Fred blinked in confusion as he was processing Vicki's proposal. She was actually asking him to go to the ball with her. This was his wildest dream coming true.
He expected her to tap her foot impatiently or demand an answer in his silence. Instead she was avoiding his eye contact and looked nervous. He had never seen her look so vulnerable before. Normally she was prepared and composed.
Fred didn't really know what to do.
"What about Diggory? When I left you last night he was in the middle of asking you." Fred asked Vicki.
"He did, yeah. But I turned him down. There's someone else he really wants to go with, he was just asking me out of obligation." Vicki responded but felt panic rise in her chest.
Vicki wasn't a cold person but she still didn't wear her heart on her sleeve. She was a clever Ravenclaw who tried to be logical rather than emotional. With every one of her past crushes that actually did have something happen she either waited for the boy to make the first move – or it was a very obvious mutual feeling and she calculated the risk first. In this instance she was putting herself out there, and she could sense hesitation from Fred. She wasn't comfortable one bit.
"So Diggory is definitely going with someone else – as is Davies?" Fred repeated.
"Yep. The girl Cedric wanted to go with just happened to walk past as I was saying no, so I literally threw her into Cedric so she would bump into him and he would ask her, and he did. You saw me say no to Roger. So I've turned both Cedric and Roger down…" Vicki went on to explain.
"For me? Or are you just asking because you have no one to go with?" Fred asked her in disbelief as so many questions kept popping up in his mind.
"Well yeah. I really want to go with you. Don't keep a girl hanging, do you want to go with me or not?" Vicki said as her cheeks reddened, a very forced smile on her face as she secretly wanted to go curl up into a ball in a corner. She knew this wasn't going very well.
"I do. I really do – but unfortunately I already asked Angelina last night. She said yes." Fred stated sadly as he felt his stomach drop. He just did something he never thought he would ever do – turn down an advance from Victoria Hartwell.
"Oh," Vicki said sadly. It hurt, but she had been anticipating this since she asked Fred as he didn't seem positive about her proposal. "That's awesome! You've liked her for a while. I'm happy for you!"
Fred felt many emotions surge through him. The whole situation was killing him on the inside and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.
"I don't like her in that way, honest. I was actually going to ask you last night first but I thought you were going with Diggory." Fred sadly stated.
Vicki felt a bittersweet feeling at this revelation. She didn't know whether she should be happy she was Fred's first choice or not. She felt it didn't make it easier on her to know she had come so close to being his date to the ball.
"Well, it is what it is. Say, were you going to ask me as friends or as something more?" Vicki slyly asked in an attempt to hide how hurt she was feeling, even though she didn't blame Fred for the situation.
Fred felt himself freeze at Vicki's question. She had caught him off guard and he didn't know what to do. It was a very emotionally charged conversation and he knew he had upset her indirectly by asking Angelina to the ball. He wasn't sure whether it was an appropriate time to reveal his feelings. Especially as he wasn't quite sure of what feelings she held towards him.
"Well what were you asking me as? Have you succumbed to my charm or what?" Fred shot back suddenly.
Vicki cocked her head at Fred's words. She was wanting to get her crush on him off her chest but had decided enough was enough and held herself back. She felt he clearly didn't hold any romantic feelings for her based on her conversation with him today. She also felt she couldn't take anymore rejections from him today and thus she would keep her mouth shut.
"You wish, jellyfish. I just thought you'd be a fun date, that's all. Everyone is taking the ball so seriously. It'd be nice to go with someone goofy who would make it fun." Vicki shrugged as she ignored the feelings building up inside of her.
"Same here. Oh well. I'm sure I'll still have fun with Ange and you'll have fun with…whoever you're going with." Fred responded trying to sound light-hearted.
Vicki just sent him a nod as she began to make her way back to the group. As far as she was concerned this conversation was over as her confidence could not take another beating.
Fred scurried behind her and tried to maintain a smile on his face to keep up appearances.
"Oi, what did Vicki want?" George asked loudly once the two made their way back to the table.
"I asked Fred to the ball but was bitterly rejected as I didn't realise he had already asked the beautiful Angelina Johnson to the ball. Karma I guess, for rejecting both Cedric and Roger yesterday." Vicki grinned. She wanted to joke about the situation to make it seem less of a deal than it was.
Every occupant of the table quickly snapped their eyes towards Fred. Even Hermione who never got involved in pointless gossip raised her head at this revelation. It was no secret to those in Fred's circle of friends that Fred was hopelessly obsessed with Vicki. They knew that this was a big deal.
"So uh, have there been any funny Krum happenings today?" Fred asked the group in an attempt to shift the topic quickly.
Surprisingly it was Hermione who spoke up.
"Yes. As always, he has a gaggle of girls spying on him. It's quite annoying that he spends so much time in the library. Can't he and his girls go elsewhere?" Hermione stated sounding quite frustrated.
"That's the only thing that would summon Fred and I to the library." George began.
"Not for Krum of course. But to watch the pathetic girls get turned down one after the other. It's quite amusing." Fred added on with a large grin.
Hermione just shook her head angrily and Ginny giggled at her twin brothers. Fred's attention was on Vicki, who had a sad smile on her face and began to pack up her belongings. It was only then he realised how poor of a choice his words were considering he had just turned down Vicki.
"I need to bounce. I promised to compare Transfiguration notes with Stephanie before bed. I'll catch you all later. Please let me know if any really funny things happen with Krum's fangirls that I might miss." Vicki stated as she slung her book bag over one shoulder and stood up.
Everybody bid her goodbye. Hermione stuck her nose back into her book which just left the twins and Ginny.
"Surely Vicki will get another date, right? I've overheard so many boys say they want to ask her but they're too shy. She promised that I could get ready with her and her friend Stephanie Fawcett in the prefect's bathroom on the night of the ball!" Ginny blabbed on.
Fred turned around as he watched Vicki head out of the exit and turn the corner out of sight. Both of them were dying on the inside and unfortunately nothing could be done about it.
It was the last day of term and rather than be happy and celebrating this fact with her fellow students, Victoria Hartwell was rather quiet. After a good night's sleep she felt a little less torn up than she did the previous night about Fred turning down her invitation as he had asked Angelina instead.
She still didn't like to think about it. It wasn't even due to the fact that Fred was going with Angelina. It was because Vicki felt that based on their interactions as she asked him, that Fred did not return her feelings. She was wrong – but unfortunately the girl did not know this.
Watching the ball shenanigans suddenly didn't feel as joyous to her as it had over the past week and thus she had avoided not only Fred and George but most of the student body entirely.
Her last class for the term was Potions. As she had been avoiding everyone she had yet to tell Cedric the grim news that her crush had asked another girl to the ball.
"I must say, I'm quite looking forward to the ball now that I have a date." Cedric cheerfully stated to Vicki after Snape had stopped talking and was allowing the students to make their potions.
"Hey Cedric, Vicki! On behalf of my best friend Roger, thanks to the both of you!" Phillip Bridge loudly called from the back of the room causing Vicki and Cedric to turn around and face him.
"…why?" Vicki asked cautiously as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Cedric just turned down Fleur in the Entrance Hall when she asked him to the ball. You also turned down Roger a few days ago. This has allowed Roger to be free to accept Fleur's second round offer, as Cedric was taken. Thanks team." Phillip winked and sent the two a thumbs up.
Vicki just rolled her eyes and turned back to face the front. Cedric only sent a small smile Phillip's way before he did the same.
Vicki wished she didn't turn to the front as she was greeted by the sight of Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnett at the cauldron to her front left giggling and comparing sketches of their dresses.
"Are you going to colour-match your dress robes with Fred's dress robes? You'll need to find something that doesn't clash with his hair." Alicia loudly stated to Angelina.
Vicki loudly sighed and rested her head on her desk. This was not a conversation she was wanting to overhear right now.
"Are you alright?" Cedric asked Vicki kindly as he worked out what was going on based on what he too was overhearing.
Vicki only let out a loud groan as she looked towards the two Gryffindor girls who were oblivious to the pain they were inflicting onto Vicki.
Cedric decided to remain silent and resumed working on the potion they had to conjure. He was confident enough to do the work himself and let his friend wallow for a while.
After a while Vicki lifted her head from her arms and began to spy on Angelina and Alicia. Vicki had never had a problem with Angelina. Until right now.
Vicki couldn't stand the way Angelina would tilt her head back to laugh and let her hair swish side to side. She hated the way Angelina licked her finger to turn the page of her Potions textbook. Vicki was also sick of seeing Angelina clap her hands in an excited manner when she noticed her potion brewing successfully.
"Why wouldn't he like her? She seems amazing. I want to hate her and I'm finding what seems to be genuine reasons in my head. But I know I'm just hurt and being irrational and bitchy." Vicki sighed to Cedric, speaking up for the first time in a while.
"Well I'm glad you're being logical about the situation." Cedric stated. He wasn't really sure how to comfort his friend and instead was just going to try and lend a sympathetic ear.
"They have more in common too. You know, her being a great Quiddich player, and a fellow Gryffindor. It's actually kind of annoying. Not only has every single Hartwell ever been a Gryffindor, they've all been amazing Quiddich players too. Maxwell, my father was Gryffindor Quiddich captain. Andrew, my grandfather was Gryffindor Quiddich captain. Then there's me. Broke centuries worth of tradition and became a Ravenclaw nerd." Vicki explained to Cedric.
"Would you give it up though? Would you rather have let the hat put you in Gryffindor just for a boy? Or would you rather you be you, and be a Ravenclaw?" Cedric asked her.
Vicki sat up straight. For the first time in nearly twenty four hours her head was clear purely based on what Cedric was asking her. She was damn house proud and wouldn't change a thing if it meant she wasn't a dedicated Ravenclaw. It was the first time she had stopped to think that maybe, just maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that she wasn't going to the ball with Fred.
"Heck no. The house of Ravenclaw comes before any damn boy on this earth." Vicki boasted loudly, which earned the attention of the rest of the class. She found herself smirking a little when she noticed Angelina and Alicia look over, with Alicia Spinnett rolling her eyes strongly.
"Damn straight!" Phillip Bridge yelled loudly from the back.
"See. I'm glad that you are who you are. If that's not suited to Weasley's tastes, then he's the one missing out." Cedric stated to Vicki, glad he had managed to cheer her up.
"Ced, you're lucky I am who I am. Because I can confidently tell you that you need to add a teaspoon of bulls eyes to that potion or it'll soon blow up in your face." Vicki giggled, her first genuine laugh since the previous night.
Vicki was in a good mood for the rest of the lesson. She managed to smile and joke with Cedric as they finished off their potion. Snape even graded them an Exceeds Expectations as Vicki managed to fix the mess that Cedric had created.
Vicki was about to head off before she saw Graham Montague tap her on the shoulder.
"May I walk you to dinner?" Graham asked Vicki, but also averted his gaze to Cedric as a subtle way of asking for Cedric's permission to take Vicki off him.
"I might go ahead. I promised Cho I'd get to know her a bit before the ball. See you later." Cedric responded before he gripped his bag tightly and raced off, leaving Graham and Vicki alone.
"So uh, how have you been?" Vicki asked nervously as she realised it had been a while since she had spoken to Graham.
"I've been good. What about you? You looked a bit upset before. Hope you're okay." Graham stated with concern in his eyes.
Vicki was touched that he had paid enough attention from the other side of the classroom to see she wasn't feeling herself. However she still didn't want him to know the real reason why she was upset earlier.
"Yeah, it was nothing. Just a bit stressed with so many things coming up, but I feel loads better now. Why did you want to chat anyway?" Vicki asked Graham as they slowly made their way up to dinner.
Graham stopped in his tracks as he became increasing nervous at what he wanted to do. After all when he had previously poured his heart out to Vicki it hadn't worked in his favour. She hadn't rejected him – but she hadn't embraced him. It was a risky move but one he knew he had to take.
"Um…well…you know I like you. So I was um…err…wondering if you'd perhaps consider going to the Yule Ball with me?" Graham stumbled out once Vicki had stopped and turned to face him.
Vicki should have thought about this. She should have considered it was a bad idea to accept the invitation of an unfortunate poor bot who's feelings she didn't return. She should have realised this was an awful way to attempt a relationship with Fred – accepting a ball invitation from a Quiddich rival from his rival house.
But instead she was still incredibly hurt. She wasn't quite rational at the moment. A ball invitation to her was a chance to not attend the event alone and would prove a distraction to the fact that Fred was going with someone else. Therefore she didn't even think about it before the words came out of her mouth.
"Sure, sounds great." She shrugged with a small smile as she began to walk again.
"I think tha- really? You're happy to go with me?" Graham asked in shock, changing his sentence halfway through as he wasn't preparing for her to say yes so easily.
"Definitely. We've got a week to work out the details. Let's catch up tomorrow and discuss." Vicki responded as they stepped into the Great Hall.
"I'd love that!" Graham beamed.
As most students were already at dinner Fred and George were already seated at the Gryffindor table. Angelina was in front of him and was relaying to him what she and Alicia had discussed in Potions.
He didn't want to appear rude and was nodding and sending out an 'uh huh' periodically as Angelina was discussing what colour dress robes they should both wear to the event. However his mind and heart certainly were not in the conversation.
"Speaking of things that were discussed in Potions. I overheard Montague tell his potions partner he was going to ask Hartwell to the ball. Rumour is apparently she's turned down both Diggory and Davies. What are Montague's chances?" Alicia Spinnett grinned towards the table.
George shot a look towards his twin next to him and Fred avoided his gaze. It was inevitable that Vicki would get other invitations to the ball and he already knew that Montague harboured feelings towards her. Fred still didn't like to think about it, but he knew it was a cold hard reality he had to face.
"Do you think she said yes?" Angelina asked as she looked over her shoulder and saw Montague and Vicki standing at the entrance of the Great Hall talking.
To Fred's delight he saw Montague lean in to attempt to plant a quick kiss on Vicki. She quickly turned her head so his lips instead landed on her cheek and Vicki gave Montague a sly smile as she walked away.
"Considering he just got shut down, I don't think she did." George grinned as he nudged Fred.
Fred said nothing but he kept darting his eyes between Vicki and Montague. Montague didn't seem too phased by Vicki not letting him kiss her as he still had a goofy smile on his face as he made his way to the Slytherin table. Montague even leaned in to tell one of his friends something and the friend ended up high fiving him.
However when he saw Vicki sit next to Stephanie Fawcett it was apparent what the answer was. Vicki said something to Stephanie with a sheepish smile on her face and Fawcett put her hands to her mouth in shock before emitting a piercing squeal that bounced around the walls of the Great Hall, and put her arms around Vicki for a large hug.
"Well that confirms it. Montague and Vicki are going to the ball together. Apparently Fawcett has been pushing Vicki towards Montague even when Vicki was still with Davies. Vicki definitely has said yes to Montague." Fred explained loudly to the table.
The girls present began to gossip about this news but Fred drowned them out as he looked down at the table. He knew he had no right to be angry or disappointed by this news as he was Vicki's first choice and he was the one who turned her down. But he was still feeling sorry for himself and frustrated at the situation.
His eyes flickered back onto the Slytherin table. He saw Montague and his friends still talking instead of eating, making rude sexual gestures with their hands and it was obvious it was about Montague and Vicki.
Even though a burning rage was convulsing through Fred at this sight, his mind went clear. He suddenly felt certain about the situation. This wasn't over. He had been passive about his feelings for Vicki since they had developed the previous school year but he had never acted upon them as she was with Davies at the time.
That was not the case anymore. He may be attending the ball with Angelina and Vicki with Montague, but that wasn't going to stop him from fighting for his girl, even long after the ball was over.
Yeah I better go hide from all the rotten tomatoes you all probably want to pelt at me right now. But I PROMISE this is one of those "one step back, two steps forward" kind of deals - and Vicki and Fred getting together is closer than you could possibly know.
In response to the reviews:
grueneHimbeere: Unfortunately as always, you predicted it correctly - and in this case that's a bad thing as Fred did get to Angelina first :( Although the good news is that I did take the next day off work and wrote the bulk of this, meaning it was released a lot faster (and it means that the good stuff will come faster too!)
ForeverTeamEdward13: Apology for the cliffhangers, cliffhangers suck! I also apologise for this part, haha.
Raven Woods 2003: Roger is massively a bum, at least he's sloppy seconds now hehe
Paulies1994: I've responded to your PM with top secret information ;) Although I will publicly state love is DEFINITELY in the air, and at least Fred is now willing to fight for what he wants.
