Even though New Year's Eve was only a stone throws away from Christmas, a lot of the students began winding down their festive spirit after Christmas was done and dusted. The Yule Ball was a major event that majority of the students were looking forward to. With the second task being quite a while away and no other events to be excited about in the interim, a lot of students were left feeling flat. Especially as most students would normally be home at this time of year – it seemed a bit pathetic to some that New Year's Eve would be spent in their house common rooms for a quiet night in.

The Gryffindors on the other hand had a small thing to look forward to. New Year's Eve was associated with fireworks both in the magic and the muggle community. Therefore many had turned their sights onto the Weasley twins who promised there would be 'something for everyone' and 'not a soul will be left disappointed'

"This is going to be such a lame night. Why on earth did I stay over Christmas for that stupid ball? I could be hitting up about ten cool parties tonight if I went home over the Christmas holidays. That ball definitely wasn't worth it." Steph loudly whinged to Vicki at lunch.

"Add another ten muggle parties I'm sure I'd have connections to, we'd have twenty to choose from between us." Vicki grinned.

Even though the two girls were clearly exaggerating about the number of parties they were invited to, their loud and obnoxious complaints were heard by a Ravenclaw girl in the year above who sent a big scowl towards both Vicki and Steph from across the table.

"So you can't attend twenty parties and instead have to spend only one new years of your life trapped in a tower when you'd rather be at a more fashionable place. My heart bleeds for you poor souls." The girl mocked them.

Both Steph and Vicki shot dirty looks towards the girl. Only Steph was miffed enough to speak up, she was always the bitchier one of the duo.

"Don't hate us 'cause you ain't us." Steph sassily responded with a wink.

The girl only scoffed again and huffed as she jumped up from the lunch table and stalked away angrily.

Vicki and Steph looked at each other before letting out loud snickers. They were both cut off when Vicki's owl, Fez, dropped a newspaper in front of her.

It had been a very emotional week for Vicki. Coming to terms with what Montague had done to her was very hard. Not only did it sicken her about what could have happened – it was hard for Vicki because Montague was one of her oldest school friends. After years of friendship she never thought he would break her trust. It was also hard to lose a friendship she had built up over such a long period of time.

After speaking with Steph all of Boxing Day trapped up in their dormitory, Steph had convinced Vicki to report what Montague had done to her to someone. They approached Paul Greene the Ravenclaw Head Boy who was also disgusted at what had happened. All three of them saw their head of house – Professor Flitwick the next day. He immediately called a meeting with the deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was almost uncharacteristically nice to Vicki. Not wanting to get her student's hopes up, McGonagall put a sympathetic hand on Vicki's shoulder and informed her that Love Potions were only against school rules. They were completely legal to use in the magic community and thus Montague was likely to not be punished very severely. McGonagall made sure to tell Vicki she did not agree with the legal status of love potions and it certainly 'was not right' – but it would be up to Snape to decide Montague's punishment and it would most likely be something minor.

Vicki of course was very disappointed by this. However instead of dwelling on it she decided to move forward with her life. It was so close to a new year and she was so close to starting a proper relationship with Fred. Who cared about Montague right now?

"What's that?" Steph asked curiously as Vicki unrolled the newspaper and grinned.

"It's a muggle newspaper from two days ago sent by my mother. This must be good." Vicki stated but made no attempt to unroll the newspaper.

Steph muttered that she didn't understand what was great about an old muggle newspaper but Vicki ignored her as she cast her eyes upon the Gryffindor table. Her eyes met Fred's and she realised he must have been looking her way. Rather than being embarrassed she was caught looking at him, she sent Fred a sly smile as she beckoned him over with her finger. He quickly said bye to George and Lee as he made his way over to the Ravenclaw table.

"You have that boy at your beckoned call? I like it." Steph grinned as she gave Vicki a pat on her back and departed, to give Fred space to sit down at the table.

"Are you free to spend some time with me this afternoon? My mother sent me a good source of entertainment." Vicki smiled as she pointed to the newspaper in her hand.

"Sure. Want to go find a quiet spot now?" Fred responded with no hesitation.

The two got up from the Ravenclaw table and exited the Great Hall. Vicki asked if Fred needed to tell George and Lee that he was going to be unavailable for the afternoon but Fred said it was 'fine' as the two went to go find a bench in a quiet corridor. The fourth floor had a quiet bench near the staircase and the two sat themselves down as Vicki finally unrolled the newspaper.

"This is a muggle newspaper." Fred stated as he looked on. The main giveaway was that the photos in the picture were not moving and some were even in colour. But the title of the newspaper was also different – the word 'prophet' was missing and 'mail' was there instead.

"It is. Mum sent it to me. It's actually fairly amusing that my mother is basically a muggle." Vicki stated.

"Why?" Fred asked curiously, wanting to learn every single detail of his almost-girlfriend's life.

"She grew up in an exclusive magic community. Her parents weren't anti-muggle or anything but saw no reason to mix with muggles. Dad on the other hand was orphaned at a young age, so his squib uncle took him in and raised him in London basically as a muggle until he was old enough for Hogwarts. These days Dad has almost nothing to do with muggles, he even disconnected his phone. Mum on the other hand barely even uses magic around the house." Vicki explained.

"Sorry to hear about your paternal grandparents," Fred sympathetically said, but then continued on to lighten the mood "It's a pretty amusing shift though."

"Anyway because mum is basically a muggle, she normally reads The Daily Mail over the Daily Prophet. Muggle newspapers are a much more amusing read just for the personals alone. Mum always sends me her discarded paper if there's some really funny ones." Vicki stated.

She then opened the newspaper and flicked towards the back. She let out an 'aha!' as she stumbled across the personals. The two sat in silence as they both read the advertisements put in the paper by lonely people.

After reading the first few Vicki felt a little bad as they were genuine people looking for a real relationship. She was worried that Fred would think she was being quite cruel by finding amusement of other's people misfortune which was not the case.

Lucky for her the next few were the usual, creepy personals that made her laugh. The usual older men seeking younger women, some asking for specifically Russian or Asian ladies. Vicki was a fast reader and giggled as she saw how inappropriate the ads were and waited patiently for Fred to finish reading a few. Finally he spoke up after omitting non-stop laughter for five minutes.

"Merlin! How is this allowed to be published? You'd never see this rubbish in the Daily Prophet!" Fred spoke up, sounding very amused.

"This isn't the worst of it. In the commercial section there will be lots of advertisements of thinly veiled massage parlours that offer sexual services for cash. In the housing section I bet there's men that offer free board for 'special arrangements'." Vicki laughed as she turned the page to show Fred.

There enough, her predictions were correct. Almost word-for-word, exactly what Vicki described were on the pages. Fred let out a whistle at Vicki's accuracy but once again chuckled at the words on the page.

"Last, but not least. The random message page. That's always funny too." Vicki grinned, pointing it out to Fred. The two went silent as they read the messages people had printed in the paper.

Pig. I saw you at the shops the other day. You grabbed my behind and I told you if you did that again I'd kill you. You did. I need your address now.

Robert I am so sorry I hurt you. Please call me. Please. Or at least leave the porch light on. You know what that means.

Seeking someone who can do a good Donald Duck impersonation to leave a romantic answering machine message for my girlfriend.

Surgeon wanted – to do surgery outside of a hospital. Do not ask questions.

JESUS SAVED ME. That is all.

"Where have muggle newspapers been my whole life?" Fred asked Vicki in amazement as he read over her shoulder.

"Whenever mum sends me more, I'll show you." Vicki smiled to Fred.

When she turned to face him she realised just how close his face was to hers. The same thought hit Fred at the exact same time and without hesitation he rested his chin onto her shoulder.

"Hi." Fred grinned to Vicki affectionately.

"Well hello there." Vicki flirted back.

"I wish I could spend New Years Eve with you." Fred pouted, removing his chin from her shoulder and jumping back onto the bench to sit next to her. He mostly kept a distance from her this time but entwined his hand into hers lightly.

"I know! Me too! I had this exact same conversation with Steph earlier. I think we're going to hold a 'boyfriend in other houses' pity party. I might invite Cho to sit with us too." Vicki stated, with a smile at Fred's affections towards her.

"Too bad you won't be able to join them. You don't have a boyfriend." Fred teased playfully.

"Well, that's only because I haven't been asked." Vicki shot back immediately.

Fred cocked his head as he stared at Vicki and tried to read her face. There was nothing more he wanted than to be able to call Vicki his girlfriend. The only thing that had stopped him from trying to progress things between them was due to the fact that a week ago she had stated she wanted things to 'move slowly'. Fred felt he was willing to wait until the end of time for her, so he was being patient for the first time in his life.

But he was now picking up on cues from Vicki that perhaps she was now willing to take the next step forward.

"The only reason I haven't asked is because I'm respecting your wishes of moving things slow." Fred honestly responded.

Vicki smiled softly towards Fred. She knew her next response would be important and she had to quickly make up her mind. Fred was on the cusp of asking her to be his girlfriend. She had to quickly decide if she was ready to take the plunge or if she needed to wait a tad bit longer.

Before she could even make up her mind, her next sentence slipped out.

"Well we could still move things slow even if we did get together for real…" Vicki slipped out.

Fred grinned. He had been in disbelief over the past week that Vicki had liked him. But this was a conversation he couldn't believe he was having. He also couldn't believe what he was about to do. He had been too nervous to make any moves on Vicki and had allowed her to lead their relations up until now. But this time it would be different. He was about to grab onto what he wanted the most.

"Well in that case. Victoria Hartwell. Would you do the honours of becoming my girlfriend?" Fred asked Vicki nobly, trying to keep it light-hearted by asking in an uncharacteristic formal voice.

"For realsies? Or are you joking?" Vicki asked with a large smile on her face.

"Definitely for realsies. I'm as serious about this as Moody is about his constant vigilance." Fred joked loudly which made Vicki smile.

"I guess that means you're pretty serious then." Vicki stated.

"Come on! Don't leave a guy hanging. Are you going to give me an answer?" Fred whined, rubbing his thumb gently on Vicki's palm to remind her that they were still holding hands.

Vicki smiled a little at Fred's discomfort. She didn't mean to dawdle in her answer to make him feel uncomfortable. She was so overjoyed she had simply forgotten to give the answer.

"I now pronounce the new boyfriend and girlfriend, Victoria Hartwell and Frederick Weasley." Vicki responded.

Fred was so ecstatic by Vicki's words that he took no hesitation in leaning down to give Vicki a kiss to celebrate their new relationship status. He meant it to be a simple kiss but Vicki grabbed onto his shoulders to turn the kiss into a very big snog.

"It feels so good to be able to kiss you. It also feels good I can now do this whenever I want." Fred quietly said to Vicki with a big smile on his face as he leaned his forehead against hers happily.

"We should snog as much as we can this afternoon. It'll almost make up for the fact I won't be able to kiss my boyfriend at midnight." Vicki responded.

"Call me your boyfriend again. It's perhaps the greatest thing I've ever heard." Fred requested Vicki with a large smirk.

"Come here, boyfriend." Vicki stated as she grabbed him by the scuff of his shirt and kissed him hungrily.


As soon as Vicki hit the Ravenclaw common room that night she strode her way over to a couch where she saw Steph Fawcett and Cho Chang sitting glumly together. Cho was a recent addition to the popular circle, but as Cedric's girlfriend she was welcomed warmly. Both Steph and Vicki adored their fellow house member and it was now common to see her sitting with the two girls.

Vicki had skipped dinner as she spent the afternoon with Fred. The two of them hit the kitchens and had dinner in there instead. They were both wanting to nick as much food as possible for the respective parties they were holding in the two house common rooms.

Vicki let Fred take most of it as she only wanted to share junk food with a few people, compared to Fred who wanted to feed a whole house.

But as Vicki had missed dinner she still had yet to share the good news with her friends.

"Cheer up girls. One night away from your boyfriends won't kill you." Vicki cheerfully stated as she sat down between Steph and Cho on the three-seater couch.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have a boyfriend," Steph muttered before her eyes opened in shock as she realised how rude she sounded "I'm sorry, I meant it in-"

"It's all good. You're wrong anyway. I do happen to have a boyfriend." Vicki proudly stated as she cut off her friend.

This caused Cho and Steph to sit up in their seats as they began firing question after question to Vicki before she could even answer them. When did it happen, how did it happen. And most importantly – who was it. They had an inkling, but they were hoping Montague hadn't squeezed his way back into Vicki's life.

"As if you even have to ask who it is. Of course it's Fred Weasley." Vicki scoffed at the two.

The three girls all became a giggling mess as they discussed their love lives for the next hour. Vicki went into detail on the events leading up to her and Fred finally getting together, and then gave every small detail about how he asked her. Every now and again Steph and Cho would interrupt to compare something to their own boyfriends but Vicki didn't mind. She knew it was the honeymoon phase for her and Fred and she was willing to milk it for as long as she could.

After Vicki had finished her story the girls made their way into the sixth year girl's dormitory. Vicki and Steph's dorm mates were out in the common room so the girls were given complete privacy to have their 'boyfriends in other houses' party.

The girls spent the rest of the night gossiping, eating junk food, playing music on Steph's wizard wireless radio, and most importantly every now and again they would sigh as they all wondered what their boyfriends were up to.

The Gryffindor common room was a bit different that evening. Fred was in a cheery mood as soon as he got back but George and Lee didn't bother to ask him why. They correctly assumed it was because he had spent the afternoon with Vicki. But they didn't realise exactly what had happened.

He was waiting for the perfect moment to drop the news in a casual manner. He thought it would be an amusing thing to state nonchalantly, much funnier than sharing the news properly.

He finally got his chance at five to midnight. He was finalising the last of the Dr Filibuster's firework display with Lee and George when the perfect opportunity presented itself.

"It'd be really nice to be able to spend New Year's Eve with a girl you really like. Hell, it'd be nice to even have the girl you really like be your girlfriend." Lee stated as he looked wistfully in Angelina's direction.

"Sorry Lee, can't empathise with you there." Fred teased his friend.

Lee narrowed his eyes at Fred's joke and made a loud cough that sounded a lot like "Vicki"

"You would be correct. Vicki is the name of my girlfriend." Fred stated with a large wink.

"Get out of here. You finally asked her to be your girlfriend?" George asked incredulously.

"Sure did." Fred stated proudly.

It was ten seconds to midnight, so George and Lee did not have enough time to respond properly. Instead they gave him a big pat on the shoulder each before setting off the firework display with their wands at the stroke of midnight.

After the fireworks had been set off and were whizzing around the Gryffindor common room, Fred took a step back and watched with his brother and his best friend.

He knew he had been lying a little when he teased Lee. Although the girl he really liked now was his girlfriend, he did sympathise when Lee had stated it would be nice to spend New Year's Eve with the girl he liked. There wasn't much he wouldn't give away right now to have Vicki by his side spending the evening with him.

Fred wasn't one to believe in News Year's resolutions. But there was one thing for certain. He was going to do absolutely everything in his power to ensure that the next New Year's Eve was spent with Vicki Hartwell. He wanted to have her with him this time next year.


Finally! 33 chapters and they're FINALLY together 'for realsies' but don't worry, this story still has a long way to go yet!