The next morning Vicki was met with a lot of wolf whistles as she arose. Rightly so, as it was the boy's dormitory she woke up in. She got out of Roger's bed dressed in pyjama pants and a band t-shirt for a muggle band that she was wearing the previous night, but no clothes, curtains or silencing charms could hide what Vicki and Roger got up to on their first night back at Hogwarts.
This wasn't unusual for the two. As the dormitories were charmed that only girls could access the boys' dorms and not vice versa it was always Vicki spending the night in Roger's bed on a semi-regular basis. But as it was the first time of the year, the sixth year Ravenclaw boys couldn't help but make a big deal to try and embarrass the two prefects.
Vicki just giggled at the boys, giving Roger one last passionate kiss before telling him she'd meet him in the Great Hall for breakfast and bounded down the stairs to make the way to her own dormitory to grab her clothes so she could make her way to the bathroom to get ready.
Forty five minutes later Vicki emerged at breakfast looking fresh as a daisy. She showered quickly, applied minimal make-up (as the first week of term was when the teachers were on the war path for make-up, after the first week the 'no make-up' policy was usually relaxed to 'natural-looking only' unofficially) and used a spell to quickly straighten her hair.
Rather than immediately taking a seat at the Ravenclaw table to begin breakfast, she began to wander around the hall. She had grabbed her schedule from Professor Flitwick on the way in and was going to do what she did at the start of every term, comparing her timetable with her friends. It was always easier for her to start with her friends in other houses and work her way in.
She found herself naturally gravitating to the Gryffindor table, where she saw the two twins sitting with Lee. Vicki squeezed herself between Lee and the twin to his left – George and grinned as she stole a piece of buttered toast off their table.
"Oi! Food not good enough at the Ravenclaw table?" Fred playfully teased.
"The food is fine thank you very much. Pass me your timetables, I'll compare classes." Vicki responded, shoving the toast into her mouth, wiping her buttery hands onto her school skirt as she gleefully read the timetables passed to her, as Vicki traded her timetable to the three who leaned over to read it.
"You're taking History of Magic? I don't even know anyone who passed the History of Magic O.W.L. let alone who would subject themselves to that torture once it's no longer compulsory." George remarked loudly.
"Could say the same for you – Mr. Herbology. I dropped that like it was hot even though I scraped through with an acceptable." Vicki remarked, as she got out a quill and marked on her own timetable who she was sharing classes with.
"They only got three O.W.L.s each, not like they could be choosy about dropping subjects." Lee snickered.
Vicki remembered the twins telling her at the Quiddich World Cup their mother made a big deal about this fact, grilling them for it just before they left. Therefore Vicki expected a smart remark from at least one of the twins, but they were silent as they were perusing her timetable.
"Well I've got all three of my classes with you – Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts." Fred stated as he marked his name down on the three classes.
"Last two Fred said. Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. As we just established, Herbology was my third O.W.L. I achieved." George stated.
Vicki considered remarking about how this was the first time in Hogwarts history the twins would be split up as Lee wrote down the two classes he would be sharing with her (Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms) but shook her head, feeling she would be stating the obvious and thus it was a pointless remark.
"Miss Hartwell, shouldn't you be seated at another table?" Vicki heard a stern voice say, and she swung herself around to see Professor McGonagall standing behind her. McGonagall always seemed stern but Vicki could tell she wasn't impressed that Vicki was seated at a house table that wasn't her own.
"Sorry, professor. I was just so excited for classes I came over to compare schedules." Vicki blurted out, jumping up quickly as she started to back off.
"You suck up!" George yelled out behind her.
Vicki wanted to stick the rude finger up at him in a jovial manner however as McGonagall was still around she refrained from doing so. To her delight however she watched the professor berate George about his Transfiguration O.W.L. marks and she overheard her saying she was pleasantly surprised that Fred got a grade that allowed him to continue the subject to N.E.W.T level.
Vicki wasn't game enough to try the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables to find her friends in those houses to compare timetables. She knew if McGonagall had to approach her a second time it wouldn't be just a stern warning and instead Vicki sank down at the Ravenclaw table next to Stephanie.
After a few minutes of Stephanie making fun of the fact Vicki wasn't in her bed last night and the fact she clearly must have been in Roger's, the first warning bell rang which signalled period one was about to begin.
Vicki said goodbye to Steph, as they had two different classes. Steph had Divination whilst Vicki ran for her life to the Dungeons, where she now had potions class.
It was before the second bell that signalled the class had officially started but she saw Professor Snape at the front of the room with his arms crossed, already looking unimpressed with the students. Vicki scanned the room, looking for her boyfriend as over summer they agreed to partner up in potions in hopes of getting good marks.
She found him easily enough. But he was seated next to Phillip Bridge, his best friend. She balled up her fist and approached him, not wanting to make a scene but she did want to find out what was going on.
"Are you two working together for now on, or is it just this class?" Vicki asked Roger, standing next to him with her arms crossed.
Phillip looked between the two and Vicki could see he was trying to stifle laughter. She had never told Roger because she didn't like speaking ill of his friends, but she had never liked Phillip. She thought he was a trouble maker, and not in a fun way.
"Well, yeah. Come on babe, we're together nearly all the time." Roger stated, using a condescending tone towards his girlfriend.
Vicki narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't appreciate the way he used 'babe' in a derogatory manner, or his tone. She however noticed that everyone in the dungeon had their eyes on them, including Snape who looked livid that a couples' argument had been bought into his classroom. Vicki knew now was not the place to argue.
"I respect your decision, I really do. But it would have been nice if you told me. We will discuss this later." Vicki responded, and began to back off, trying to use a neutral tone.
"Clingy girls, man. Even the hot ones can turn clingy." Phillip loudly stated.
Vicki stopped in her tracks, shocked by Phillip's outburst. Vicki was appalled by Phillip's comment, and she noticed a few people around the dungeon throwing filthy looks towards the two boys. She had hoped Roger would at least say something in her defence, but instead he added fuel to the fire.
"Yes well, I seem to have that effect on women don't I?" Roger grinned, to which all Vicki was capable of letting out was a scoff that echoed throughout the dungeon, as she was too gobsmacked to let out any other sounds, let alone speech.
Snape looked at the trio hatefully as he began to make his way over. It was only due to this that stopped Vicki from piping up and abusing the both of them. So much anger flowed through her body it was hard to focus on anything else but lucky for her, an arm slung around her shoulder and led her to a cauldron that had been set up.
"Would you like to work with me for potions in the mean time? It can be as permanent or temporary as you'd like." Cedric stated after he lead Vicki to his cauldron, sending her a reassuring smile to try and cheer her up.
"Thanks." Vicki gratefully smiled as she felt the anger begin to leave her body, she was able to now function again.
Snape loudly cleared his throat at the front of the classroom and made a sarcastic remark, showing the class he was eager to start the lesson. The whole class grew silent, and turned quickly to face Snape, and the first Potions class of the year began.
Vicki made a point of avoiding Roger for the rest of the day. At lunch she made sure to sit at the very opposite side of the Ravenclaw table so she wouldn't have to talk to Roger. In the class after potions she got to tell Steph about what had happened. Steph was so disgusted she blew off her plans with Stebbins from Hufflepuff all day to offer Vicki moral support, and to act as a barrier between Vicki and Roger.
Not that she really needed to. Roger didn't attempt to approach Vicki once, in fact he barely even glanced in her direction. He acted as if Vicki was the one who wronged him. It also didn't help that Phillip loudly made comments about Vicki if she were in ear-shot. One small win for Vicki however was that not one other one of Roger's friends joined in with Phillip's teasing. In fact, they all seemed uncomfortable with what Phillip had to say and quickly diverted the topic every time he did so.
Towards the end of lunch Vicki got up from the table early, intending to go outside for a moment. Due to all of the heavy storms the night previously all of the outside was green and fresh, shining in the sun. The weather was quite nice, and it would most likely be the last day of nice weather until the end of the school year. She wanted to go outside and soak up the rays.
She saw someone run after her and she stopped and smiled as she let the person catch up to her.
"Hello Graham. Sorry I didn't get a chance to see you on the train or at the feast last night. I was going to head over to the Slytherin table this morning but McGonagall yelled at me for going to the Gryffindor one." Vicki explained, as they both walked outside together and sat on the steps that led into the Entrance Hall.
"Well, I was going to forgive you, until you said you went to see the Gryffindorks first. That hurts." Graham Montague joked, feigning hurt as he put a hand over his heart.
Graham Montague was one of the few people Vicki still spoke to who she was on good terms with before her 'transformation' from a blip on the radar into the most popular girl at school. In her second year Ravenclaws were put with Slytherins for Potions class. Vicki at the time had no one to partner with as all of her dorm mates quickly paired with each other, but Montague who was in a similar boat paired with her.
They had ended up working together for all of second, third and fourth year potions. In their fifth year there was another change and Ravenclaws were paired with Hufflepuff for potions. This was convenient for Vicki as she was able to safely work with Roger (her first choice) without hurting Montague's feelings. Whilst they used to never really converse much outside Potions when they were working together, when they switched potion classes they began to spend time together outside of classes. It wasn't too regularly as Vicki was very obsessed with Roger last year and wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, but every now and again when Roger was busy with Quiddich, she would spend one-on-one time with Montague.
Montague and Roger didn't get along very well. They were both very committed to Quiddich and both played the same position, Chaser. Usually Slytherin and Ravenclaw had an alliance, as the traditional rivalries were between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. But for some reason Roger really didn't like Montague. Vicki sometimes thought maybe it was due to the bond between her and Montague, but there were other guys Vicki spoke to from other houses (such as Cedric Diggory or Lee Jordan) whom Roger had no problem with. All Vicki could consider was that it was something as simple as a personality clash.
Vicki only sent him a small smile, not feeling in the mood to joke around.
"I can't believe what happened in Potions. Davies and Bridge are complete twats." Graham said to Vicki.
"Phillip Bridge is, that's for sure. Roger on other hand, is a pathetic sheep who can't function without approval." Vicki spat out suddenly.
"I know that all the girls think he's handsome and all that, but you're still so above his league. You're Victoria Hartwell, the most beautiful girl in the school. You also have so much more depth than he does. I hope you don't take what he says to heart, because I don't think he could ever do better than you." Graham said to Vicki, making sure to look her in the eye as he said it to show his sincerity.
If Vicki wasn't so upset (and trying her hardest to not let on to the world how much Roger's actions were cutting her up) she may have found it strange that Montague was being so sentimental and almost flirty to cheer her up. But instead she wasn't going to deny the compliment or think too much about it. It had come at the right time.
"I was disappointed you sat with Diggory in Potions. I thought we could perhaps work together in Potions for old times' sake?" Graham asked Vicki hopefully.
Vicki studied his face and bit her lip nervously. She got lucky last year and didn't have to easily let Montague down when she intended to ditch working with him but now there was no getting out of it. Even though she was very cross with Roger and his actions for today, she certainly did not want to break up with him. She was hoping for him to apologise and then both of them putting it behind them.
Therefore she didn't want to make any permanent plans of partnering with Montague again for potions. She liked Cedric's terms: 'as permanent or temporary as she'd like'. Vicki knew she had to let him down nicely.
"I'm not too sure what's happening with my Potions arrangement but I'll keep you updated. I however have Defence Against the Dark Arts next, do you want to sit together?" Vicki proposed, smiling brightly as she jumped up from the step she was sitting on.
"I have D.A.D.A tomorrow." Montague stated as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Vicki could tell he was puzzled, but she could also see disappointment flash in his eyes.
"Sometimes if there's overwhelming popularity and if enough students achieve high enough grades in their O.W.L.s to continue the class, they have to open up more classes to meet the demand of students that are qualified to take them." Vicki explained to Montague as they slowly began to walk back into the castle.
"So hence why we're in different Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. Anything else they've doubled up on?" Montague asked Vicki curiously.
"I overheard Flitwick speaking to McGonagall, they both stated they're taking two lots of sixth years. So it seems there's doubles of Charms and Transfiguration." Vicki responded.
"How am I to know if we're in the same Charms and Transfiguration classes? We didn't get to compare schedules since you went to the loser table before you came to the best one." Montague joked loudly, sneering at a group of younger Gryffindors they happened to walk past who looked shocked at the outburst.
"You'll just have to wait in anticipation." Vicki grinned, giving Montague a quick hug as she bounded off, leaving him confused behind her at her lack of a proper goodbye.
Fred, George and Lee had just finished lunch and were standing around in the Entrance Hall eagerly waiting for class to start, for the first time in their life. They had heard many stories about Professor "Mad Eye" Moody from their father, and couldn't wait to see how many more may exist that their father had not dared to tell them.
The three girls on the Gryffindor Quiddich Team (Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnett and Angelina Johnson) spotted the three boys and walked over to join them, as they had all finished their lunch and also were waiting for their next class. They all began to idly chit-chat about how the first day of class was going. Katie, who was a year below the rest and was whinging about the classes she was forced to take with the Slytherins during her O.W.L. year, ran out of steam, so the two older girls began to speak about their day.
"You should have seen what happened between Victoria Hartwell, Roger Davies and Phillip Bridge during potions. Those two guys are such pigs." Angelina stated.
The three boys whipped their heads to Angelina suddenly. George and Lee wanted to know the gossip but also knew about Fred's obsession with the girl.
"What happened?" George spoke up, as his twin was too afraid of looking too eager.
Angelina's Potions partner, Alicia spoke up.
"Davies and Bridge kept going on about how Hartwell is a clingy girlfriend, or something. They're both two beautiful people, it's hard to decide whether Davies is lucky to have such a pretty girlfriend and should get over it, or if Hartwell is actually too clingy because she's scored such a stud." Alicia giggled, and Katie joined in.
Lee and George cast sidewards looks towards Fred, who had silently balled his hands into fists. It annoyed him that Roger Davies had the girl of his dreams and treated her so badly. It annoyed him that Davies' friends would egg him on in treating such a great girl so badly. It also annoyed him that he couldn't speak up and tell the girls off for what they were saying, and defend Vicki without it becoming obvious on why he was doing so.
Angelina, who hadn't joined in with the giggling, shushed the girls and nodded her head towards the Entrance Hall where Vicki Hartwell was walking along, joined with Graham Montague.
Fred's second fist balled up. He wasn't a fan of many Slytherins, but Montague was one of the ones he hated the most. He played dirty on the Quiddich pitch and had gotten into a few verbal arguments with both himself and George in class and once in the corridors. Fred had seen Vicki with Montague a few times the previous year and knew they were on good terms. But it was when he had a small crush on Vicki. Now it had been confirmed his crush was an obsession, it bothered him to see Vicki with Montague even more than she was with her boyfriend.
The entire group watched as Victoria hugged Montague goodbye with curiousity. When Montague turned around they barely made any attempt at hiding what they were doing. Montague sneered 'what are you looking at?' before he stormed off into the opposite direction.
"Ew. I may not know Hartwell very well, but I hope for her sake she doesn't end up with Graham Montague." Alicia stated loudly.
"Maybe she'll stay with Davies." Fred spoke up, saying the first thing that had come to his head. He realised he had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire conversation, and wanted to contribute something.
"Or maybe she won't." George stated out loud, sending a sly wink to his brother.
The first warning bell went off, and all of them except the younger Katie Bell began to make their way to their Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
Authors note: forgot to say, huge thanks to Malec27 for reviewing, this one goes out to you!
