Vicki looked towards the busy bar and noticed it was still a while until they would be served. She also noticed the room was so loud with all the patrons and their noisy chatter no one around them would be able to hear. Therefore she knew it was safe to tell Fred the story of what had happened at Madam Puddifoot's tea shop which made her glad, as she was dying to tell him.
"Roger and I broke up." Vicki admitted to Fred, a happy grin across her face.
"…for good?" Fred asked in disbelief, trying his absolute hardest to contain his happiness.
"Yep. Over. Finito. Splitsville." Vicki responded, attempting to be as dramatic as possible.
"I, err, well. I guess I'm sorry to hear that?" Fred stumbled awkwardly before he relaxed "Honestly, I'm not really sure what to say. It seems like it's been a long time coming, but I'm sure it's still very upsetting for you."
"Nah. I'm just dreading the big deal people are going to make of it when we make it public." Vicki groaned, burying her head in her hands but shot a smile towards Fred to keep it light.
Learning that Victoria Hartwell was single gave Fred a boost of confidence. He was able to easily be bold around her now they were quite close, but he was never comfortable enough to ever try and make their friendship turn into something more. Until right now.
He still wasn't brave enough yet to flirt with her. However he did grab her form into a quick side hug to offer a bit of sympathy and comfort. Fred swiftly let her go as he was afraid how Vicki would react to this unusual form of contact between the two but he was pleased to see his gamble had paid off. She beamed towards him and strengthened their new touchy-feely friendship by giving him a light playful shove in return.
"So why are you keeping it hushed about the break-up? If that were me and I was now free from the clutches of pretty boy Davies I would be shouting it from the rooftops." Fred asked Vicki, grinning wildly.
He was very curious to know but he still wanted to poke fun at the dramatic event in Vicki's life.
"Very tempting, yes. But it's for Cedric's sake, you know. The first task is only three days away, the last thing Cedric should be worrying about is my love life." Vicki responded.
"I don't think he's really going to give a damn if you tell him, I think the upcoming task will be keeping him very occupied. He won't care at all over a silly lover's spat." Fred shot towards Vicki, feeling jealous that Diggory's possible opinion on the subject seemed to be more important to Vicki than his own.
"Fred, he's my best friend. Of course he cares. He has his eye on a girl as well, so he needs to win to impress this girl." Vicki responded defensively.
Fred held back a wince – feeling uncomfortable with the fact Vicki was unhappy with his statement and also because she was indicating that she and Diggory were very close – 'best friends'
"Well unfortunately for Diggory he's got a tough time ahead of him. You've seen Harry on the Quiddich pitch, he's very competitive. Hopefully he doesn't make Diggory look too bad in comparison." Fred teased in a light hearted manner.
"Shut it, you." Vicki responded but to Fred's delight she dropped her cool manner and shoved him playfully with her shoulder, a wide smile on her face.
Fred didn't have time to retaliate as they were finally at the front of the bar and Madam Rosmerta had already starting pouring their butterbeers, with Vicki holding up five fingers to indicate how many she wanted.
They both picked up the butterbeers once poured and made their way back through the busy pub to their table.
Just as they took a seat again Fred noticed Vicki's eyes dart to the door. He followed her line of sight and saw that Davies had made his way into the pub. Fred was usually greeted by a dirty look and a snide remark by Davies when he was in Vicki's company but this time Davies seemed unfazed, shooting Vicki a polite head nod as he kept walking past.
Fred shot his sight back onto Vicki who did not seem bothered by the change in Roger's demeanour towards her.
This made Fred smile into his butterbeer. It seemed like Vicki and Roger were actually over this time and to Fred's delight Vicki wasn't upset about it and thus more likely to move on a lot faster than anticipated.
"People are starting to clear out, do you reckon we should head back up to school?" Ron asked the older students he was seated with, after his twin brothers embarrassed him by sharing as many anecdotes of Ron's childhood as possible.
"S'pose so. Madam Rosmerta told me the last round we got would be our last round. She's cutting off students to clear us out as some of the Hogsmeade weirdos are beginning to come in now that it's nearly nightfall." Vicki responded.
"Plus I saw some lightweight third years start to get a bit tipsy after all that butterbeer." George added on, making the rest of the group snicker.
They all got up and pulled on their coats. Slowly they began to trudge out of the pub and made their way back up the path that would lead them to the castle.
As they passed the Hogs Head a figure came running out and stopped in front of them.
"Oh, hey Graham. Sorry, I completely forgot I told you I'd swing by to meet your Nan. Raincheck?" Vicki awkwardly stated, feeling guilty she ended up spending time with the Weasleys and Lee instead of Graham as promised.
This caused Fred to snort loudly in laughter, causing Montague to shoot him a filthy look.
"We're not due back at the castle for a short while. Come on, one drink?" Graham pleaded to Vicki.
She was silent as she was deep in thought. She felt remorseful that once upon a time she used to spend time with Graham regularly, but this year she had chosen to spend more time with her two new close friends – Fred and Cedric.
"Okay, just one quick drink. I did promise." Vicki responded causing Graham's face to light up and Fred's to turn sour.
"I guess we'll catchya later?" Lee asked, knowing how Fred would feel right now and not knowing how to say goodbye to Vicki under these circumstances.
"Sure. I'll seek you guys out after dinner maybe." Vicki responded.
She waved goodbye to Fred, George, Lee and Ron as she followed Graham back into the Hogs Head.
The Hogs Head was a very dingy place, very different to the warm and welcoming ambience at the Three Broomsticks. Students were allowed at the Hogs Head but the heads of houses usually advised against students going in due to the unfavourable magic folk that chose to drink there.
Vicki only shot Graham a weak smile as she followed him to a table where she saw his grandmother seated.
When Graham told Vicki that he was seeing his Nan earlier, Vicki had expected a polite little old lady. The type where if she were a muggle she would have purple hair and bake biscuits and serve them with milk and a warm smile. Instead she was greeted with the complete opposite.
The older woman in front of her had short black hair that had been spiked – with grey running through it fiercely. She had a wicked smile with pointed yellowing teeth. Vicki felt very intimidated by this woman's appearance but decided to not let it scare her and decided to make conversation.
"Hi!" Vicki beamed as she offered her hand "I'm Vicki. Your grandson is one of my oldest school friends so I must say this is an honour."
"Don't use a nickname when meeting strangers, darling. It's not polite otherwise." Graham's grandmother coolly stated, looking at Vicki's outstretched hand and not taking it.
Vicki blinked in confusion. She certainly wasn't expecting that. Not being quite sure what to do she decided to play along with what Graham's grandmother was saying.
"Okay. I'm Victoria." Vicki responded as she was unsure what else to add on.
"See. Doesn't that sound a lot more civil? I'm Drucilla Montague. Say, why don't you have a drink with us?" Graham's grandmother proposed and pointed to a spare chair at the table.
Vicki certainly wasn't opposed to the idea of an alcoholic drink due to how uncomfortable she felt. She jumped up from her seat and muttered she would be back before she approached the bar.
"What are you looking for, girlie?" the publican asked her, indicating he had little patience for her and wanted to serve her quickly.
"Give me a firewhiskey, thanks." Vicki muttered, feeling bold to ask for an alcoholic drink to get through this encounter even though she was quite underage.
"Tell you what. I've got a batch of firewhiskey that's going to explode if not consumed within the next two days. I usually do a whole bottle for three galleons - I'll sell you a bottle for one galleon and give you the first glass for free." The publican offered her.
"Alright." Vicki grinned as she put a gold galleon onto the bar.
The publican poured her a glass and also handed over a full bottle which Vicki guessed contained about 750mls. She hid the bottle under her coat as she would be smuggling it back into the school and she took her glass of firewhiskey back over to Drucilla and Graham.
"Graham here was just telling me you're a Ravenclaw, as I was able to see from your robes. Do you come from a long line of Ravenclaws?" Drucilla asked Vicki curiously.
"It must be a very noble thing to belong to a long line of family that were all in the same house," Vicki truthfully responded "But no – my parents belonged to two different houses."
"Are there any muggles in your family?" Drucilla boldly asked, showing her wicked teeth in an evil smile.
"Er…no. Why?" Vicki asked, trying to remain polite but not being very interested in where this conversation was headed as she knew exactly what Drucilla was trying to dig into.
Vicki was on friendly terms with a few Slytherins but she didn't subscribe to the 'pureblood' way of life. Whilst she had no muggles in her immediate family down her bloodline there were blemishes such as squibs and non-humans so she wouldn't be able to call herself a pureblood even if she wanted to.
"Just wondering. I wouldn't want my grandson to be hanging around a mudblood." Drucilla casually responded, as if it was an innocent question she had asked.
Graham looked between his grandmother and Vicki and felt the tension between the two. He knew Vicki was too polite and quite frankly too much of a suck up to be outwardly rude to his grandmother – but he also knew his grandmother was capable of being very vicious. He knew he had to intervene.
"Vicki is actually quite a bright witch. She's a prefect, and everyone knows she'll become Head Girl next year." Graham bragged, making Vicki beam at the compliment.
Moments later her smile faltered as she watched Drucilla's eyes study her carefully, going up and down her form. After a few moments of silence Drucilla spoke up.
"There was a Ravenclaw head girl during my seventh year. She went missing halfway through the year. Hopefully it's not a Ravenclaw curse and you too don't go missing." Drucilla snickered loudly.
"I don't know, it's not guaranteed that I'll get it – Mildred Tate from Hufflepuff seems like a serious contender. Apparently she's been keeping the Triwizard Tournament officials good company, they'll certainly be putting in a good word to Dumbledore by the end." Vicki modestly responded, trying to ignore Drucilla's teasing. She was trying her hardest not to be drawn into the petty argument Drucilla was trying to create.
Unfortunately for Vicki, Drucilla's grandson would spit out a comment inspired by jealousy of something he had been witnessing lately that would give perfect kindling to start an argument. Even more unfortunate for Vicki - she was about to learn that Graham knew something she really didn't want him to know.
"I'm sure Bagman would certainly give you a glowing recommendation. I've seen the way he looks at you, he's quite taken by you." Graham bitterly acknowledged.
Vicki went to deny this profusely however Drucilla made sure to speak up first.
"Ludovic Bagman, the former Quiddich player for the Wasps? There you go, no need to be Head Girl. You can marry rich and not have to work a day in your life." Drucilla shrieked with laughter.
"Nah, I'll be right, thanks." Vicki responded sarcastically, finally starting to lose her cool with Drucilla's teasing.
Normally Drucilla would be delighted that her constant prodding was breaking her target's spirit. But Drucilla had never liked pretty young things that received plenty of male attention. Therefore her face fell and she prepared to up the ante to be extra nasty to Vicki. She wasn't fazed that her grandson cared for Vicki – in fact it made her even angrier that her grandson had fallen for the charms of someone she perceived as a common whore.
"What's your surname, anyway? The apple never falls far from the tree. I'd like to know if I'm right." Drucilla smirked.
Vicki went to answer, but someone beat her to it. Alastair Moody was in Hogsmeade this weekend to keep an eye on the students wandering around. He was now on a duty to round up the remaining students that were lingering around Hogsmeade back up to the school – now nightfall was nearing it was unsafe for the students to be out much longer.
"Hartwell, Montague. What are you doing in here? You know this place is not safe for students!" Moody bellowed loudly from the entrance "Finish your drinks and head up to the castle."
Vicki found it hard to process Moody's request as Drucilla began to once again shriek loudly with laughter.
"You're a Hartwell? That makes sense. Are you a result of the delinquent or the squib?" Drucilla asked in a cruel taunt.
It took Vicki a second to understand what Drucilla was talking about as her father was not a delinquent or a squib – he was a fairly narrow and boring person. But then she realised Drucilla was referring to the generation before her father – her grandfather and great uncle.
One of the reasons why Vicki's father Maxwell Hartwell had insisted on raising her in both the muggle world and the magic world was due to the fact that he himself was raised this way and knew the benefits first hand. His two parents (Victoria - Vicki's namesake and Andrew) had gone missing when he was a young child and so he was raised by his uncle William who was born a squib.
Vicki stayed rooted in her spot. She wanted to bark insults right back at Drucilla for insulting her family but the Ravenclaw in her made sure she stayed silent. Vicki didn't know much about her paternal heritage – her great uncle William had moved to Australia a long time before she was born so she had only met him a couple of times. She never had the chance to meet her paternal grandparents. Therefore her thirst for knowledge stopped her from storming out and she would take this opportunity to learn more, even if it would be from the vile woman in front of her.
"Andrew Hartwell was my grandfather." Vicki modestly responded.
"I see. I suppose you have some defect and that's why the Gryffindor house rejected you? Mind you I'm surprised the Ravenclaw house let you in. The Victoria Hartwell I knew was as dumb as a bag of elf droppings." Drucilla snarled at Vicki.
"That is enough, Nan. I care deeply for Victoria and I can't let you say these dreadful things that are uncalled for." Graham shouted out in anger, standing up and grabbing his coat to ensure a quick exit.
Vicki was taken aback by this. She knew Graham was fairly close with his Nan and hadn't expected him to take her side or to defend her vigorously. Vicki shot Graham a smile in appreciation.
Graham's outburst only seemed to enrage Drucilla further. At her time in school a few boys had attacked her verbally in defence of the first Victoria Hartwell. Fifty years later her own flesh and blood was doing the same for a direct decedent. Saying Vicki Hartwell had ruined her day was a very gross understatement.
"Graham, I wouldn't bother defending her. Her grandmother had an affair with a teacher. This one probably has the same loose morals as that harlot." Drucilla stated sounding unusually calm and icy as she nodded her head towards Vicki.
"Montague, Hartwell. Time to go." Moody growled from the doorway, both Vicki and Graham having forgotten he was there due to the heated situation that had unravelled.
Vicki tightened her knuckles as she felt herself getting very hot under the collar. She had come to the Hogs Head this afternoon to sit down and have a nice drink with a dear old friend and his grandmother. Instead she was faced with unfair animosity, receiving insult after insult over a fifty year grudge against her own grandparents. She was not happy with these turn of events and anger was finally beginning to settle in.
"My grandmother must have done something pretty bad to you, considering fifty years later you're still carrying on like a pork chop about her. There's some girls I'm not too keen on right now but I hope that in fifty years I've lived a fulfilled life had and moved past it by then." Vicki coolly shot at Drucilla as she got up from her seat to stand next to Graham.
"That's the thing, little girl. At least I've gotten to live a life. Your grandparent's foolishness lead them into going missing quite young. Therefore can't say they both got to live a fulfilled life." Drucilla wickedly stated with an evil grin across her face.
Vicki began to tremble with rage. Even though she was very angry she was determined to have the last say.
"Vicki, come on, let's go. Professor Moody could give us a detention." Graham urged Vicki, taking a grab of her hand in an attempt to encourage her to leave the pub.
"Live fast, die young, and leave behind a beautiful corpse. Victoria and Andrew Hartwell were two very attractive people in love, adored by all around them. They lived a more meaningful life than you, and in half the time," Vicki rudely stated "But hey – at least you got a good grandson out of life. Considering he's the only one willing to see you. He's even a shot at perhaps not dying alone."
Very few people had been able to leave Drucilla Montague speechless as she was a force to be reckoned with. But she had met her match and lost with Victoria Hartwell the second. Having no words at her disposal she decided to pull out a weapon instead – her wand.
As hastily as Drucilla had pulled her wand onto Vicki, Moody had stalked over and grabbed her by the gruff of her neck and began to escort her out of the pub.
"You can't go running your mouth off at dark witches and wizards like that. It's not safe without backup or without being prepared." Moody lectured Vicki, his scarred face intensely looking into hers once they were standing alone in the doorway outside of the Hogs Head.
"The Montagues aren't dark wizards though. Graham has never been bothered by my less than pure bloodline." Vicki argued meekly, feeling a little intimidated by Moody's severe and threatening manner.
"That may be true, Montague's parents have never been on the Auror office's radar and never seemed to get involved in dark magic rubbish. But the family matriarch – Drucilla Montague was born Drucilla Carrow. There's many people in her family that paired with other dark wizards that have caused the ministry grief." Moody gruffly informed Vicki.
"I see." Vicki conceded, wanting Moody to end his lecture so she could go back to the castle, suddenly becoming very aware of the bottle of firewhiskey she was keeping concealed under her coat and the fact that Moody had a very magical all-seeing eye.
Moody saw through Vicki's attempt at brushing him off and decided to continue on to scare the young girl.
"Drucilla Montague also happened to be at school in the same year, and in the same house as the Dark Lord. Let that sink in and maybe next time be more careful about who you mouth off to." Moody darkly stated.
Luckily for Vicki, Graham bounded of the pub moments later and found himself joining Moody and Vicki.
"Montague, please escort Miss Hartwell back up to the castle. It's getting late, the sinister folk will be coming out soon." Moody requested to Graham.
Vicki didn't even bother saying goodbye to her professor as she began to make her way down the cobblestone path back to Hogwarts. Moody had always made her feel uncomfortable but she hadn't realised how worse it was without Fred Weasley next to her cracking jokes to make the situation feel a lot lighter as he did during lessons.
She was certain Moody must have seen the bottle of alcohol she was hiding but not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth she didn't bother to dwell on her close call.
"Can we talk about what just happened in there?" Graham asked Vicki, catching up to walk next to her as Vicki was stalking away from Hogsmeade very quickly.
This caused Vicki to slow down and face him. With her creepy interaction with Moody she had forgotten all about her stand-off with his grandmother. She just sent a swift nod to Graham, incapable of speech as she expected him to be a bit cross for speaking to his grandmother so harshly.
"I'm really sorry for my nan said to you. She was out of line. I really hope what she has said hasn't ruined your Hogsmeade weekend." Graham apologised, concern etched over his face.
Vicki stopped in her tracks to face him, as this wasn't what she was expecting. If Graham had spoken to a member of her family like that, there was no way she would still be on speaking terms with him, let alone apologise – even if the family member had picked the argument and had insulted him first.
She could tell he was truly sorry as well.
"Sorry I got a little heated. I should have just walked away rather than say such terrible things in front of you. I hope we can still be friends." Vicki weakly smiled.
She noticed Graham opened his mouth to say something but shut it quickly. He then seemed to grow incredibly nervous as he licked his lips and began to fidget with his hands. Vicki was about to ask what was wrong – but then Graham finally gained the courage to say something he had been wanting to for a long time.
"I shouldn't be saying this because I know you're still with Davies. But I was hoping that if things do break down between you two, well, perhaps we could be more than friends." Graham shakily stated.
Vicki found herself dumbstruck. It hadn't come completely out of the blue – Steph Fawcett had been hounding her for weeks to call things off with Roger and get together with Graham, stating that she could tell Graham Montague was crazy for her. She wasn't looking forward to informing her clever friend that she had been right all along after all the denying.
But she still found herself rooted to the spot as she had not anticipated this conversation. Due to this she decided to try and buy some time in hopes of being struck with inspiration of what to respond with.
"I…err, are you confessing that you have a crush on me?" Vicki stuttered out.
"I guess I am, yes. I've always had a huge thing for you Vicki. I was going to confess at the start of school last year but I then found out you were with Davies. So instead I focused on improving myself – getting better at Quiddich and losing weight, all so one day I could hopefully be a good boyfriend for you. This was all for you." Graham confessed to Vicki.
She bit her lip – she still had no idea what to say or how to respond.
Putting my author's notes at the end of my stories from now on, so it's easier to tell where the story begins.
This chapter is a bit of a treat for anyone who reads my other story, but for the majority who don't it's a little window into Vicki's family and where she comes from.
You're all going to LOVE the next chapter, I promise. I can't wait to write it, in fact I think I might start right now.
In response to the reviews:
Guest A - Well this chapter will have answered your one question, and many good things are now coming your way! Thanks for the support.
Lelleg - Your wish is my command, hehe! Once again, good things are a-coming, very soon :)
Guest B - That's a very exciting move! What job are you going to be doing in NY? I just re-read your comment and it's honestly scary how well you predicted how this chapter would go - you actually got it right to a tee! Thanks for your really kind words about the stories, it really helped me into updating again and I really appreciate it. As always thanks for your reviews, it makes me excited to update to see what you think :)
