"You're the luckiest bastard alive. You're going to the ball with the best looking girl in the school. But now the second best looking one is interested as well? I wish I was you." Lee Jordan whined in the dorms as he and the twins were preparing for the ball.

"Oi! Don't talk about Vicki like that. Calling her anything less than the most beautiful girl in the school is disrespectful, alright mate?" Fred snapped towards Lee.

"Gee, you've really got it bad for this girl, huh?" George chuckled towards Fred.

"Probably a good thing. It means Angelina will be available again after tonight. Speaking of which what's the deal between you two? Does she think this is a romantic date or did you agree to go as friends?" Lee asked Fred curiously.

Fred froze up at Lee's question. He had been so busy pining over Vicki and being angry that he had to turn her down and push her towards Montague, that he forgot to really address this with Angelina. They had barely even conversed since she accepted his invitation. He thought it was clear he meant it in a friends way by nonchalantly yelling an invitation over the busy Gryffindor common room. He forgot girls were more emotional and perhaps he should have cleared that up a lot earlier with Angelina.

"I'll talk to her about it when I meet her downstairs." Fred shrugged.

George and Lee shot each other looks of discomfort but chose not to speak up as they finished putting on their dress robes.

On the other side of the school Stephanie Fawcett, Ginny Weasley and Vicki Hartwell were getting ready together. Vicki had given them the prefect's bathroom password and they had huddled into a shower stall together – which was the same size as a bathroom in a house and thus there was plenty of room to get ready together.

It was an unusual trio to be getting ready together. Steph and Vicki were studying in the library one day the previous week when Ginny sat at their table and struck up conversation. Naturally the conversation turned to the ball and the two older girls spoke about how they were getting ready together. Seeing promise and fun in giving Ginny a "makeover" it was Stephanie who invited Ginny to get ready with them – Ginny very enthusiastically agreed.

The girls had all slipped into their dress robes and were now finishing their hair and make-up.

"So which champions are going with who? I stopped caring during the dress robes crisis of '94." Steph asked, referring to her dramas of obtaining a dress she deemed worthy of attending the event in, which had been a big deal to her over the past week.

"Harry is going with Parvati Patil." Ginny responded with gritted teeth.

"That's right, I forgot the entire school knew you had a huge thing for him. That sucks." Steph responded.

"That's why you have us. After we finish helping you with your hair and makeup he's going to regret not going with you." Vicki winked.

On the inside she felt sorry for the girl as she knew that would not be the case. Vicki knew Harry had asked Cho and was turned down, as Cho was going with Cedric. Cho came into the common room one evening and asked to speak to Vicki alone. Cho told the story of Harry's rejection to Vicki and wanted Vicki's opinion if she should tell Cedric or not – as Vicki was Cedric's best friend Cho knew she would know what to do. Therefore it was very unlikely Ginny would even appear on Harry's radar tonight.

Vicki also empathised with Ginny's predicament. She too had to watch the boy she wanted so badly attend with another girl. It was painful to think about.

"Cedric is going with Cho Chang, everyone knows that. Roger is going with Delacour, everyone knows that too because he won't shut the hell up about it." Steph remarked rolling her eyes.

"Are you okay with that?" Ginny asked Vicki sympathetically.

Vicki stopped to think about it. She had spent the last week being so upset that she wasn't going with Fred that she had completely forgotten about Roger and Fleur.

The thought certainly didn't cut her the same way the thought of Fred and Angelina did. But she knew weird feelings would rise in her seeing Roger and Fleur. She certainly wasn't jealous or pining for Roger. But he would always be her first love and it would be strange to see him with someone else.

"Yeah, I am. He's old news, Fleur can have him. Someone's trash is someone else's treasure right?" Vicki smartly replied, not wanting to voice her true inner thoughts which made the other two girls snigger.

"What about Krum? Who's he going with?" Steph asked curiously.

Ginny and Vicki looked at each other. They knew who he was going with as they were there when he asked his date. But it wasn't public knowledge as the girl he asked begged them not to tell anyone.

"I can't see no harm in telling you now as the ball is about to start and you'll find out soon anyway. He asked out that fourth year Gryffindor girl that's super smart – Hermione Granger." Vicki responded.

Steph put her hands to her mouth in shock but moments later dropped them and nodded in approval.

"Good on him. As a world famous Quiddich player you'd expect him to ask some dolled up fake bitch. As long as this isn't some publicity stunt, good on him." Steph stated.

"Um, are you girls nearly ready? I said I'd be meeting Neville out in the Entrance Hall and it's nearly time for the champion's grand entry." Ginny asked nervously.

"So it is. Yeah we better head down. I'd love to be fashionably late but it'd be disrespectful to Cedric if I missed his big entrance. Let's go." Vicki responded as she finished packing her bag and opened the door to their stall to head out.


Fred was unable to keep his eyes off the staircase that led into the Entrance Hall as he knew Vicki would be walking down it any second.

Ginny and Steph Fawcett had already appeared and made their way to their respective dates. Neville and Ginny were in the same circle that Fred was currently chatting in, whilst Steph had joined the popular group directly next to his circle. This circle next to his also contained Graham Montague.

"You are going to be so amazed when you see Vicki. She looks like a total knockout. Many hearts are going to be broken tonight due to the fact she's with you, Graham. You're a very lucky boy." Fred had overheard Steph remark to Montague.

Fred only grumbled upon hearing this and turned his attention back onto his sister and her date who were busy talking about dance moves.

"Merlin! Is that really Victoria Hartwell? She's unbelievably sexy. I thought Roger was lucky for snagging the Delacour girl, but damn does Vicki have a nice body in that dress." Phillip Bridge piped up suddenly.

Fred whipped his head around to the staircase to see Vicki glide down the stairs. He wasn't able to find a word in his head that described how stunning he thought she looked.

She was wearing a fiery red sparkly dress that plunged at the neckline. It also showed a bit of skin towards the bottom with a slit at the side that showed off Vicki's right leg that was poking through.

"What an attention seeker. She looks desperate." Alicia Spinnet sniggered within their circle, it was well known in their group that Alicia never thought much of Vicki and her friends.

"Wipe that drool off your chin, Weasley. Pop your eyes back in while you're at it and keep them off her. She's mine." Montague growled towards Fred as he noticed the Gryffindor's attention on his date from the next group over.

The group of Gryffindors snarled at Montague but decided to ignore him to not give him the satisfaction of a negative reaction. Unfortunately for them this made him continue on his tirade.

"Yep. You may have gotten a dog for a date, but I didn't. I guess you can look, but you'll never be able to touch." Montague smirked widely.

It wasn't Fred who would protest loudly – it would be Lee. He took the greatest offence to Angelina being called a nasty name as he was highly attracted to her. Vicki was still a friend and he would later regret dragging her into his retort but at the time it slipped out of his mouth.

"Actually Vicki asked Fred to the ball. He said no because he wanted to go with Angelina. So clearly Vicki Hartwell isn't as wanted as you thought, eh?" Lee spoke up angrily, ignoring the filthy look Fred was shooting him.

"You're lying. There's no way someone of that beauty would consider a poor blood traitor as a suitor. If she rejected invitations from Diggory and Davies there's no way she would have asked a Weasley." Montague snarled with anger.

During his tirade he hadn't noticed that Vicki had appeared behind him – the Gryffindor's certainly weren't going to inform him of this fact.

"Actually, I did ask him. He did turn me down. I don't blame him though, look at Angelina. She's gorgeous. He got the best looking date by far." Vicki spoke up loudly.

The Gryffindors all began to smirk widely at Vicki's revelation. Montague on the other hand was flabbergasted and could only spit out random sounds in an attempt to build a defence.

"Save it. I don't care about whatever you're trying to say. I'm getting food." Vicki stated as she put a hand up to silence Montague before striding off into the Great Hall. Montague only shot one last glare towards the Gryffindors before he went to run after her.

"Okay, that was awesome. She still looks like an attention seeker in that dress but she's just won a few points for being classy and humble over what just happened." Alicia stated in shock.

Most of the group were agreeing with Alicia as they began to make their way in. Fred noticed Angelina was rooted in her spot and he waited with her until the Entrance Hall was deserted. This was when Angelina spoke up.

"Did Hartwell really ask you to the dance – and you turned her down because of me?" Angelina asked Fred.

Fred felt himself grow uncomfortable as his palms began to sweat. In order to distract himself he began to rub his neck awkwardly. It was rare for someone else other than Vicki to make him nervous and he didn't know how to act.

"Er, yeah. I'd already asked you at that point." Fred nervously responded.

He still had yet to have the 'friends' talk with Angelina. He was hoping to prepare himself for the discussion but it had now been sprung onto him and there was no going back.

"Why didn't you just go with her and talk to me about it? You're in love with Vicki, I would have understood." Angelina softly asked.

"Am not!" Fred snapped suddenly in defence.

"Yeah, you are. Not in the obsession or puppy dog infatuation way either. You are actually in love with Hartwell." Angelina boldly stated.

Fred was silent for a few moments as he looked down and began to shuffle his feet. Ange was a good friend to him but he normally wasn't this raw with her. The only people who ever saw this side of him was George and Vicki.

"I-I think she's nice. I do like her." Fred responded quietly.

"You LOVE her." Angelina corrected him.

"What makes you say that?" Fred asked her curiously.

"It's probably a bit of a cliché to say this but I've seen the way you look at her. You completely and utterly adore her. I heard you the other night in the common room talking to George. It was about 9 o' clock on a Wednesday night and you mentioned to George you were thinking about Vicki and you were wondering what she was doing at that very moment. Boys in like don't do that. Boys in love do. She's clearly always on your mind." Angelina explained with a smug smile on her face.

"Are you mad about it? Y'know, that I er- well, that I love Vicki but I'm going to the ball with you?" Fred asked, a small smile on his face as he admitted out loud for the very first time how he really felt about Vicki.

"I think it's incredibly sweet and loyal you'd still go with me. Look there's no hard feelings. I accepted your invitation as a friend because I thought you'd be a fun date. It's just a shame that Vicki didn't accept Cedric's date for the same reason. Would have stopped his budding relationship with Chang and he would have remained single." Angelina sighed with a small smile as the two began to make their way into the Great Hall.

Fred couldn't contain his smile as a big thought crossed his mind. Around him it seemed all that existed were unrequited feelings as he calculated the complicated relationships in his head. Lee liked Angelina. Angelina liked Cedric, even though it was probably not a very serious crush. Rumours were that a third year girl had a big crush on Lee after his commentary the previous year. Harry got rejected by Cho, as did Ron with Fleur. Montague seemed to really like Vicki. Vicki…seemed like to Fred. Fred was in love with Vicki.

Everyone's love life was complicated, but now his seemed so easy. He had spent so long overcomplicating his feelings for her it was a strange but warm feeling to wash over him that it was actually stupidly simple. He was very grateful for his chat to Angelina, she was a true friend.

There was now only one small hurdle in front of him now. Montague.

"Aw look at Cedric and Cho! They look so happy." Steph remarked happily from her seat once all the students had taken their seats. Some of the popular sixth year students had been seated together – making Steph and Vicki happy as they got to sit next to each other. Kyle Stebbins and Graham Montague however were less than pleased their dates were ignoring them to gossip to each other.

"Good on him," Vicki beamed towards her friends but then burst into a fit of giggles when she saw who Harry was seated to "Potter certainly doesn't look too happy being forced to sit next to Percy bloody Weasley. I wouldn't either, poor kid."

"Look at Davies, that schmuck. He can't take his eyes off that Delacour girl and looks like a fool banging his hand on the table like an idiot." Montague chuckled as he thought that saying negative things would help him win over Vicki.

She cast her eyes to the champion's table and watched as her ex-boyfriend stared at his date in amazement. As predicted she wasn't jealous but the situation made her feel uneasy. Vicki had never made Roger go gaga like that before and it bothered her. She felt inadequate.

"Whatever. Fleur is stunning, she's part Veela so biologically she has a charm that no other girl here would possess. Can't blame Rodge for not being able to dodge." Vicki snapped but held a small grin as she did so.

"What I was going to say," Graham said as he cleared his throat awkwardly "No matter how much of an idiot he looks right now, his biggest moron action is still letting you go. You're the prettiest girl in the room, certainly better than snobby Delacour."

Vicki sent Graham a weak smile as she began to feel a little sorry for him. She knew that he had deep feelings for her – feelings she did not share. She had to have a talk with him later that she didn't see him as anything but a dear old friend. She was about to break his heart and he was blissfully unaware.

She also knew it wasn't Graham's fault that she wasn't attending the ball with the one she wanted to and she shouldn't take it out on him. Her eyes flickered onto Fred's table on the other side of the room. Fred had been eyeballing her table the whole time he had been sitting down so their eyes met briefly. They both smiled and looked away feeling embarrassed they had been caught out.

"L-let's have a dance after we finish eating, okay?" Vicki stuttered as she decided to cut Graham some slack.

Dinner to Vicki felt like a very average affair. The food was good and it was nice to be dressed up seated on a smaller table with friends from other houses. But she was excited for the events the night would bring later on.

"Dumbledore is asking us to stand!" Angelina pointed out to her table of Gryffindors. They all could see Dumbledore had stood at the champion's table and was indicating for the rest of the students to do the same.

They all stood up and Dumbledore sent the tables and chairs away. With another flick of his wand he raised a platform for the Weird Sisters to perform on. As they started a slow song, the champions made their way onto the dancefloor.

"There goes Harry with Parvati. Poor kid, he has no idea what's in store for him." Katie Bell sympathetically spoke up.

The twins and Lee only shot a grin amongst themselves. Fred very badly wanted to yell something or let out a large cat call but he didn't have the heart to do it to Harry. Harry already seemed uncomfortable enough. He was also sidetracked by the sight of Montague with an arm casually slung over Vicki's shoulders and Vicki giggling furiously at something Montague had told her.

"Come on, let's go dance." Fred mumbled as he took Angelina's hand and dragged her to the dancefloor.

Fred spent quite a lot of time on the dancefloor with Angelina. For the first time in a very long time he purposely kept his eyes away from Vicki and kept her out of his mind. The main reason was due to the fact he didn't want to see her with Montague. But he also wanted to give Angelina his full attention. Even though they had both admitted it was only platonic between the two, he wanted to give her a nice night.

"That's the end of the fast song tracklist of the evening everyone. From here on in expect the sweet slow music to get you dancing real romantically with your chosen honey." The singer of the Weird Sisters announced as the upbeat music behind him changed suddenly into slow and soft music.

"That's also our portion of the evening completed with. No offense but I only signed up for the fun and funky side of the ball. Now they're playing the sappy stuff I'd rather just spend time with the girls." Angelina weakly smiled as she took a few steps away from Fred.

"None taken," Fred grinned as he also took a few steps away from Angelina "I'm err- go and find…"

"Hartwell is over by the entrance of the Great Hall, she must have just walked back in. Go and get her, tiger." Angelina cheered Fred with a large smile as she gave him a playful punch on the arm.

"Thank you Ange. I'm still glad you were my date for tonight, at least for the cheery part of the night." Fred responded after turning his head quickly to see that Vicki was awkwardly standing around the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Yeah, yeah. Thank me later. Go!" Angelina shooed Fred as she gave him one last shove in Vicki's direction before she disappeared through the crowd to find her friends.

Fred smiled at Vicki as he made his way through the dancing couples to reach her. As he walked towards her he took in her beauty and couldn't believe she was waiting for a chump like him. He rarely had sappy thoughts run through his mind but in that moment all he could think about was how much of an angel she looked standing there.

Her body looked great in her attention grabbing dress but it was her face that he was fixated on. Her long hair had been styled into waves that hung down past her shoulders and her eyes were wide eyed and innocent as she looked his way.

Fred always felt a little bad that his infatuation with her began before he really knew her that well. Once he got to know her he had fallen in love with her as a person. But his initial obsession was based on her looks. But as he watched her as he got nearer to her he could understand why he grew feelings for her purely because of the way she looked.

"Hey." Vicki softly spoke as he finally reached her.

"Hi. Ready for that dance we agreed upon earlier?" Fred asked as he cocked up an eyebrow and offered a hand towards Vicki.

"Sure." Vicki smiled widely as she put his hand in hers and let him lead the way onto a good spot on the dancefloor.

"How's your night been?" Fred asked Vicki.

"Yeah…it's been a bit dramatic really. I just had the 'let's be friends' talk with Graham." Vicki responded with a wince.

"And?" Fred asked curiously, very eager to hear what had gone down.

"Well…" Vicki began.


I was going to have one long part for the Ball, but I decided to cut it in half and end it here instead. Basically it's a nice little break as next part we'll really contrast Fred with Montague - and there's so much drama coming in the next chapter I couldn't contain it to one part only.

In response to the reviews:

ForeverTeamEdward13: As always - thanks! x You might hate me for leaving it here but at least the ball goes for longer now hehe.

Raven Woods 2003: Thank you! So sorry to cut it in half but as I said above there's more ball this way at least.

Paulies1994: I now can't stop listening to that song, haha. That's the theme song for these past few chapters I swear.