Year 3: Friend Like You

Chapter 23: November 2013

The next morning, Victoire was a disaster. She awoke long before anyone else so that she could take a long shower, and by the time Kara and Brianna found her an hour and a half later, she was sitting in front of a mirror in the bathroom, trying out every hairdo imaginable.

"Victoire, calm down," Brianna said. "It's not that big a deal."

"Easy for you to say," Victoire muttered as she pinned her hair into an elaborate up-do.

"Just wear it down," Kara said. "Otherwise you look like you're trying."

"Okay," Victoire said, pulling the pins out and letting her hair fall back down, still perfectly straight. "What should I wear? I was thinking maybe my purple sweater…"

"Wear your robes," Brianna said as she washed her face. "We have classes, it's the rules."

"Right," Victoire muttered.

Eventually, they were all ready and Victoire nervously followed her friends down to the Great Hall. She was later than she'd hoped, and when they walked in, it was to discover that Nathaniel and his friends were already there eating breakfast.

"Oh my God, what do I do?" Victoire panicked. "Do I go over there?"

"No," Brianna shook her head, pulling her friend to the end of the table and forcing her to sit. "You stay right here and eat. If anyone's going to come up to anyone, it's going to be him."

"What if he doesn't see me?" Victoire asked.

"We're sitting right by the door," Brianna pointed out. "He'll have to pass by to leave."

"What if he sees me and doesn't say anything?" Victoire asked.

Before Brianna could answer, someone behind Victoire cleared their throat awkwardly and Kara made a face from across the table. Victoire turned around to find Nathaniel awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Hey Victoire," he said, not making eye contact.

"Oh, hey," Victoire said, trying to act nonchalant.

"So, I was thinking… maybe you'd want to sit with me in potions today?" he asked.

"Yeah," Victoire said, her heart leaping for joy but trying to cover the excitement. "Definitely."

"Okay, cool," Nathaniel said.

"Cool," Victoire agreed.

Nathaniel stood there for a moment longer. "Well, I'd better… uh…" he pointed in the direction of where his friends were sitting.

"Yeah, totally," Victoire nodded.

"Okay," he said, a half smile on his face. He hurried off and Victoire tried to ignore it as his friends welcomed him back with slaps on the back and loud exclamations of 'bro!'.

"Well you can stop worrying now," Brianna rolled her eyes.

Potions was the third years' first class of the day. Victoire, Kara, and Brianna waited until Nathaniel and his friends had left the Great Hall and gave it five minutes before they followed, descending down to the dungeons. When they walked in, Nathaniel was sitting at a table near the back, the seat next to him still empty.

"Here I go," Victoire said, taking a deep breath. She walked over and sat down on the stool, dumping her bag on the floor next to her. "Hey," she said nervously.

"Hey," Nathaniel replied. "So last night was fun."

"Yeah," Victoire agreed.

"Oh, you thought so too?" he asked, clearly feeling a little insecure about Victoire's response to what had happened.

"Absolutely," Victoire agreed.

Thankfully, at that moment, Professor Abbott-Longbottom began the class, putting an end to their awkward conversation. Victoire found it a little difficult to focus during class, because suddenly she was extremely aware of Nathaniel's presence right next to her. When class was over, he offered to carry her bag for her as they ascended to the third floor for History of Magic.

"I can never stay awake during Professor Binns' lectures," Nathaniel said as they walked.

"Me neither," Victoire agreed. "I don't understand why they don't just fire him. I mean, is a ghost really a suitable teacher?"

"You know what I want to know?" Nathaniel asked.

"What?" Victoire said.

"How does he grade our essays?" he wondered. "He's a ghost, not a poltergeist. Every class that something's due, we put our assignments on the desk at the front, and the next class, the assignments are sitting in the exact same spot with a grade on it."

"Hey you're right, that is weird," Victoire agreed.

"I have a theory," Nathaniel said. "But everybody says it's completely ridiculous."

"Let's hear it," Victoire requested.

"Okay, so what if he has a house elf read the papers out to him, and then he dictates the grade and the elf marks it down?" he said.

"Ooh, that's interesting," Victoire said. "But he could probably read the papers fine on his own. It's just shuffling through the stack he'd have trouble with."

"Good point," Nathaniel agreed.

They sat together again in History of Magic, and when it was time for lunch, they sat together in the Great Hall, knowing that their friends were watching them. When lunch was over though, they finally had to part ways, because Victoire had Care of Magical Creatures and Nathaniel had Arithmancy.

"Oh my gosh, tell us everything!" Kara exclaimed when Victoire emerged from the castle. She and Brianna had been waiting for her in the Entrance Courtyard.

Victoire shrugged. "There's not much to tell," she said. "We've just been hanging out."

"Did he mention the kiss?" Kara asked.

"No," Victoire frowned. "Should he have?"

"Definitely not," Brianna said. "That would just be weird and uncomfortable."

"Do you think he's going to kiss you again?" Kara asked.

"Well he'd better not try and kiss her today!" Brianna cried.

"Why not?" Kara asked.

"Because this wasn't a date. The party was like a date, but this was just going to class. If he wants to kiss her again, he had to ask her out first," Brianna explained.

"How're you supposed to ask someone out on a date when you live at a school?" Kara asked.

"He has tons of options," Brianna said. "He could ask her to Hogsmeade, or they could have a private study date in the library. Or they could sit out by the lake and watch the sunset – "

"It's a little cold to be sitting out by the lake at night," Victoire interjected.

"Oh hush," Brianna batted her hand in front of Victoire's face.

"Excuse me, this is my date we're talking about," Victoire pointed out. "A date I haven't even been asked on yet."

"Oh, he'll ask you," Brianna smiled. "I can tell. He'll ask you out."

As it turned out, Brianna was right. After a week of sitting together in their shared classes and of having Nathaniel carry her book bag, he finally plucked up the courage and asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him at the next Hogsmeade weekend.

"Sure," Victoire said.

"We could meet in the Entrance Hall and go down together," he suggested. "Or else, we could just meet there if you had some shopping you wanted to do beforehand."

"How about we meet for lunch at the Three Broomsticks around noon?" Victoire suggested. "Then we can hang out in the afternoon?" She would have accepted the first offer, but she had decided she wanted to buy a skirt she'd tried on at Gladrags on their last trip and didn't think Nathaniel would take all that well to being dragged to a clothing store on their date.

"Okay, cool," Nathaniel nodded.

VvVvVvVvVvV

"Hey Teddy," Victoire greeted her friend as she crossed paths with him in the common room one evening. She hadn't seen him much over the past two weeks and had been starting to wonder where he'd gotten himself to.

"Oh, hey Victoire," Teddy greeted her. "Can't really talk, I've got patrols."

"Hold on, I wanted to ask you something," Victoire said, following him out into the hall. "This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yeah, it is," Teddy confirmed. "What's the question?"

"Oh," Victoire said, confused at Teddy's attitude. "Well I just wanted to know if you wanted to walk down with Brianna and Kara and me and maybe hang out for a bit in the morning. I want to stop by Gladrags, but Kara's insisting we go to Uncle George's shop, and I know you always go."

"Sorry, I can't," Teddy said shortly, walking away before Victoire could ask why.

"That was weird," she muttered to herself as she re-entered the common room.

"What was weird?" Brianna asked, overhearing Victoire's muttering.

"Teddy, he's been acting strange ever since Halloween. We had a bit of a fight, but I thought he'd be over it by now," Victoire said.

"What'd you fight about?" Brianna asked.

"Oh, he walked into the common room and saw Nathaniel kiss me and he got all weird and older-brother like and I might have yelled a bit," Victoire said.

"Maybe you should apologize," Kara suggested.

"What, for kissing someone?" Victoire asked, affronted.

"No, for yelling," Kara said.

"Oh," Victoire said. "I don't know, maybe. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Try as she might, Victoire was unable to find Teddy to apologize before that weekend, so she, Kara, and Brianna walked down to Hogsmeade on their own. Their first stop was Gladrags, where Victoire made a beeline right to the skirt she'd wanted, trying it on one last time before committing to the purchase. Kara found a sweater she liked and tried it on, but in the end decided she didn't like it as much as when it was on the hanger. Brianna got distracted by the shoe selection and had to be dragged out of the store.

"Did you guys want to stop at Madam Primpernelle's for anything?" Victoire asked as they passed the salon. "Kara, I know you're running low on shampoo because I accidentally used your bottle yesterday."

"Oh, actually we're going to come by this afternoon," Brianna told her. "My mother sent me the money for my facial, and Kara decided to get a pedicure."

"Oh," Victoire said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well you have your big date," Kara explained. "So we knew you wouldn't have time for a treatment."

"Good point," Victoire realized.

"Maybe next time you can get something done too," Brianna suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Victoire agreed half-heartedly.

The girls headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes next to discover that Uncle George was in.

"Victoire!" he exclaimed the moment he saw her. "So good to see you in my little shop. And you brought your friends!"

"Yeah, this is Kara and Brianna," Victoire introduced. "Guys, this is my Uncle George."

"George Weasley," Uncle George said, shaking each of their hands. "Founder, owner, and manager of this humble establishment."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Come on Uncle George, you don't have to try and impress them, I've already turned them against you."

"What?" George gasped in false-shock. "My own niece! And here I was about to give you all free samples. But I suppose those nice children over there would take them instead."

"Uncle George," Victoire sang.

"Oh alright," Uncle George sighed. "Look around, have fun, and come and see me before you buy anything."

He walked away then to deal with another customer.

"Your Uncle is so cool," Kara said jealously.

"Well sure he seems cool to you, you just met him. Trust me, he's totally lame," Victoire said.

It took the girls a while to make it through the whole store – there were two levels, and tons of displays filled with all sorts of crazy things, some that Victoire was sure she'd never seen before. Before she knew it, it was five to twelve and Victoire had to hurry if she wanted to make it to the Three Broomsticks on time to meet Nathaniel.

"Sorry guys, I've got to go," Victoire said. "My Uncle will totally let you take some free stuff though if you don't take too much, so you should definitely take advantage of that."

"Have fun!" Kara called after her as she left the store and hurried down the street.

She arrived at the pub two minutes early and a quick scan told her that Nathaniel wasn't there yet. It was crowded as usual, so she grabbed a small two-seater by one of the windows and when a waitress came by, she took the liberty of ordering two butterbeers.

"Victoire!' Nathaniel greeted her, arriving barely three minutes late and taking the seat across from her. "Sorry, I was at Honeydukes and my friends were being stupid and wouldn't let me leave."

"Don't worry about it, it's like, twelve-o-three," Victoire said.

"I bought you something," Nathaniel said.

"Really?" Victoire asked, surprised.

"Yeah, here," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a chocolate frog. "You know, chocolate and stuff," he muttered, his face turning red.

Their butterbeers came, which was good, because it gave Nathaniel something to do.

"Well thank you," Victoire said. "It's great, I love it."

The waitress returned and they ordered their meals. Nathaniel asked Victoire what she'd gotten up to that morning and she started to tell him about Gladrags when she noticed Teddy leaving the pub.

"Hang on just a minute," Victoire said, jumping up. "I'm sorry, I swear I'll be right back."

She hurried out, hoping she would be fast enough to catch Teddy. As she emerged from the Three Broomsticks, she saw him entering the Apothecary across the street. She ran over and entered the small store, surprising him and causing him to drop a jar of what Victoire was pretty sure were rat eyeballs.

"Victoire!" Teddy exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to apologize," Victoire said.

"Apologize?" Teddy asked.

"For Halloween," Victoire clarified. "I yelled and I shouldn't have. You were looking out for me and I shouldn't have gotten mad about that."

"Oh, I – yeah," Teddy muttered.

"So are we good then?" Victoire asked.

"Sure," Teddy replied.

"You'll stop avoiding me like I have the plague?" Victoire smiled.

"Yeah," Teddy smiled back. "Okay."

"Good," Victoire said. "Well, I've got to go. And sorry about making you drop that. Did you want me to pay – "

"No, it's fine, it was my fault," Teddy assured her. "I'll take care of it."

"Alright," Victoire said. "Bye!"

She returned to the Three Broomsticks to find that their food had been delivered while she'd been out. She apologized profusely to Nathaniel for disappearing, but explained that she'd needed to apologize to a friend and that he'd been avoiding her and she'd seen the opportunity. He assured her it was fine and they enjoyed their lunch in peace.

They spent the rest of the afternoon strolling the street. They poked into a few shops – Tomes and Scrolls, Dogweed and Deathcap, Ceridwen's Cauldrons, and Scrivenshaft's to name a few. About mid-afternoon, Victoire decided to open her chocolate frog and they split it.

When it started to get darker and some of the shops began to close, Nathaniel suggested that they head back up to the castle. As they made their way back, it started to snow, and Victoire joyfully spread her arms out and began twirling and trying to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

"I love the beginning of winter," Victoire confessed. "It's so magical. The snow is so pretty and perfect."

"Yeah, but don't you hate how cold it gets?" Nathaniel asked.

"Not really," Victoire replied. "I mean; this weather is great. Obviously once winter comes for real it gets obnoxiously cold, but I don't like that snow anyway. It's all slushy and grey and trampled on and piled in heaps. I like it better when it's just a light dusting atop the grass."

"So basically when the grass looks like it has dandruff," Nathaniel joked.

"Well if you want to put it that way," Victoire laughed.

"I had a lot of fun today," Nathaniel said, suddenly turning serious. They'd arrived at the castle and were standing in front of the doors that led to the Entrance Hall.

"Yeah, so did I," Victoire said.

"Do… do you think it would be alright it I…" Nathaniel trailed off, embarrassed.

"If you kissed me again?" Victoire asked, hoping to Merlin that was what he was trying to say.

Nathaniel looked back up. "Yeah," he said.

"Yeah, that would be okay," Victoire said, feeling her cheeks flush as he took a step closer.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise and the sound of someone cursing. Victoire and Nathaniel sprung apart and turned to see the disappearing figure of a Hogwarts student.

"Teddy?" Victoire frowned, pretty sure it was her friend.

"Well, I should be going," Nathaniel said, the nerve he'd built up gone now that they'd been interrupted.

"Okay," Victoire said sadly. "I'll see you around?" she asked.

"Yeah," Nathaniel agreed. "Maybe we could meet up some time tomorrow to study?"

"Okay," Victoire agreed. "Maybe around two?"

"Sure," Nathaniel agreed. "In the library?"

"I'll be there," Victoire smiled.

Nathaniel said goodbye and went inside while Victoire waited until he was gone to run off in the direction she was pretty sure she'd just seen Teddy go.

"Teddy?" she called, running over to where he'd been before. He was nowhere to be seen, but the only exit was the covered bridge, so she assumed he'd taken it. She ran across it, emerging on the other side to find Teddy sitting on a large rock. "Teddy?" she asked.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Teddy apologized.

"What were you doing?" she asked.

"I was just coming back from Hogsmeade. I didn't know you two were going to be there, and then I saw what was happening and I didn't want to stand there and watch it again, so I thought I'd just go back and give you your privacy, but then I stubbed my toe really bad and you heard me and I didn't want you to think I was trying to be your father or anything, so I ran off, hoping you wouldn't know it was me."

"Well that was sweet," Victoire said.

"Did I ruin it?" Teddy asked.

"Kind of, yeah," Victoire admitted. "But we're meeting up to study tomorrow. I think it might be like a study date, so you know, maybe – "

"You know what?" Teddy interrupted. "I don't think I need to hear the details."

"Sorry," Victoire apologized.

"I should probably…" Teddy pointed in the direction of the bridge. "Billy and the guys are already in there," he muttered.

"Yeah, I should probably go back too," Victoire agreed.

They walked together in awkward silence. It was weird. Usually they had to much to talk about, but suddenly neither of them could think of a thing to say.

"Well I'm going to go up to the dorm and drop this off before dinner," Victoire declared when they arrived in the Entrance Hall, looking for an excuse to part from Teddy.

"Yeah, and I should go eat food," Teddy said, pointing at the Great Hall.

"Okay, great," Victoire said. "See you around."

She hurried up the stairs as quickly as possible until she was out of sight and then she slowed down. What was happening to their friendship? Were they drifting apart? Had the age gap become too noticeable? Victoire didn't really feel it, but maybe now that Teddy was an upperclassman and she was still just a third year, he didn't want to hang around with her as much.

"Hey Victoire!" Dominique greeted her when she arrived in the common room. "How was your day?"

"It was fine," Victoire muttered, racing up the stairs to her dorm and shutting the door behind her. She didn't mean to blow off her sister, but she was frustrated. Why was Teddy acting so weird? Why did things have to change? She liked them the way they were.