The next morning was very rough for Vicki. Although she had gotten drunk quite a few times she was quite young and thus had never had a hangover before. Until that morning. Drinking quite a lot of firewhiskey straight was never going to result in anything less than a banging head and upset stomach.
Luckily for Vicki she had a prefect's bathroom at her disposal. She managed to drag herself out of bed and down to the prefects' bathroom. After spending fifteen minutes hunched over a toilet she managed to stumble over to the large pool-sized bath and jumped in still clad in her pyjamas and began to force herself to swim laps to make herself feel better.
It certainly worked. By the time she got out of her wet clothes and to the breakfast table she felt a lot better. After she had shoved lots of bacon and eggs down her throat she was almost back to her normal capacity but she decided to grab a coffee from the kitchens for a caffeine hit.
Ignoring the probing of Stephanie Fawcett on where she had gone last night, Vicki got up from the table, headed out of the Great Hall and down to the kitchens.
Upon tickling the pear and walking into the kitchens she was stopped at the sight of lots of elves and one Weasley twin. She had to squint in her still-a-bit-hungover state but she was still able to tell the difference between the two after a few moments.
"Hey George, what brings you to the kitchens this morning. Let me guess, Fred isn't feeling well this morning." Vicki grinned, causing George to grin back.
Vicki quickly gave her coffee order to the elves and they bowed and scuttled away to get it ready.
"He sure isn't. He's in bed groaning about a sore head. What poison did you prank him with last night? Sounds like a classic." George asked curiously.
"That poison is named firewhiskey – and don't worry it's also kicking my arse." Vicki responded.
"Hopefully some food straight from the kitchen will stop him from being a bloody sook. I'll fetch some water too." George stated.
Something then dawned on Vicki. George knew that Fred had spent the previous night with Vicki. This meant that Fred must have told his twin brother about their catch-up. Growing curious about what information Fred had divulged, Vicki found herself subconsciously twirl her hair around her finger as she spoke up.
"So err, what did Fred tell you about last night?" Vicki asked curiously.
She was afraid Fred was possibly mad at her for forcing herself on him the previous night. The last thing she wanted was to lose his friendship if she had made him feel uncomfortable. She knew asking George if he had said anything was the key to finding out more information.
"Not much actually. All he said was that he had fun and he got back in very late." George stated.
The house elves gave Vicki her coffee and she knew it was time to depart. Wanting to be funny she had a parting statement for George.
"Interesting. You missed out on a good story. Ask him what we had to do when we ran into the Fat Friar last night." Vicki grinned and quickly turned around and walked out, ignoring the pleas for more information from George.
It wasn't until Monday morning when Vicki finally saw Fred Weasley emerge. She wasn't sure if he attended lunch the previous day as she decided to skip lunch but when dinner rolled around he was absent from the Gryffindor table.
However Monday morning he was there looking fresh as a daisy. The Hufflepuff table separated the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables so Vicki wasn't within speaking distance but she sent him a few grins and thumbs ups his way. She was looking forward to talking to him to establish that they were both fine and not going to act weird towards one another after what had happened.
"Hey Vicki, ready for potions?" Phillip Bridge said to Vicki as he shoved his way next to her, pushing Steph further down the bench seat to sit next to her.
Vicki said nothing but raised an eyebrow towards him as she sensed there must have been a reason he was conversing with her, they definitely did not have an amicable relationship.
"Yes, I am. Why?" Vicki asked stiffly after Phillip did not leave.
Phillip just grinned as he leaned in to speak quietly to Vicki.
"Roger told me you broke up. Do you know what that means?" Philip asked Vicki in a sing-song voice.
"You know what? There's plenty of things it could mean," Vicki shot at him sarcastically "You tell me."
"We don't need to be enemies anymore! You're no longer taking my best friend away from me. You're no longer the siren leading him to his downfall. You're no longer the harpy nagging him to death-" Phillip stated and continued to go on but Vicki cut him off.
"-no longer a witch casting a spell upon him?" She weakly grinned.
"I was looking for more insulting similes. You are a witch so it's not as funny. But yes, that too." Phillip smirked.
Vicki only sent him a small smile in response. She was definitely willing to accept that he would now leave her alone and not act so cruelly towards her. But she wasn't going to suddenly be his best friend. She still wasn't a big fan of the guy and she still thought he was a bit of a jerk. Until he proves himself otherwise, she was going to keep a distance from him.
"Oi! Roger. Let's take your lovely girlfriend over to the Hufflepuff table to round up Cedric and make our way down to potions." Phillip yelled loudly, sending a smirk towards Roger as he knew it was a sensitive spot for Roger that for the next thirty-or so hours he was still linked to Vicki.
"Sounds splendid." Vicki smirked as she jumped up from the table. She wasn't planning on being best mates with Phillip but she knew there was now very little time left to be able to poke fun at Roger by milking their fake relationship. After the next day that ship will have sailed, forever.
Phillip and Vicki confidently went to the Hufflepuff table to collect Cedric with Roger awkwardly trailing behind them. They greeted Cedric and then all left to make their way down to potions.
"So Ced…" Vicki began in an attempt to make conversation, but before she could finish her sentence Cedric's bag split wide open, his belongings pouring out all over the floor.
Phillip and Roger were stunned at the surprise but Vicki jumped into action and bent down to help him pick up his belongings.
"Don't bother," Cedric sighed towards Vicki as he took his things off her "Tell Snape I'm coming, go on."
Phillip and Roger began to back off but Vicki awkwardly stuck around to make sure he would be fine. When he insisted for the third time that she go to potions she scuttled off after telling Cedric she would 'hold the fort' for him.
She slipped into the classroom and noticed Snape was already at the front of the room about to start his lesson with his back turned, writing notes on the blackboard. Snape may not have hated Hufflepuffs the same way he detested Gryffindor students but he would still punish Cedric for being late – champion or not. Therefore Vicki needed to cause a distraction, and fast.
She had something in her pocket that Fred Weasley had given her a while ago. He and George had been working on a few new products for their upcoming line – they managed to get thrifty with the little money they had acquired since Bagman took their savings. Fred wanted Vicki to be one of the first people to see the product but she had no use for the product. Until now.
Vicki looked around the room for her preferred target. Normally she would pick Phillip but considering he had called a truce with her she didn't want to rock the boat. Beside she knew Phillip would be far too clever for what she had planned. But she could still use him to execute the plan. She needed the product to get to her target, but without her target knowing it had come from her.
She pulled the box out of her pocket and scribbled a note on a piece of parchment – trying to make it seem messier than her usual handwriting. She then dropped the box containing the product and kicked it towards Phillip's chair.
"What was that?" Roger asked suddenly as he bent down to pick up the box. Phillip snatched it out of his hands, being excited for something potentially scandalous.
"It's a gift for Mildred Tate. No idea how it got here. Here you go." Phillip stated as he sounded disappointed and threw the box towards Mildred's potions set up. She managed to catch it before it fell into her cauldron.
Mildred Tate and Vicki never really liked each other. They never had any rivalries and were never rude to each other, but they weren't a fan of one another. Mildred always thought Vicki was a little trashy and crude, whilst Vicki thought Mildred was boring and needy. Rather than argue or be rude to each other the two were mature enough to just avoid one another and instead use their time being around the people they did like.
"Maybe it's from Cedric." Mildred smiled widely, shooting a dirty look towards Vicki as she opened the box and found a tart inside.
Vicki was relieved that Mildred was acting catty towards her as now she didn't feel so bad for what was about to happen. She had a feeling Mildred was beginning to act more hostile towards her this year – she wasn't sure whether it was due to the fact they were the top two contenders for Head Girl next year, or because perhaps Mildred had feelings for Cedric.
"That's so thoughtful!" The girl working with Mildred squealed "The best gift for a Hufflepuff is food, surely it has to come from another Hufflepuff!"
Mildred took a bite of the tart and moments later sprouted feathers and a beak. This caused a large distraction as a few of the students squealed in surprise, with some of the more nasty ones (such as Phillip) sniggering at Mildred's misfortune.
To make matters worse for Mildred, Snape came over and began to berate Mildred for being so foolish, not even bothering to look at her symptoms and organise an antidote.
Luckily for Mildred it was just a trick sweet and she soon began to revert to normal. As Mildred's feathers began to disappear Cedric managed to slip into the classroom unnoticed and take his usual spot next to Vicki. As Vicki had set up the cauldron during the commotion he looked ready to go for the potions lesson, as if he had been there since the start.
"Don't even ask about what's been happening in here. Mildred Tate just err, happened to find a sweet that turned her into a canary, just as we needed a distraction for the fact you were late. Convenient, huh?" Vicki cheekily grinned towards Cedric.
He barely acknowledged her which was very out of character for him. Vicki knew he was probably far too polite to make fun of Mildred, but she was expecting some kind of reaction out of him. Instead he was stone faced.
"Surely this can't be about your bag? What has happened in the time between your bag splitting and right now?" Vicki asked him.
"I found out about the first task. Well, I think I did. It's not good." Cedric responded.
Vicki opened her mouth in shock, she clearly wasn't expecting that. She decided to close it and keep it together for her friend.
"Well we can't skive off potions, obviously. But let's skip our next ones and get together to work this out, alright?" Vicki smiled to try and lift Cedric's spirits.
"Thanks Vicki. You're a true friend." Cedric weakly smiled towards Vicki.
"Hey, you." Vicki smiled as she ran to catch up with Fred after breakfast the next morning.
"Hey Vicki. Fancy sitting with me and my friends for the first task later on?" Fred asked her enthusiastically.
He had been wanting to ask her to sit with him and his Gryffindor friends ever since George bullied him into asking what he and Vicki got up to on Saturday night. After he told George the next morning, he wouldn't stop suggesting to Fred that he should ask to sit with her during the first task. Fred kept insisting the kiss was all for show to get the Fat Friar off their backs – even though it meant the world to him and it killed him to think it meant nothing to Vicki.
"That would actually be amazing. Thank you for asking." Vicki beamed brightly.
"So how are you, anyway? I haven't seen you since Saturday." Fred asked her curiously, hoping to re-establish their friendship and make sure things wouldn't be weird between them.
"I'm good. I had a chance to test that Canary Cream you got me. It worked a treat." Vicki mentioned to Fred.
"Oh? Who was the target and what did they do to deserve it?" Fred grinned. He even became bold enough to give her shoulder a very light shove in a playful way, deciding to follow advice in that book George gave him on how to flirt with girls.
"Mildred Tate. I've never quite taken a liking to her but to be honest she probably didn't deserve it. It's just that Cedric was coming late to class and I needed a distraction so-" Vicki began to explain but she was cut off by Fred unexpectedly.
"You used one of the very first Canary Creams to help Diggory? Seriously?" Fred sparked up in angry disbelief.
"Well err, yeah. It's not like you gave me rules on how they should or shouldn't be used. Why can't I use them to help a friend?" Vicki asked defensively, crossing her arms in the process.
"Maybe anyone but the Hufflepuff champion – unless you planned to use it on him. He's essentially the biggest enemy to Gryffindor right now. I thought as a Ravenclaw you'd be smart enough to work that one out." Fred snorted at Vicki.
Vicki remained silent as she felt a lump forming in her throat. She had spent so much of her school year fighting with Roger, she was tired of fighting with boys, especially after she had just solved the Roger problem. Fred was also perhaps the one she didn't want to fight with the most, out of everyone. He was the one she ran to when she needed cheering up, she couldn't stand the thought of not having him around anymore.
"I'm sorry. I should have considered that. I understand where you're coming from." Vicki apologised as she began to calm down. There were definitely truth in her words but she also made the decision to back down as she couldn't stand to fight with Fred.
Fred's face softened as the gravity of the situation had hit him. Before he could make an apology of his own the school's matron had approached the two.
"Victoria, I've been looking for you. I need to have a talk with you." Madam Pomfrey stated as she put an arm around the younger girl's shoulder and began to drag her away.
Vicki called out a weak goodbye to Fred as she walked off with Madam Pomfrey.
Fred was sitting anxiously in the stands around the arena where the first task of the Triwizard Tournament was being held. Due to his heated exchange with Vicki he wasn't sure whether she would still sit with him or not.
After Madam Pomfrey took her away he was planning on sitting with her in Transfiguration to clear the air with her. Unfortunately she was absent from Transfiguration. He wasn't proud of what happened next but as he had a spare after Transfiguration he hung around her Arithmancy classroom in case she skived off Transfiguration to avoid him.
Unfortunately it appeared she was absent from Arithmancy as well.
At lunch he poured his heart out to George and Lee quietly. He mentioned how he gained the courage to ask her to sit with him during the task – as friends, even though George and Lee made a big deal about it. He even told them how he had technically made his very first move on her – by touching her arm to flirt with her.
But then he had to break the news that he ruined all of this by getting angry with her.
"Well to your credit, I'm not too impressed the first time the Canary Cream has gone public was to help Diggory." George joked.
George and Lee however were sympathetic to Fred and advised him that Vicki should still show up and that he should stay positive.
Fred, George and Lee were sitting on one of the bench seats, with Angelina, Katie and Alicia sitting behind them. George and Lee were facing behind them to chat with the girls in an excited manner but Fred was facing forward, his eyes locked on the entrance of the stands.
It was an anxious wait but he hadn't seen Vicki enter yet, so he remained hopeful. At least he hadn't witnessed her go sit with someone else.
He did however get a bit confused when he saw Vicki's group of Ravenclaws enter without her. He was one of very few people who knew about the breakup between Roger and Vicki but he assumed she would still enter with him to keep up appearances, or to at least come in with her best friend Stephanie Fawcett.
He was even more stunned when he saw Stephanie land in front of him.
"Hey Weasley," Stephanie greeted but had to quickly correct herself when she realised there were two Weasley children present "Err, I'm talking to you Fred."
"Miss Fawcett." Fred greeted with a polite head nod.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?" George added on cheekily.
"Vicki insisted I come over. She said she was going to sit with you guys, but she can't make it anymore. She really wanted me to give you the heads up." Stephanie explained.
"And she couldn't come over and tell us herself?" George asked coolly since Fred seemed to be incapable of a response.
"No, you see…" Stephanie began to explain but a loud whistle rang out through the arena to signal the beginning of the task.
"Well I need to run and get a seat. Talk to Vicki later, there's a very good reason." Stephanie said as she gave Fred a pat on the shoulder and ran up the stairs to meet her friends.
Well I don't really have much to say about this chapter. I hope you liked it. You can start to see that slowly Fred and Vicki are coming together.
In response to the reviews:
Raven Woods 2003: Here's a small taste of the drama to come, but this is nothing yet :P at least you know it's coming!
ForeverTeamEdward13: I seriously can't wait to make them kiss again, hehe. Thanks for the support!
Paulies1994: Thank you so much for your review, I really appreciate it. I'm touched by both your review and the fact someone out there recommended my story! I can assure you I don't plan to stop with Goblet of Fire, I actually have big plans for OoTP and Umbridge, but that's a long way away. This is going to be a pretty long story.
