"This has quite possibly been the best week ever." Vicki grinned to both Fred and George.
"I dunno. There's been very memorable weeks of my years at this school. Ron getting a howler was pretty funny, as was the time exams got cancelled because it turns out there was no longer a beast going around attempting to kill students, that was a pretty good week too." George spoke up, disagreeing with Vicki.
She pouted, which caused Fred to jump in.
"Very fine moments indeed. However I must agree with Vicki dearest. Watching pathetic people get rejected for the ball has been nothing short of hilarious. That stupid fifth year dibber dobber Vanessa Howles getting publicly rejected by that Slytherin made my year." Fred stated, casting a sidewards glance at Vicki as he spoke.
It was very rare for both twins to be spending time with Vicki. However this wasn't the first time this week they'd spent time together as a trio. In fact they had all put time aside each day to see each other – Lee had joined them a few times too.
"Maybe if I witnessed that one myself, then it would be the best week ever." George responded.
The prefects were the first ones informed of the Yule Ball. Professor McGonagall had called a meeting as she was deputy headmistress and had informed all of the prefects that a ball was coming up and it may cause students to act erratically in the lead up. It was up to the prefects to enforce stability in the student body in the lead up to the ball.
Then the next day the rest of the students were informed of the ball. McGonagall was right – it was causing students to act oddly. Girls were suddenly bursting into fits of giggles and the boys were doing everything they could to show off.
Then the ball invitations started. Fred and Vicki were walking to Transfiguration together one day when they noticed a fifth year Hufflepuff prefect that Fred had taken a disliking to nervously ask a popular fellow fifth year Slytherin boy to the ball. He nastily rejected her which made Vicki feel terrible for the girl. Until Fred told her that this girl had gotten him four detentions the previous year for dobbing him in for pranks the girl had witnessed before she had even become a prefect, apparently this year this girl was even worse.
This initially made Vicki feel uneasy as she was planning to ask Fred to the ball. What if she was just as brutally rejected as the younger Hufflepuff girl?
Throughout the week they began to notice the hotspots of ball invitations and spent their free time at these locations. It wasn't just the rejections they found amusing – but some of the cheesy ball invitations were funny to them as well. It had given the twins plenty of ammunition to tease a lot of students.
"Well I'm off. I've got potions. The rumour is that Mildred Tate is going to ask Cedric during this lesson. I'll tell you how it all goes if you catch up with me after dinner, kay?" Vicki grinned to both twins as she jumped off the ledge they were sitting on.
"When are we going to see you get involved in this ball action? You're Vicki Hartwell, surely you've been asked a lot by now." Fred quickly asked after her as she began to walk off, wanting to dig for information.
"Nope. I'm still a free agent. Haven't been asked once." Vicki turned around and shouted towards him as she walked backwards for a few moments to face him. She sent him a grin and turned around.
After her back was facing him again she began to scold herself for her interaction with Fred. She was worried she was coming on too strong, and looked too desperate. Then she grinned at herself as she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. Her crush on Fred made her feel giddy and nervous, but she felt it was a pleasant sort of uncomfortable feeling. She felt alive and she felt excited. The past few months her romantic life made her feel upset and numb. She was ecstatic that life had been injected back into her – even if it made her feel nervous and vulnerable at times.
As Vicki turned a corner and left, George felt he could now ask Fred a question.
"So she's single and ready to mingle. Come on mate, when are you going to ask her to the ball?" George asked his twin.
"Tonight, after dinner." Fred stated. His words were said with confidence but he sent a nervous looking smile towards his brother. Fred too was uncharacteristically filled with butterflies inside and was so very afraid of asking Vicki to the Yule Ball.
"I don't care if some silly tradition is coming up. I expect you all to have this homework completed by next lesson. Then I'll be giving you your holiday homework. I hear other teachers are letting you slack off as the holidays are near, but I'm not your other teachers." Snape stated unpleasantly to the students who were packing up after the bell rang.
"Ah well. I expected that." Vicki shrugged to Cedric as they together packed up their cauldron, their supplies and their books.
"C-Cedric, can I speak to you for a minute." Mildred nervously asked as she approached the desk.
This caused Vicki to supress a smirk. The rumours were true, Mildred was about to ask Cedric to the ball. Vicki began to slow down as she packed up her belongings as she wanted to witness the events unfold so she could relay the information to the Weasley twins later.
"Sure." Cedric beamed towards Mildred.
Vicki scooped her books up into her arms and was going to pretend to dawdle when she felt a strong arm snag itself around her shoulder and begin to lead her off. She scowled as she saw that arm belong to her ex-boyfriend.
"Let's give Ced some privacy to reject Mildred Tate shall we?" Roger grinned as he began to lead her outside of the Potions dungeon.
Vicki went to protest at her ex boyfriend's advances but found herself unable to Roger forcefully dragged her away. Vicki figured Cedric would fill her in on the details later.
"So who are you accompanying to the ball?" Roger asked Vicki curiously once they were a distance away from the Potions classroom.
"I'm accompanying myself actually. Who are you going with? Probably Philip Bridge." Vicki snorted rudely, in an attempt to stop Roger from going somewhere she sensed he was going.
"Ha ha, very funny," Roger sarcastically retorted but then grew serious "Why don't we go together?"
Vicki stopped in the hallway causing people behind her to grow disgruntled as they had to negotiate their way around her and Roger. She was silent for a while and not before long the corridor was completely empty except for Vicki and Roger once more.
"Really? You're seriously asking me to the ball?" Vicki asked Roger cautiously as she raised an eyebrow.
"I know, I know. It sounds crazy. We don't have to go as lovers or as an item. It just makes sense, y'know. We're familiar to each other. It would just be as a friends thing, I promise." Roger quickly explained.
Vicki was once again silent as she was deep in thought. As she was thinking Mildred stormed past the two almost in tears, but Vicki still didn't say anything. She was seriously considering Roger's offer.
If she was in familiar company she would be more likely to enjoy the ball, she could understand Roger's point. Roger was her first boyfriend and her first lover and as much as she didn't like to admit it, she was comfortable with him when they were on good terms. She wouldn't want to ever get back together with him but she could be potentially open to attending the ball with him out of convenience.
But then she remembered the feelings that burst inside her when she spent time with Fred. She was dying to start building a relationship with Fred and she knew that going to the ball with Roger would jeopardise that – even if it was just platonically. To her it was more important to face rejection with Fred than it was to take the 'easy' option with Roger.
"Aren't you obsessed with Fleur Delacour? Why aren't you going to the ball with her?" Vicki shot at Roger, trying to find an easy way to turn Roger down without having to say the words 'no'.
"I am, yes. I asked her. She said she'd let me know if the boy she wants to go with, doesn't want to go with her." Roger coldly stated with a stone face.
"Merlin. Roger, you're better than that. You're one of the most sought after boys in this damn school, she should be lucky you even asked her. Don't let her treat you that way. Tell her to get stuffed and go with someone else." Vicki angrily spoke up, getting defensive for Roger's sake.
"Why do you think I'm asking you?" Roger weakly smiled.
"…and what happens if Fleur sees you're in hot demand and suddenly wants to go with you?" Vicki questioned Roger.
"I-er, well. We're only going as friends, so you'd be happy as my friend and would gladly step aside and understand that I needed to go with Fleur instead." Roger stumbled in his explanation knowing that no matter the way he phrased this it would not go down well.
"Screw you, I can't believe I even seriously considered this offer. Unfortunately for you I'm not as pathetic as you so I must decline your offer of being sloppy seconds. Besides, there's someone else I'm wanting to go with." Vicki screamed at Roger in rage as she turned on her heel and stormed off to head back up to the Great Hall.
Roger chased after her even weaving around crowds to attempt to keep up to Vicki as he kept trying to plead his case.
"Roger, go away. My answer is no!" Vicki snapped at Roger once he was able to catch her in the Entrance Hall as crowds began to make their way into the Great Hall for dinner.
"Aw, come on Vicki baby. We were great together. Don't you want to make a big scene? We'd be a couple that would give the champions a run for their money. We'd certainly make people talk if we went together. Doesn't that excite you?" Roger pleaded to Vicki.
Roger harassing Vicki caught the attention of both Weasley twins who were coming from the Gryffindor common room. Fred had been watching with a sharp eye as he was potentially seeing his worst fear – Roger and Vicki once again overcoming a break-up and getting back together. Emotions were running high within him.
However he was pleased to see Vicki was rejecting his advances very obviously and he decided to go intervene with George hot on his heels.
"Is he bothering you?" George piped up as he was the first to reach Roger and Vicki.
"No, not at all. Roger was just asking me to the ball and I said no." Vicki grinned causing Roger's face to redden in rage.
"Clear off Davies, the lady said no." Fred smirked happily. Roger had wanted Vicki to go to the ball with him and she had turned him down. It was now cemented that Roger and Vicki would never be getting back together and that Fred no longer had anything to fear.
"Whatever Weasley. I'm most likely going to the ball with Fleur Delacour anyway. Ridicule all you want." Roger snapped as he began to stalk off.
"Go with whoever you want. It doesn't change the fact you still got rejected by Hartwell first!" Both of the twins yelled after Roger in unison.
Roger chose to ignore the twins as he headed into dinner and Vicki sent a smile their way.
"Oh great, Diggory is coming." George mumbled to Fred as he saw Cedric approaching from the dungeons. Vicki didn't hear what George had to say but she turned to see what they were looking at and then smiled widely.
"I'll have a very good story for you soon. Cedric just rejected Mildred Tate. She approached him just as I was leaving and stormed past in tears moments later. If you want to meet after dinner I can tell you all the gossip." Vicki winked.
"I'll catch up with you both after dinner. Fred had something he wanted to ask you before dinner." George cheekily stated as he gave his brother a nudge and turned to walk into the Great Hall.
Vicki gaped at George's departure. She suddenly wanted to send Cedric away as she was dying to know what Fred could possibly want – was he going to ask her to go to the ball with him? Cedric however was a good friend and she couldn't selfishly ignore him because his presence was inconvenient. Besides, she would only be a moment.
She put up a finger to indicate 'one second' to Fred as she stepped away and approached Cedric.
"What went down?" Vicki asked Cedric curiously.
"Mildred asked me to the ball. I uh, had to say no. It was really hard. But I have my heart set on going with someone else." Cedric awkwardly informed her as he put his hands in his robe pockets and looked down.
Vicki knew he was referring to Cho and she sent him a sympathetic smile.
"Just ask her already dammit, I know this girl is going to say yes!" Vicki piped up.
Cedric sent her a grin before asking the question he had specifically approached her to ask.
"What happened with Davies? Please don't tell me you two got back together. It would simply break my heart." Cedric pleaded with her with concern etched over his face.
"Oh, god no. Actually he told me he was only asking me as a back-up. So I'm still very much available for the right person to ask me to the ball!" Vicki chimed in loudly.
Vicki's intention was to be loud enough for Fred to overhear. If he was about to ask her to the ball Vicki was hoping this statement would give him enough courage to bite the bullet and do it. If Fred had understood this was Vicki's intention her plan very much would have worked – he was very keen to go to the ball with Vicki. A bold indicator from her would have pushed him to finally ask her out. However in this instance Fred had misunderstood what she was attempting to do and thought she was giving Cedric the green light to ask her to the ball.
It didn't help that Cedric got the same impression as Fred.
"Oh. In that case then, do you want to go to the ball with m-" Cedric began to ask, but before he could finish his sentence Fred had approached the two.
"Yeah, I need to go to dinner. I'll see you around." Fred bluntly said to Vicki as he jabbed his finger towards the Great Hall. He did not want to be watching Cedric successfully ask Vicki to the Yule Ball.
"Oh. I'll grab you after dinner!" Vicki called out to him.
Fred bitterly sulked as he walked into the Great Hall. He ignored everyone else as he gloomily sat next to his twin. He did not speak up but began to grab food to pile his plate in order to avoid his brother's watchful gaze.
"How'd it go?" George finally asked Fred.
"Didn't ask her. Diggory asked her first, after she basically begged him to." Fred shrugged in an effort to downplay the negative emotions running through his head.
George didn't speak up but instead put a hand on Fred's shoulder sympathetically. He knew Fred well. George knew Fred right now didn't want attention bought to what had happened. This was George's way of silently showing sympathy.
"I'm going to ask Angelina to the ball instead. Probably better for things to turn out this way anyway." Fred finally spoke up just as he was finishing his dinner.
"Fair enough." George responded after a few moments when Fred didn't elaborate on why it was better for him to go with Angelina.
For once in his life Fred wasn't in good spirits as he made his way to the agreed upon spot where he would be spending time with Vicki. She had approached him after dinner the previous night asking what he had wanted to ask her. Fred made up a story that he needed to ask her what she recommended putting into a letter he and George were going to send Bagman and then quickly found an excuse to depart from her.
He was angry but his anger wasn't directly related towards Vicki. He was angry at the situation. That he was so close to potentially asking her to go out with him but instead pretty boy Diggory had once again won.
But he was determined to not unleash his annoyances onto Vicki directly. He had recently gotten into a disagreement with her and was not keen to go through that negative experience again. Instead he would see how things would pan out and would go from there.
The twins wrinkled both of their noses as they stepped foot into the library. It was a very rare sight to see them both here but Vicki had insisted when she ran into them earlier today.
They saw Vicki sitting at table with two other girls and made a beeline for her.
"I still don't understand how you can find this entertaining. Wouldn't you rather get your work done?" Hermione Granger asked the two other girls on her table distastefully.
"Fred and George have been telling me how great it is to watch these ball shenanigans. Now that I have a date and I can actually go, I thought I'd join in and watch." Ginny, the youngest Weasley child shrugged as she sent a grin towards Vicki.
Vicki had run into Fred, George and their younger sister Ginny in the corridors earlier. Vicki hadn't spent too much time with Ginny but enjoyed her company at the World Cup and was more than happy to engage in conversation with her. Once Ginny stepped out of her shy shell Vicki thought she was a riot and invited her to come to the library with her. Ginny accepted, and the twins said they would join them later.
They ended up sitting on Hermione's table. Ginny of course was very friendly with her older fellow house member. Vicki was also on fairly good terms with Hermione as she had been spending some time in the library to get away from Roger in the Ravenclaw common room. Whilst Hermione was always happy to spend time with either Ginny or Vicki, under these circumstances she certainly wasn't.
"Hello girls." George boasted loudly as he occupied the seat next to Ginny.
"Hey! Before you guys sit down, um Fred, can we speak for a second? Alone?" Vicki asked coyly.
She decided to finally do it. As entertaining as she had found the last week she also felt she were in mental agony the entire time. Asking Fred to the ball had been hanging over her head. She was going to put herself out of her misery and finally do it. The worst he could do was say no.
"Sure." Fred responded off-guard, having no time to think of a funny response as Vicki jumped off her chair and began to lead him off to a secluded area amongst the bookshelves. George shot a look towards the pair as they walked off but this was missed by both Fred and Vicki.
Fred watched carefully as Vicki looked around to make sure they were alone. He then watched as she looked up at him and nervously bit her lip. He thought she looked utterly adorable and knew he needed to speak up to distract himself.
"So why'd you drag me off and why do you need to speak to me. Not going to ask me to the Yule Ball are you?" Fred asked sarcastically with an amused smirk on his face.
"Well um, yeah. Actually I am," Vicki responded as she looked down and nervously played with the hem of her skirt "So uh, do you want to go to the ball with me?"
So I've gotten sick - I've got a million things going on in life at the moment so today I chose to call in sick at work. I spent the whole day writing this and watching Dragon Ball. Not gonna lie, it was awesome.
Sorry for the cliffhanger, but at least this chapter came out a LOT sooner than expected! In response to the reviews...
ForeverTeamEdward13: If you were excited about her admitting she likes him, can't wait to see your reaction about her actually finally asking him out! haha.
Raven Woods 2003: I hope this is a good indicator of the Vicki x Fred action to come hehe. I'm so excited to write Vicki x Fred moments, I can assure you there is a lot more where this came from.
grueneHimbeere: Thanks so much for your review - I've re-read it once more and it's almost as if you vaguely predicted this chapter - as one of them FINALLY took a big step towards something bigger. I'm also glad you mentioned you like that I give the shoutouts. Sometimes I'm paranoid I'm wasting space and that it annoys people, so I'm glad it's being seen as my way of giving back :) thanks so much for your continued support!
Lelleg: Glad to see you're still reading :) thanks so much!
