"Well…he wasn't happy when I said that I really liked someone else. Oh well." Vicki responded with a small smile.
Fred was so ecstatic at Vicki's words that he didn't realise she was trying to cover up and downplay her recent interaction with Montague.
Earlier that evening…
"Hey, the champion's dance is almost over and they've opened up the dancefloor to everyone else. Do you want to dance?" Graham asked Vicki keenly.
"Maybe soon? I don't want to be one of the first couples on the dancefloor." Vicki replied with honesty.
The words slipped out of Vicki's mouth as it didn't occur to her that her choice of words would accidentally give Graham false hope. Unfortunately for her – he was going to take it and run with it.
"You think we're a couple, hey? I really like the sound of that. Why don't we make that happen for real?" Graham asked her as he slung an arm around her shoulder to earn some contact with her.
"You know what? Dancing right now sounds fun." Vicki nervously giggled as she bounded onto the dancefloor with Graham hot on her heels.
From there the two began to dance for a while. Graham kept trying his luck with Vicki. Even with the upbeat pop music and the fast dancing around them this didn't stop him from trying to be romantic with her. He would constantly do things like wrap his arm around her waist to bring her closer to him, stroke her face and call her beautiful and brush her hair behind her ears.
Every advance that Graham tried with her, Vicki would try and use obvious body language to show she was uncomfortable. He either didn't take the hint or didn't care as he would continue to show the same intimate affection towards her.
"O-okay. Yeah. Let's go for a walk." Vicki proposed as she unwrapped his arms around her neck and made a beeline for the exit to the Entrance Hall. She had been dreading the talk with Graham but after recent events she knew it was time to let him down.
As she left the castle and made her way into the temporary fairy light and rose garden that had been created outside, he still continued to paw at her. They were standing next to a rose bush as she sighed and gained the inner courage to do more than just show she was uncomfortable through body language.
"Hey, Graham, look-" Vicki began but he cut her off by slowly shushing her and putting a finger to her lips.
"No talking. Let's just be silent for a while and lap up the moment. Then we can both confess our feelings and go from there." Graham stated.
Vicki considered for a brief moment to just roll with it. When they got to the 'confess the feelings' stage she planned on confessing that she held nothing but friendly feelings towards him. She then decided against this and knew it was better to speak up now. She needed to cut to the chase as she felt it was cruel to give him any more false hope. She was also a little annoyed he had shushed her – no one ever gets to cut her off mid sentence to tell her what to do.
"Actually, this can't wait. I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression tonight, but I thought we were coming tonight in a friends sense. I probably shouldn't have accepted your ball invitation as you've already confessed feelings for me before – but I thought it was pretty obvious I don't feel the same way." Vicki sighed. She knew she was being fairly blunt but there was no other way for her to get her message across. There was no way to sugar-coat it or to stop him from hurting. It was the only way she could be kind.
Graham was silent as Vicki's words sank in. She could swear she saw anger flash across his face for a split second but moments later an almost creepy smile replaced it.
"That's okay. I've waited so long for you. I can wait a little longer until you're ready." Graham responded.
Once again Vicki considered to just go along with his statement. She had done her good deed by attempting to let him down – if he chose to wait around that was his issue. But she knew that wasn't the right thing to do. She had to let him off the hook completely and let him know she would most likely never hold any romantic feelings towards him. It was the right thing to do.
Maybe there was some Gryffindor in her after all.
"I-I think you should move on. I've kind of caught really strong feelings for someone and well, who knows where that will take me." Vicki stuttered out as she barely contained a large smile at the thought of Fred.
This is what set Graham off and stopped his faux pleasantries. In seconds his face had twisted in rage as he began to attack the rose bush next to Vicki violently. She squealed in surprise and fear as she jumped away to let him continue his assault onto the bush, pulling out petals and bloodying his hands on the thorns.
"I don't get it. What does this mystery boy have over me? Why don't you like me?" Graham asked her.
Vicki began to feel increasingly uncomfortable, and not due to the sheer awkwardness of the situation. She felt Graham's anger was a little irrational and his outbursts were making her begin to fear for her safety. She began to eye the path that led back into the Entrance Hall and tried to look casual as she took a few steps back to the castle.
"I'm not sure. I'm a teenage girl with little experience with boys, I still don't know what I'm looking for. But I really want to take a chance with this other guy, I'm quite fond of him." Vicki responded, once again taking a few steps back towards the castle and back to safety.
Unfortunately for her, her actions weren't quite as subtle as she hoped. Graham could see Vicki was trying to inch away from him and he quickly shot out his arm and grabbed her shoulder roughly. Vicki let out a loud yelp in surprise at his rough contact.
"I still don't understand. I've been so nice to you, and for years. I wanted you before anyone else did, even before that schmuck Davies. I bought you an expensive Christmas gift you're currently wearing around your pretty little neck. I even took your side over my own grandmother's. For what? For you to tell me you prefer some loser over me?" Graham spat out angrily.
His words took effect on her for a moment as guilt settled in. Only for a split second as she felt anger surge through her moments later. She didn't like that he thought he had some claim on her purely because he was nice to her and decided to purchase an expensive gift she didn't ask for.
"Hey, Vicki, you alright? What's going on here?" Vicki saw her ex-boyfriend call out as he approached her and Graham with Fleur to his side. Graham's grip on her dropped suddenly and Vicki took no hesitation in quickly scurrying to Roger's side.
"We're good. Just clearing the air about a few things. Thanks though," Vicki weakly smiled before she turned to a very annoyed looking Fleur "Sorry to interrupt whatever you were both about to do. I have someone to go find, so I'll get out of your hair."
Vicki let the adrenaline run through her as she briskly walked back into the Entrance Hall. She didn't even mind that her ex boyfriend and his beautiful date had ventured outside to be alone and get up to no good. She was still disturbed at her interaction with Graham and was trying to not think about what would have happened if Roger didn't stumble across the two and break it up.
She was so busy lost in her own thoughts she didn't realise her female best friend had appeared in front of her with her date – until Steph spoke up.
"Are there any teachers out there? I overheard Roger brag to Phillip that it's nice and secluded and easy to hide out there, so it's a good spot to do certain er, things with your ball partner, if you get my drift?" Steph asked Vicki with a wink, indicating to Kyle Stebbins next to her.
"Er yeah, it was pretty secluded." Vicki responded, excusing herself to enter the Great Hall.
She took a few steps in and awkwardly waited at the entrance to the hall. She desperately needed to see Fred. She looked through the sea of bodies in the hall and it took her a while but eventually her eyes landed on him.
However he was still with Angelina. Vicki's heart dropped at the sight of them. She knew there was a good chance he was still with Angelina – he was her date after all. But even after preparing herself mentally for a while of this exact scenario it still hurt her deeply to see them together. Vicki felt tears prick her eyes and she began to slowly back out of the hall until she noticed both Fred and Angelina look her way.
Vicki watched as Angelina shoved Fred in the direction towards the entrance and without a single glance backwards she easily departed from Fred. All negative thoughts and feelings drained from Vicki as she watched Fred make his way towards her. She watched him wide eyed as a realisation came over her. All that mattered right now was the two of them. Not the dramas with Montague, or the other students in their way. Her only concern right now was Fred Weasley.
"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…he wasn't happy when I said that I really liked someone else. Oh well." Vicki responded with a small smile.
Fred was so ecstatic at Vicki's words that he didn't realise she was trying to cover up and downplay her recent interaction with Montague.
"I've had a very similar discussion with Angelina. Fortunately for me we were both on the same page. In fact she's very much hoping that things work out with the girl I like." Fred playfully stated.
Fred was very pleased he was able to act like his usual jovial self. Inside he was a big bundle of nerves. He was very lightly tethering on finally admitting his true feelings to Vicki. But he still felt a hint of confidence at the same time. After all, it appeared she was doing the same.
"What a coincidence. We both seem to like someone, yet came to the ball with other people," Vicki flirtatiously stated and then gained courage to take it further "See, there's this guy I really like. I even asked him to be my date to the ball. But he'd already asked someone else at that point."
Vicki's words breathed even more bravery into Fred and he sprang into action. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist affectionately as the two began to slow dance. This caused Vicki to tightly grip his neck with her own arms.
He took a few moments to reply as he wanted to savour the moment. His greatest wish was about to come true and he wanted to lap it all up.
"What a coincidence indeed. I really, really, really like this girl right. I was going to ask her to the ball but I very incorrectly thought she was going with someone else, and then stupidly asked a friend to go with me instead." Fred smugly stated as he took a step towards Vicki in order to be closer to her.
Vicki bit her lip as she looked deep into his eyes. Even with her over anxious mind there was no denying it. Fred liked her. It was officially risk free for her to spill her feelings to him. This would be a lot happier than the confession conversation she had earlier in the evening.
"Can we just drop this little playful act and just outwardly admit that we like each other? Then go from there?" Vicki proposed as she cocked her head as nerves once again began to build up inside of her.
"Depends. Can I kiss you right now?" Fred cockily asked as he took yet another step towards Vicki closing most of the gap between them.
Vicki nervously looked around. There were students and teachers everywhere. It wasn't very private and they were going to get busted very easily for 'inappropriate contact' – the teachers would also come down on her harder than a normal student as she was a prefect.
"There's teachers everywhere. We're going to get into so much trouble." Vicki giggled.
"You need to live a little outside of your little prefect bubble. Of course if you don't want to-" Fred stated but he was cut off by Vicki roughly grabbing the front of his dress robes and mashing her lips onto his.
It caught Fred by surprise so he was rooted to his spot for a few seconds. When the shock wore off he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and deepened the kiss.
They both continued to snog wildly until they felt a jolt and they were both torn apart. They looked up and saw a very unhappy looking Snape who had just used a spell to break them up.
"Highly inappropriate behaviour. Open displays of affection are prohibited at the best of times. To engage in this behaviour at an esteemed event with guest schools is quite simply, inexcusable." Snape snarled at the two.
Vicki hung her head as an act to try and convey shame. She wasn't regretting her spontaneous snog with Fred as she was overjoyed that she finally knew he felt the same way about her. But she didn't want Snape to know she didn't care.
"Hartwell, twenty five points will be taken from Ravenclaw for your disobedience. Weasley, thirty points from Gryffindor because quite frankly we all knew you'd somehow try and ruin this event." Snape snarled towards the two.
"Sir, twenty five points? That's a little unfair considering students are sneaking outside to give wristies and do even more inappropriate things! A small snog should warrant a lot less than twenty five points!" Vicki spoke up suddenly. She hadn't lost a single point for Ravenclaw in her entire time at Hogwarts. Losing so many in one hit was a big shock to her.
"If you don't stop arguing with me I'll make it double for both you and your friend here. Now I must go outside and investigate these claims." Snape stated before he turned around and briskly walked out of the Great Hall.
"Miserable git. Just because he's never gotten any action in his life." Fred muttered but broke out into a grin as he remembered that he had just kissed Vicki, and this time it wasn't just as a plan to not get into trouble. It was because she wanted to.
"I bet he doesn't even know what a wristy is or he would have been even angrier. He's going to have a heart attack when he goes out there, considering just kissing upset him that much." Vicki giggled.
They continued to dance for a small while (deciding not to kiss lest they feel Snape's wrath again) until the Weird Sisters took a break and claimed they'd be back on stage soon to finish their set.
"Ah you absolute madman! You did it!" George yelled loudly as he bounded up to the two and pat him on the back.
"He's liked you for a while Vicki but made us swear to secrecy. But now it's out in the open, we can tease him out in the open." Lee smirked widely as he joined George.
"Oh, I see. Maybe I should leave you lads to it? I think I need a quick stop to the lavatory anyway." Vicki announced. Fred asked her to 'hurry back' as she exited the hall to go do her business.
After she was done in the girl's lavatory she was surprised to see Montague in the Entrance Hall sitting on the stairs as she was making her way back.
"Hi Vicki. I was hoping to catch you. I wanted to clear the air with you. Could we have a quick chat?" Graham asked her as he jumped up from his seat to approach her.
"As long as it's quick." Vicki nodded. She was open to resolving things with Graham to let him have closure so he could finally move on. It also would clear her conscience so she could start something meaningful with Fred.
"Here, I have some punch for you." Graham said as he passed the cup to Vicki.
"Hey, Vicki has been gone a while. I might go and see what she's up to." Fred stated to George and Lee.
"It's already beginning George! He's already blowing us off to spend time with his girl." Lee teased loudly.
"A moment's silence for our fallen comrade, who has succumbed to the charm of a pretty girl." George added on and they both bowed their heads to mock Fred.
He chose not to reply as he eyed around the Great Hall. It was still busy in there but the crowd had thinned – some students had called it a night whilst others had snuck off to do other things. He wasn't able to see Vicki in her knockout red dress so he departed the Great Hall.
He then immediately wished he didn't. He saw Vicki's back pushed against the staircase with Montague's body pressed against hers. Montague looked as if he had his tongue down her throat and his hands were placed on intimate parts of Vicki's body over her dress.
Fred considered backing away and just leaving them to it. But hurt and anger surged through him and he needed to get to the bottom of this for his own sanity.
"What on earth is going on here?" Fred demanded to know loudly, which caused Vicki and Montague to stop kissing.
"I told you earlier Weasley. She's mine." Montague wickedly grinned.
"Vicki?" Fred asked her and tried very much to not croak his voice in his upset state.
"I am completely and utterly the property of Graham Montague. I love him so much." Vicki confirmed with a dazed smile.
"That's my girl." Montague beamed before catching Vicki in a big kiss again.
Fred was confused and upset as he decided to walk away without a response. He didn't see any value in sticking around or confronting Vicki on why she had showed him affection earlier if she was in love with Montague.
He backed off and decided to make his way back into the Great Hall. He needed George and Lee to cheer him up.
On his way back in he saw Fleur and Roger walk back into the castle from outside hand-in-hand and Fleur was giggling madly. Seeing another happy couple made him furious, and as Davies was previously linked to Vicki he decided to take out his anger on Davies.
"Be careful if you're on your way back to Ravenclaw Tower. You'll have to pass Montague and Vicki doing things that shouldn't be done in public." Fred spat loudly at the loved up couple.
This caused Roger to stiffen in his spot as he let go of Fleur immediately, the first time for the entire evening she did not have his full attention. This annoyed her greatly as she stamped her foot on the spot in annoyance but she still didn't manage to get back Roger's attention. He was looking at Fred with his mouth open.
"Montague? No way. She doesn't like him." Roger responded.
"Apparently she does. It was definitely him I saw, after she proclaimed her love for him and claimed she was his property." Fred angrily retorted.
"'Zis Hartwell girl. I don't know 'er 'zat well, but 'zat does not sound like something she would say." Fleur spoke up but still looked very unamused at the situation unfolding.
"Nope, definitely not a Vicki Hartwell comment. Unless...hang on!" Roger exclaimed loudly as he began to race down the Entrance Hall without warning and called behind him for Fleur to wait and that he'd be right back.
Fred took a look at Fleur and smirked as she definitely looked like she would not wait for him. He then took after Roger briskly.
"What's going on?" Fred shot at Roger.
"I ran into Vicki and Montague earlier tonight. Vicki was trying to tell him she wasn't into him. Montague then was getting really forceful, grabbing onto her and not letting go. Also said weird stuff like he deserves her. He was treating her like an object." Roger explained.
"Why is she with him then?" Fred responded. He was confused. It didn't make sense. Luckily he was in the presence of a clever Ravenclaw who was about to explain it to him.
"He has to have somehow slipped her a love potion." Roger explained just as Vicki and Montague had come back into sight.
Fred growled as it finally sank in. Roger was right – it had to have been a love potion. That was the only way all the dots connected. He swallowed in discomfort as he saw Montague's lips trailing kisses down Vicki's neck but the rage that was flowing through him gave him courage to confront him.
"You dirty bastard, you've given her a love potion!" Fred yelled at Montague as he gave him a large shove to pull him off Vicki.
"No I haven't. Maybe you two losers should accept that she's mine now and just leave us two alone to be happy!" Montague loudly retorted.
"Puh-lease. I've moved on. Didn't you see I was with Fleur Delacour tonight? But the jig is up Montague. We know for a fact she's under the influence of a love potion. Stop denying it." Roger said, earning a dirty look and an eye roll from Fred for once again dropping the fact he was with the beautiful quarter-Veela tonight.
"Prove it." Montague hissed.
"Oi Vicki, when did you realise you're in love with old mate over here?" Fred asked suddenly, jerking his head towards Montague.
"Tonight of course. Romance is in the air." Vicki uncharacteristically sighed as she bat her eyelashes towards Montague.
"That doesn't prove anything!" Montague protested.
"As a girl deeply in love, you must love to think and speak about your proclamation of love. Tell us, what happened? What happened directly before you realised you loved him?" Roger asked her.
"Well, I was going to talk to him about something else and he gave me punch-" Vicki began to explain but Fred cut her off quickly.
"Uh huh! Spiked punch. That proves it!" Fred grinned wickedly.
"Does not. I gave her punch. So what? Everyone drank punch tonight." Montague seethed.
"True. But as she's not herself after consuming punch given by you, one could have their suspicions. I for one do. So I propose we take her directly to Professor Snape for his expert opinion. He'll be able to test if she's under the influence." Roger proposed.
Montague blinked in surprise and stayed silent. Fred and Roger watched him carefully to stay prepared for his next move. However without warning he dropped Vicki and sprinted in the opposite direction, presumably to go and hide in the Slytherin dungeons.
"Coward." Roger spat as he immediately bent down to help Vicki off the floor.
"Where's Graham gone? Oh I already miss him terribly." Vicki pouted.
"Hey Weasley, can I hand her over to you? You can take care of her from here, right? I need to go back to Fleur." Roger asked Fred.
Fred only nodded as he placed an arm around Vicki to steady her. She still had full control of her body functions but as her mind was hazy it wasn't working properly.
"Symbolic isn't it? Me handing her over to you." Roger joked.
Fred only glared in response as he didn't appreciate the comment. The whole situation had put him in a bad mood. He was terribly angry with Montague and vowed to get revenge. But he also didn't want to hear about Davies' past with Vicki.
"Vicki. Fred here is taking you to Madam Pomfrey. You want to know why? Madam Pomfrey can help you and Graham. You just need to see her." Roger said to Vicki, mumbling to Fred you had to treat victims of Love Potions as 'idiots' to get them to do things.
Roger finally departed from the two leaving Fred and Vicki alone.
Fred sighed as he began to direct Vicki to the Hospital Wing. It was the most amazing night of his life but it had turned sour very quickly. He wasn't even mad for his own night being ruined. He was angry that Montague had ruined the night and he was mad that he knew that Vicki was going to be psychologically affected at what could have happened once she snapped out of it.
I bet you all hate me a little less now ;)
Unfortunately updates may be slowed for the next week or two - which is why I raced this one out so you wouldn't be left in the dark. I have the hardest exam of my course in a week and I'm also getting married in a month and a half so there's all these boring preparations that need to be done.
