire's eyes widened and she began to gag again.
Ally, Xavier, Kyle, and Sandra all rolled their eyes, "Okay Victoire we get it. You don't have to keep pretending to vomit."
She stood up quickly and placed her hand over her mouth, "I'm not pretending."
Victoire didn't even have time to listen to her friends' responses before running out of the Great Hall and to the nearest lavatory. She entered the closest stall and proceeded to vomit. After she was finished (and after a few minutes of dry heaving) she sat down on the floor of the stall, and laid her head against the stall wall. After a minute or two of silence, she heard people enter the lavatory.
"Victoire?"
"Vic?"
Victoire took a deep breath but didn't answer. She took another minute to collect herself, and then stood up and walked out of the stall. Standing in front of the sinks and the mirrors -with extremely worried expressions on their faces- were Ally and Sandra.
Ally stepped forward, grabbed Victoire's hand, and squeezed it gently. Sandra grabbed the other and asked, "Eleven-thirty heave?"
Victoire nodded and sighed, "Like clock-work. Bloody Manticore venom."
Ally and Sandra smiled slightly at her expression and let go of Victoire's hands. She moved to the closest sink and turned the water on. After she washed her hands and splashed some water on her face, she looked up at the mirror in front of her. There were red circles under her eyes, her face looked gaunt and pallid, and her skin was still slightly sticky from the sweat she had broken when she regurgitated. Well don't I just look gorgeous? I need to remember to tell Xavier about this. I found the one thing that I can do and actually look horrible after. I guess Veela magic doesn't actually cover everything.
When Victoire pulled her gaze away from her face and looked at the wider image in the mirror she groaned, "Ugh, Merlin! Look at my hair!"
Even though she usually didn't care about how she looked, Victoire was unhappy with what she saw in the mirror. Her blonde hair (which had been in beautiful curls at the beginning of the night) hung limp and wavy, all traces of the ringlets gone. Her large gold barrette was askew on the side of her head, and the hair on the side of her head that she had lent against the wall of the stall was completely flat.
"Dom's going to kill me," Victoire lamented as she pulled the gold barrette out of her hair and tried to figure out how to fix the flat side of her head.
Sandra came up behind Victoire, took the barrette out of her hand, and begun to set her hair, "Don't worry Vic. I don't think Dom's going to come up for air long enough to notice how your hair's fallen."
Victoire gave her best mate a puzzled look, "What?"
Ally giggled and conjured up a glass of water so Victoire could clean her mouth out, "When we left the Great Hall her mouth was plastered to Valentin's."
Victoire sighed again, but this time at her sister's fickleness, "She's really not helping him with his shyness. I bet she'll have made out with at least two other people before the night is out."
"Well if she can get it, more power to her," Sandra said as she finished setting Victoire's hair. She had combed through it as best as she could with her fingers, and changed the part slightly so that the hair fell more naturally on Victoire's bare shoulders. In addition, she had adjusted the barrette so that it actually held some of Victoire's hair back on the side -instead of just being used for decoration in her hair, as it was when Dom had put it in her hair earlier.
"How's that?"
Victoire smiled, her hair looked a lot less like a mess now, "Perfect. Thank-you Sandy."
Sandra smiled brightly.
"Everything okay in here?"
Victoire and her friends turned around, and she was surprised to see Jilly Donaldson standing in the lavatory wearing her dark Auror's robes.
Victoire nodded her head, "Yeah, just my regular vomiting schedule."
Jilly smiled sympathetically, "Alright then. The Ball's going to continue for another few hours, but if you're tired I could always find someone to escort you back to your dormitory."
Victoire shook her head slowly, "No, I should probably stay at least a little longer or else I'm going to be labelled as one lame Tri-Wizard champion."
Jilly nodded, "Okay. Well if you do choose to leave before the Ball is over, I thought that I'd tell you that Ted and Kurt are patrolling the outer courtyard for the rest of the night. It's not a very difficult task, so one of them could always walk you back to Gryffindor Tower."
Victoire was certain that Jilly's intention to share this information with her wasn't just so she'd know where to go to get an escort back to her room. Jilly nodded her head once more to the girls' before leaving them to themselves.
Ally turned to Victoire and looked at her sympathetically, "We'd understand if you wanted to leave and go find Teddy."
Victoire ran a hand through her hair, "Yeah, maybe later. I should probably spend a bit more time at the Ball though."
Ally nodded and the three girls left the lavatory and went back into the Great Hall. None of the boys asked about what had happened when the girls came back; they knew better to ask while Victoire was around. Therefore, Xavier planned to ask Ally the next time they were alone, and Kyle was going to ask Sandra when they danced next.
They group of six friends talked about nothing in particular for the next several songs. Kyle had just made everyone laugh by telling them that he felt bad for not buying Colton Knott a Christmas gift after they had kissed a week ago, when Victoire really felt her tiredness starting to weigh her down. She stood up and told everyone that she was going to call it a night, and said good night to everyone. She thanked Chris profusely for being her 'date', and walked away from the table.
She really was going to go back to the tower, but she had decided to listen to Jilly's advice and find Teddy first before she went to bed. She had exited the Great Hall and walked up the staircase that she had worried about going down earlier in the night, and was in the Entrance Hall.
If she went to the right, she would be going to the moving staircases, if she went to the left, she would be going out to the courtyard. For the Yule Ball, Professor Longbottom had created a small but beautiful winter garden space out of a series of evergreen hedges and other Christmas plants such as poinsettias and holly bushes, in the courtyard. From what Victoire and her friends had seen earlier in the day, the hedges and other plants were set up almost in a miniature labyrinth. If a person followed the path for a minute or two, they would end up in the large circular shaped heart of the labyrinth where a huge stone bench sat.
Victoire was about to move to the right (and go out into the garden) when she heard her voice being called from behind her. She stopped where she was and turned around. A surprised look came upon her face when she saw Chris coming up to her.
"Is everything okay?" Victoire asked suddenly worried that something had happened.
"What? Oh, everything's fine. A slow song came on so everyone paired up and went to dance," Chris told her.
Victoire looked down at her feet guiltily. She felt bad about pretty much ditching Chris -who had so gallantly agreed to be her escort- so early in on the night. However, she actually wasn't feeling very well and she was only going to say a quick 'hello/goodbye' to Teddy before going up to her dormitory.
"I'm sorry Chris. I know it's awkward to be the odd one out, but I really don't feel well. However, feel free to go ask someone else to dance. Trust me, I don't mind," Victoire told him diplomatically.
Chris put his hands in his pockets and shook his sandy-blonde fringe out of his eyes, "I don't want to dance with anyone else."
Victoire looked at him, "Oh, how stupid of me. I forgot that Belle went home for Christmas holidays."
Chris looked at his feet, "Well . . . yes. But that's not what I meant."
Victoire looked at Chris oddly. She was very tired and she didn't have much patience left to play guessing games, "Uh . . ."
Chris didn't need Victoire to answer him back however, because he continued with a new -in Victoire's mind, unconnected- question, "Vic, do you ever feel odd being the odd one out? I mean in our group of friends. I know that Xavier and Ally didn't officially get together until two weeks ago, but we all knew that it was going to happen. So I want to know how you feel about being the single one."
Oh yeah. I never did tell Chris about Teddy and I dating. Aw, it's so sweet that he's worried that I feel left out because all of them have someone special in their lives. Well, I know that Teddy and I weren't going to tell many other people, but maybe telling Chris won't be bad, he does seem to be worried about me . . . Victoire thought.
"Well actually Chris-" Victoire's explanation was cut off quickly by Chris' next sentences.
"Because if you do feel lonely, I know how you feel. But maybe the fact that we're the two odd ones out isn't a bad thing. Maybe Ally and Xavier pairing off was foreshadowing something else. Maybe we're supposed to be the next ones to pair off."
Victoire's mouth popped open wide, did he just say-
It seemed as though Chris was cutting off even Victoire's thought process tonight. Only this time it was his lips, not his words, which stopped her. As he clumsily connected them to hers.
Victoire hadn't realized that she was close to a wall until she felt Chris gently push her back to it until she was trapped against it. He pushed his mouth hard against hers, and it seemed like he was trying to get a favourable response.
Victoire had been so shocked by his actions and words that she was stupefied for a moment, before she realized exactly what was going on. When her senses came back to her she moved her head away from Chris' lips and pushed gently, yet forcefully, against his chest.
Once he was off of her Victoire started in, "What the bloody Hell Chris? What in Merlin's pants do you think you're doing?!"
Chris narrowed his eyes at her, "What the Hell? Vic you practically begged me to be your date for the Ball, you danced with me all night, and you've been receptive to every single signal that I've sent you tonight!"
"What bloody signals?" Victoire asked trying not to get too angry, maybe this is just a really, really, REALLY, big misunderstanding.
"I got you something to drink, I held you while we danced, heck! I even put my arm around you when we were sitting at the table earlier!"
Victoire's eyes widened. She briefly remembered Chris doing all those things earlier in the night, but she never for one second thought that he was doing it for any other reason than the fact that they were friends and that he was her escort to the Ball. As for him maybe getting touchy-feely, she usually didn't notice things like that as strange when her friends were doing it. Kyle had been jokingly touching her all night.
Victoire decided to try to fix whatever was going on, "Listen Chris, I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea-"
"Oh, no!" Chris started looking very angry, "You are not going to give me some-some line Victoire! You've been encouraging me all night and now you've decided that you're just not going to go through with it. Nuh, uh, that's not going to fly. So listen Victoire, I like you a lot-"
"But what about Belle Wembley?" Victoire asked feeling as though she were grasping at straws.
Chris laughed humourlessly, "Oh, she's a nice girl and all, but you have to know that no girl's ever going to compare to you Vic. You're every bloke's dream. You're smart, funny, talented, feisty, and sexy as hell."
Victoire felt like she wanted to scream. The only person she enjoyed complimenting her like that was Teddy. When Chris described what he found attractive about her, she just felt horrid.
"'Sexy as hell'?" She repeated his words, "Chris . . . I don't think that you've thought this through. Yes, I'm prettier than Belle is, but that's just in the conventional way, and it's just the Veela magic! She's definitely much nicer (you know I have a wicked temper) -and she's a Ravenclaw so she probably smarter- and-"
The look of determination on Chris' face caused Victoire's words to become stuck in her throat, "Stop talking to me about Belle! The only reason I was flirting with her was because I thought that you were out of my reach. Even then I was waiting for you to see what was right in front of you!"
"Chris!" Victoire started shocked.
"Don't 'Chris' me Victoire! We've known each other for seven years and I've stood by quietly while you dated and kissed and flirted with all of those other blokes. But now it's my turn! Sandra and Kyle act as though they're practically engaged, and Ally and Xavier have only been dating for two weeks but they're still acting like they're soul mates. It's my turn. With you. We're the only ones left in our group who are alone. This step would make sense Victoire!" Chris tried to reason with her.
Victoire's hands went to grab her hair, (if she hadn't been so stressed about her current situation, she would have found it humorous that she was displaying the same nervous tick Teddy did when he was stressed), and took a deep breath. She spoke to Chris in slow, calm, and collected sentences, "Chris. I'm sorry; I didn't know that you felt this way. But I can't- I don't and I can't see you in that way. I'm sorry if you think that I led you on-"
"If I think that you led me on?" Chris repeated angrily, "You laughed at my jokes, you sat near me in class, you flirted with me every time we spoke, and you expect me to believe that you didn't do that on purpose? That it was just your Veela magic? That you were doing it unconsciously? That you don't have an interest in me whatsoever?"
Victoire swallowed thickly. When he laid everything out like that, she couldn't blame him for thinking that she had a thing for him. Realizing her mistakes wasn't going to change her answer though, "Chris I'm so, so terribly sorry. I-I didn't mean to make you feel this way. I'm sorry."
Chris' eyes calmed a bit but his face was still hard and angry, "Well, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?"
Victoire looked at him puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Chris took a step closer to Victoire. She consequently, took a step back; causing her back to become pressed against the cold stone of the wall behind her again, "What I mean is Victoire. Now you know how I feel, so what are we going to do about it? Everybody else is paired up, why can't we give it a try?"
Chris had moved forward and had begun to stroke her cheek gently with his fingertips. It bothered Victoire so she grabbed his arm to stop him, "Chris, I'm sorry, but I don't feel that way about you."
"I didn't say that you had to feel that way about me Vic. I'm a man who's confident enough in his own abilities to say that if you give me the chance I'm sure that I could make you feel the way I do. Even if it does take time," Chris said, his face finally softening.
Victoire gulped, "Chris I-"
Chris had gotten tired of Victoire's excuses. He placed both of his hands on the wall on either side of her head and crashed his lips down onto hers. Victoire's eyes widened again and she tried to push him off of her as she did earlier. Chris wasn't having it this time though, he was certain that once Victoire was able to get past the initial shock, that she would come around very favourably.
Victoire was pushing and pushing against him but all to no avail. She was a second away from trying to scream when she suddenly felt they press of Chris' body and lips leave hers. As soon as the pressure was gone, Victoire's knees gave out and her back slid down the stonewall. She was breathing heavily. When she looked up, she was surprised to see whom her rescuer was.
Kyle was standing a bit of a distance away, he had Chris pushed up against the wall and was currently arguing with him harshly.
"Kyle!" Victoire exclaimed shocked. He was giving Chris a murderous look, yet Victoire would usually swear that he was the most easy-going and non-violent man that she knew.
Kyle let go of Chris when he heard Victoire call out to him. Chris ended up sliding down the wall (a lot less gracefully than Victoire had) and was floundering around on the floor. Kyle barely spared him a glance before pacing the short distance over to Victoire, helping her up, and enfolding her into him arms.
Victoire didn't realize that there were tears falling from her eyes until she heard Kyle quietly whispering to her not to cry, and that Chris wasn't worth her messing up her pretty little face with tears.
"It's okay Vic. It's okay. I'm here. You're alright . . . you are okay, aren't you?" Kyle asked his eyes suddenly flashing with hate. He thought that he had just walked in on Chris trying to get Victoire to kiss him. However, Victoire's tears were starting to make him wonder if Chris had tried something worse before he'd shown up.
Victoire nodded into Kyle's silk dress robe clad chest, "I'm fine. He was just ki-kissing me."
Kyle silently thanked Merlin that Chris hadn't laid a literal hand on her. Victoire turned her gaze from the black fabric of Kyle's dress robes, to where Chris was on the floor trying to stand up. His legs weren't cooperating with him -it almost looked like there were no bones left in them- he was all floppy.
"Jelly-legs jinx?" Victoire asked Kyle, a slight smile forming on her lips despite the fact that she felt like she could still cry for a while.
Kyle smirked self-confidently, "Yup."
Victoire looked back to Kyle, "What were you doing out here?"
"I was dancing with Sandra, and looked back at our table and saw that Chris was gone. I mentioned my observations aloud and she said that he probably just left to find someone to dance with because we'd left him alone. I had a funny feeling about him leaving so soon after you'd left. Something just didn't feel right. Intuition I guess. So I told Sandra that I had to go do something, and I came out here and saw that Chris had you backed up against the wall and was kissing you," Kyle explained.
Victoire swallowed thickly, "He was trying to convince me that we should be together because all of you were together."
Kyle laughed humourlessly, "That might have been part of his motives, but it wasn't all of it. Chris has had a secret crush on you for the past year at least."
Victoire looked at Kyle open mouthed, "What- but- you knew?"
Kyle sighed, he was angry with himself for not mentioning Chris' crush before. He didn't think that Chris' 'innocent little crush' on Victoire would go this far, "I'm so sorry Vic. I didn't think that it would get this far. I thought it was more of a little crush than an infatuation. Although that was why he wasn't on my original list of possible candidates for you for a date, I knew that he wouldn't see this as an unattached date."
"If you knew that Chris liked me, why didn't you tell me when I asked him to be my date?" Victoire asked.
Kyle shook his head, "I couldn't just come out and tell you. He didn't even know that I knew."
"Then how did you know?"
"Xavier sleeps like the dead, and so do our other dorm mates. I'm always the first person to wake in the mornings, and Chris talks in his sleep," Kyle clarified.
"How could you get that he fancied me out of his sleep-talking?"
"I got curious the first couple of times I heard his say your name. Then he started saying more . . . things . . . and I deduced that he had the hots for."
Victoire sighed and closed her eyes, "Godric can tonight get any worse?"
Kyle patted her shoulder comfortingly, "You should probably go find Ted, and then have him walk you to Gryffindor tower."
Victoire usually argued when someone insisted that she had a person escort her to wherever she was going too. However, taking into account what just happened between her and Chris, she figured that Kyle's suggestion was a good one.
"Weasley! Line! What's going on out here?"
Victoire and Kyle turned and saw Colton Knott coming towards him. He was wearing a set of silver and green dress robes and Anastasia Greengrass (who was being dragged behind him by her hand) was wearing a strapless A-line floor length dress in a matching green. Victoire assumed that Colton and Anastasia had been enjoying themselves at the ball, but the look on Colton's face now screamed 'business' as he approached them. Obviously this Head Boy was about to get into his element.
"What's going on here?" Colton repeated as he looked from Victoire and Kyle, to Chris who was still struggling to stand quite a distance away from them.
Kyle smiled brightly, "I'm not entirely sure myself Colton. Vic, Chris, and I were just chatting, and the next thing we know Chris is acting as if he's been hit with a jelly-legs jinx. There was no one else around, so I assume that it was some sort of timed practical joke. Unless you've seen someone suspicious around?"
Colton eyed Kyle warily. He didn't have any reason to believe that Kyle had lied to him, but the look on his face scared him. It was the same 'poker-face' he'd put on before he'd kissed him two weeks ago to break the mistletoe's enchantment.
"No, I haven't seen anybody."
Kyle nodded, "Alright then, I guess it's still a mystery. However, now that you're here, would you help me get Chris to the Hospital Wing? It seems that whatever happened to Chris, the jinx was locked and the counter-curse won't work."
Victoire bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Kyle definitely gave Chris a good jinx if he made sure that it was impossible to use the regular counter-curse.
"Can't Victoire help you?" Colton asked derisively.
Kyle laughed good-naturedly, "She was ill a little while ago. Therefore, I had suggested that she go out and get some fresh air from Professor Longbottom's winter garden. That's actually, where we were going before Chris was cursed. I still think she should get some air, so if you would be so kind Mr Head Boy?"
Colton sighed but nodded his head. He told Anastasia to go back into the Great Hall, and then walked over to where Chris was floundering on the ground.
Kyle mumbled something under his breath about how he didn't want to help Chris when he was the one who cursed him, but turned to Victoire with a smile, "Go get some air. Colton and I will deal with Chris."
Victoire smiled and hugged Kyle, "Thanks . . . you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"Vic, I don't know if I can keep something like this from them. I tell Sandra absolutely everything, and Xavier's my best mate . . ." Kyle began.
Victoire sighed, "Please? Tomorrow's Christmas, I don't want to worry them over the holidays. I promise that I'll tell them all soon. I can't keep promises from them very well either, but please, let me tell them when I think the time is right."
Kyle exhaled, "Fine. Now go."
Victoire smiled as Kyle gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. He watched her as she walked out into the temporary gardens in the courtyard.
The fresh, cold air was revitalizing to Victoire. As she scanned the gardens that Professor Longbottom created, she smiled slightly. The large evergreen hedges that created the labyrinth were everywhere, and just a few metres in front of her, between two large white poinsettias, was what she took for the entrance. A quick scan of the area around her showed neither Teddy nor Kurt anywhere to be found at the front of the labyrinth. So, she decided to take a walk through the hedges until she found one of them (preferably Teddy).
A few steps into the labyrinth, Victoire noticed that even though there was snow on the ground, the air around her was rather warm. Higher above her head she recognized the telltale sign of large-scale heating charms. The charms were exceptionally done, considering that the snow on the ground was still intact, so Victoire figured that Professor Flitwick must have aided Professor Longbottom in making the garden. Victoire walked through the winding labyrinth slowly, she wanted to see Teddy, but on the other hand, she was very nervous. She knew that no matter what look she plastered on her face he'd be able to see right through it in an instant. He'd quickly know that something had occurred and upset her.
As she tried to figure out exactly how she would explain to Teddy about what Chris had done to her, she heard a crisp crack of a twig from somewhere behind her. Victoire turned around and frowned at what she saw.
"Please Austin . . . I'm really not in the mood tonight," Victoire said as she faced Austin Pennington. He must have been at the Ball, and decided to come outside to get some air because he was wearing a rich-looking pair of navy-blue dress robes.
Pennington didn't respond. He just paced closer and closer until he was a foot away from Victoire.
Her eyes widened in surprise and she took a few steps back to put some distance between them. Her hands came up as she moved, "C'mon Austin, we've discussed this before. I like my own space, and I do not want you in it."
Pennington continued to walk toward her in silence. Victoire had stepped back as far as she could until she felt the scratch of an evergreen hedge against her. She didn't need to look back to confirm that she'd just backed herself up against the wall of the labyrinth.
Victoire chose to ignore the tingling of fear that erupted within her. This was Austin Pennington she was facing; he might have been creepy and annoying, but she wasn't scared of him. She never was before, and she didn't plan to start then, no matter how incredibly peculiar he was being.
"Seriously Austin. Just leave me alone before I do something that you'll regret," Victoire warned in a steady voice.
Pennington was suddenly so close to her that his hands shot forward and grabbed Victoire's wrists. He moved them until they were up above her head, and pressed his body against hers. His face was only a few inches away when he taunted her in a rough and scratchy voice, "And how are you going to do something to me? You don't even have a wand."
Victoire was startled. She wasn't sure what surprised her the most, the fact that his voice was so . . . unusual, or the fact that he could tell that she didn't have a wand on her. Victoire was also inwardly cursing herself.
Why didn't I figure out some way to keep my wand on me and wear this dress? Why didn't I make sure to bring my wand tonight?
"It seems that you're at my mercy. And trust me this is going to be interesting." The wicked glint in Pennington's dark as night eyes truly frightened Victoire. He had exasperated and aggravated her to no end before, but right now, he was actually frightening her.
"Austin please, you know this is inappropriate. Trying to spike my morning pumpkin juice with a love potion is one thing, but right now you're actually forcing yourself on me!" Victoire tried to reason with him. He may be crazy, but he wasn't insane or stupid, he was a Ravenclaw after all.
Pennington's face twisted into a truly evil smirk, "Tsk, tsk little girl. You think this is about some little commonplace physical attraction. You have no idea what this is about, nor do you understand what you've gotten yourself into."
Victoire -who had been struggling to get her hands free from Pennington's grip- suddenly stopped all of her movement. What in the name of Merlin's bloody pants, is he nattering about?
"What the bloody Hell Pennington? Have you lost your-" Victoire's yelling was cut off. Pennington moved his grip on Victoire's wrists into one large hand, and then moved his free hand to cover Victoire's mouth. The rest of her flabbergasted exclamation was muffled by Pennington's large palm.
Victoire's eyes were wide and Pennington whispered to her harshly, "Be quiet you bint! What? Do you want people to hear us?"
Victoire glared at him harshly and then bit his hand. He growled out a string of swear words, removed his hand from her mouth, and then quickly grabbed his hand and waved it sharply. He stared at Victoire and tauntingly eyed her, "There, make all the sound you want now, no one will be able to hear you. Scream your lungs out it will make no difference. No one will be able to hear you through the muffling charm I've casted."
Victoire's ocean-blue eyes widened in shock before they narrowed at him. He still had her pressed against the hedge and one of his large hands trapped both of her small ones, "Let me go!"
Pennington moved his hand up and trailed the end of his wand down the curve of Victoire's cheek, "Oh Honey, you actually think that I'm going to let you go? That's not how we operate."
Part of Victoire's mind noticed that Austin had used the word 'we' when he spoke, but the larger part of her mind was stuck on the callous tone of voice he used. She had never, ever, heard him use that tone of voice, "What the Hell is wrong with you?"
Pennington seemed to use up all of his patience; he put his wand into the pocket of his dress robes and raised his hand to Victoire's face. He gently ran his fingers across her cheek before moving his hand again and slapping her across the face, "Stop being such a brat and just shut your mouth. I'm in charge here and you're not to do any questioning, understand?"
Victoire's body didn't even register the pain of the slap. She couldn't. The shock of what had just happened was so strong that it left her numb. She stared at Pennington for a good two minutes out of shock and disbelief before the pain decided to set in. When it did, she began to swear profusely in a mixture of English and French. After a particularly lengthy string of choice French swear words, aimed specifically at Pennington, he glared at her and swore back at her in French.
Victoire was stunned again; she didn't think that he'd be able to understand her French cussing out, let alone know which words to use back at her.
He looked back at her with a smirk, "That's right Princess, I understood everything you just said. None of your little mumbles to yourself in another language is a secret. So if you want just go ahead and speak your mind, as long as you don't ask any stupid questions."
She glared at him, "Fine I won't ask a question. I'll tell you something. You can go ahead and intimidate me or slap me, or whatever you want to do with me; but if you think that you're going to scare me enough that I won't tell anyone what happened you're dead wrong. You picked the wrong girl to mess with. I may not be able to get back at you right now, but I've got connections and there's no way you're not going to pay for this."
Pennington laughed, it was very deep, gruff, and it sounded wrong to her ears, "That's so cute. You think that this is something that's just going to go away. Now let me tell you something-" The hand that he had grasped around her wrists pushed them deeper into the foliage.
Victoire's hands were 'tied' yet a good amount of her hand ended up being higher than the hedge that was behind her when they were stretched out. She could feel the air against her fingertips, and got an idea. As Pennington began to talk more (She thought that he was complaining about her but she didn't really pay much attention) she closed her eyes and concentrated. She didn't have her wand on her, but she tried to push all of her magical energy and anger into her fingertips.
"Look at me!" Pennington ordered her harshly.
Victoire opened her eyes slowly as she lost concentration from his sudden demand. She stared at Pennington evenly.
He was staring back at her with his teeth barred, "You will listen and look at me when I'm speaking to you, understand?"
Victoire stared at him in disbelief.
The look she gave him seemed to anger him even more. Victoire's eyes watched his face intently. It looked like he was shaking with anger.
Wait? His face is actually shaking . . . no, not shaking . . . flickering? His face is flickering -it's not staying in place. Is his face . . . is his face dissolving?
Victoire had been staring fixedly at Pennington's face, it was hard to see in the dark, but it was almost as if his facial features were flickering.
However, it seemed as though he didn't like the fact that she was looking at him, but obviously not listening. He raised his hand again and slapped her across the face on the same cheek as before.
Victoire closed her eyes to the pain, and channelled all of her anger from the slap and all of the power she could muster into her trapped hands and fingertips.
It only took a few seconds for a response.
Victoire's eyes were still closed, so she was surprised when she felt Pennington's body and grip leave her. For the second time that night, she felt her body slid down a wall and crumple onto a floor, this time it was in the labyrinth. Her ears were buzzing and she couldn't specifically pick out the words and sounds that were being yelled around her. She didn't notice anything until she felt a pair of warm and strong arms come around her. They offered her a cover of warmth, comfort, and familiarity. She should have been sensitive to someone enveloping her so completely in their arms, but she recognized them the moment that they touched her.
The buzzing in her ears slowly lessened and she was finally able to make out the words that were being whispered into her ear, "Shhh Vic. Everything's okay. Everything's going to be all right Sweetheart. You're fine, you're fine."
It wasn't until Victoire opened her eyes that she realized that she was crying. Her eyes had to take a minute to focus before they locked in on the pair of deep sapphire blue eyes that were looking intently at her.
Teddy was looking at her with such worry in his face that she felt the tears begin to pool in her eyes and fall down her face again. She let out a low sob, threw her arms around his neck, and then buried her face into the crook of his neck. She could feel herself being lifted up and being carried a short distance in his muscular arms. When she felt him stop moving she also felt him sit down on something, and cradle her into his lap.
Teddy whispered gently into her ear until she opened her eyes and looked at him. Once her eyes had dried up a bit, he began, "What happened Vic?"
Victoire took a deep breath but she wanted answers first, "Why are you here with me? Where'd Austin go? Did you just let him go?"
Teddy placed a hand on the back of her neck and gently rubbed his thumb against it, "Shhh. Calm down. I wouldn't just let him go after doing -whatever he did- to you. However, I couldn't just leave you there by yourself either. When we saw what was happening, and after we a Revulsion jinx to get him off you, he ran. Kurt went after him and I stayed behind to make sure that you were okay. Don't worry, Kurt will get him, he wasn't that far behind."
Victoire nodded woodenly and placed her head into the crook of his neck again. Teddy moved his hands and ran them up and down her bare arms, "Please Vic. Tell me what happened."
"I was coming to find you. I had decided to leave the Ball early and I wanted to see you before I went to bed. I was looking for you in the labyrinth when I heard the crack of a twig. I turned around and saw Austin. I told him that I wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever he wanted, but he kept walking towards me until he had me backed up against the hedge. He began to say things that I didn't quite understand. Stuff about how I'm in over my head and how what he wanted from me had nothing to do with a commonplace physical attraction. I couldn't get much more out of him; he wasn't making much sense. How'd you find me?"
"Kurt and I saw your hands above the hedge. You used your Veela powers to light your hands on fire, didn't you?"
Victoire nodded, "I didn't have my wand on me because I didn't think to bring it with me to the Ball, and Austin said that he cast a spell that wouldn't allow you to hear me if I screamed, so it was my only option."
Teddy looked at Victoire closely before slowly raising his hand to her cheek. He didn't touch it, but Victoire could feel the warmth of his fingers ghost across her skin, "Did he hit you?"
Victoire bit her lip, "Yes. Twice. He didn't want me to ask questions and then he wanted to look and listen to him when he was speaking."
Teddy's hand curled into a tight fist and his dark blue eyes blazed with anger, "I can't believe that he hit you."
"I can't either," Victoire said quietly. Tears began to cloud up her eyes again. He saw that she was about to break down and cupped he cupped her cheeks gently.
"You're okay Victoire," he told her softly again.
Victoire looked at him determinedly, "I know. But Teddy, hitting me isn't something Austin would do. He's and prat and an arsehole but he wouldn't hit a girl."
"What are you getting at Vic?" Teddy asked puzzled now.
"I don't think that that man was Austin Pennington," Victoire said explicitly.
"But-"
Teddy was cut off by Kurt's arrival. Kurt Williamson had come running around the closest hedge and stopped when he saw Teddy and Victoire sitting on the bench. He braced his hands on his knees and took several deep lungful's of breath.
Teddy looked at Kurt intently, "Where is he?"
Kurt -who was still breathing heavily- answered irritably, "I was about a foot away from him when he suddenly turned on the spot and disapparated! I don't know how the hell a seventeen-year-old would be able to somehow break through Hogwarts' anti-disapparation charms but he did."
Teddy was shocked at this information. He looked down at Victoire who was still in his arms.
She stared right back at him, "I stand by what I said."
Teddy peeled his eyes away from her to look at Kurt; he was standing there looking at him expectantly. His facial expression was clearly asking what he thought their next step should be.
Teddy took a deep breath before answering Kurt's silent question, "We need to go speak to Kingsley."
Okay, well I hope you guys enjoyed that!
A/N: I know, I know. Vic just can't stay out of trouble. I guess it's a good thing that she can think on her feet and that Kyle was there to help. I had given you a few chapters of normality, but you guys can't tell me that you didn't expect something bad to happen to her? This was a party after all, and there are more reasons why she hates parties besides the fact that she is always the centre of attention.
Some of you had asked me previously about when I mentioned that Kyle's parents never went to Hogwarts even though that were both purebloods so I thought that I'd explain. Kyle's mom attended Beauxbatons as a child. She wasn't French, but her family that thought that she could learn more 'lady-like skills' from the French school. Kyle's father was actually homeschooled, or home-tutored. His (Kyle's father) parents didn't want him to get caught up with all of the pureblood mania that was actually still presnet even a few years after Voldemorts fall (I estimate Kyle's parents to be older than Harry and the gang, more Bill and Charlie's age, so they would have been a few years old when Voldemort attacked the Potters). And because Kyle's father was home schooled he was able to go with his father to different countries while he was on his buisness trips, giving Kyle's fatehr first hand experience with the company he was about to inheirit. Because he was going to take his father's company after him, he didn't really need the exact formal education of Hogwarts. Though, Kyle's father was allowed to take the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s because his parents had pulled some string so he wouldn't be disadvantaged compared to other students who went to Hogwarts :)
Anyway, thank you to everyone who has reviewed / followed / favourited / read / and just enjoyed my story.
Next week: Teddy takes the lead and we see what Kingsley has to say about this whole incident.
New topic: Okay while I was writing a few chapters ahead of this one, I had to go back into some of my past chapters to get a fact about something that I'd written (nothing big, just something I couldn't remember) and looking back on my writing made me think. It's been a year and a bit since I started writing this, and even in that (relatively short) amount of time I've noticed that my writing style has improved (as it would after practice). Looking back on my previous chapters I was struck with the spelling and grammar mistakes that I saw. It wasn't much as compared to other fics I've read, but I'm sort of a perfectionsit.
Anyway, long story short I've decided to take the next bit of time to go through my previous chapters and adjust them. Fix spelling mistakes that I find, grammar errors, and in some places make it flow a bit better. I'm not going to change any of the major or even the minor parts of the stroy, I'm just going to make it easier and better to read. So, I'm not sure what's going to happen with the website, but if you guys get lots of e-mails saying that I've replaced a chapter that I've already written, well you'll know what I've done. You can ignore them if you like (that is if you get them) or you can re-read them if you like. I just thought I'd let you know that I wasn't doing any major changes with the story, and that you don't have to read them.
Ending: And a BIG HUGE THANK-YOU to everyone who reviewed, especially:
nifflerstorm17008, trustxbelieve, RoonilFreakin'Wazlib, AzNeRd, LiveLovePotter, RoLouG, brilliant incandescence, marmar8089, wish right now x, Owlcity2013, As the Robin Flies, MuggleCreator, PotterLover25, darling-everythingsonfire-x, confusednikki24-7, Diamondgirl3, EsaRavenclaw, HopeLoveDreams, xSuperNovax, YukiLovestoWrite, Guest, potterhead1997, xXSectumsemperaXx, XoxMountainGirlxoX, and Dance Elle Dance.
nifflerstorm17008: What? Awesome! What did you go see?
AzNeRd: There was some Veela fire in this one . . . not how you wanted it, but it was helpful . . . ;)
LiveLovePotter: Your review made me laugh because you weren't the first person to want some Veela fire to go against Pamela. I find it funny how my readers hate my charcaters so much that they want them physically hurt. I think it means that I was writting them properly. :)
wish right now x: Thank you. And. I'm jealous. What did you go see?
Owlcity2013: Thank you. And especially thank you for all of the reviews of the previous chapters. I know I didn't answer them, I would have today if you hadn't reviewed for this last chapter, but since you reviewed here, I thought I'd answer you here like with all of the others.
YukiLovestoWrite: I'm not sure if she has a heart. But she is actually a very couregeous person. She's not afriad of anything. That is because she's not very smart though, which is an example of why she's not in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, and as for being nice and accepting in Hufflepuff . . . well Gryffindor might have been the only place that would take her ;)
Guest: I'm going to try to anwser everything briefly. Okay, so yes, this is going to be long. I didn't really expect it to be when I started but it is because my charcaters just like to get in the way with all of their drama. I'm expecting the second half to move faster than the first, because as of now I have multiple storylines that don't seem to connect at all. And, as any (I consider myself an okay one) author would know, you can't have a bunch of endless story lines in one story. So the second half will move fatser when everything starts to connect, and by the end (if you stay that long) you will see that even the chapters that didn't seem to have importance in the beginning, were there for a reason by the end. And don't feel bad, because you're not the first person to ask me the same questions. :)
