It took a few days for the school to catch on that Vicki Hartwell and Fred Weasley were officially a couple. The entire school assumed that when one of the Weasley twins got a girlfriend, that the event would be anything less than subtle. Considering Fred's crush on Vicki was also a bad kept secret as of late, a lot of the sixth years expected nothing but a very public declaration of love from Fred should his feelings ever be returned.

Those close to the two of course were told, but the rest of the school were kept in the dark.

Therefore it took a few days of hand holding and light pecks in public from the two for other students to catch on and suddenly it was hot gossip. Of course many people had seen the two snog at the Yule Ball, but at the time it was quickly forgotten as the two were just one pair in a sea of hundreds of students. The second task was still too far away to drum up keen interest from the students, so two popular students getting together served a perfect distraction from the fact that the Christmas holidays were nearly over.

It was the afternoon before the first day of term. A big group of Vicki and Cedric's friends had gathered in the library to quickly finish off their holiday homework. As Vicki had finished hers days ago when she was still dazed due to Montague's betrayal and worked hard as a distraction, she was only lightly revising a few chapters today.

"Where's that ginger boyfriend of yours, Vicki? How do you tell the difference between him and his twin? Aren't you ever afraid of snogging the wrong twin by accident?" Phillip Bridge teased Vicki as he snapped his Transfiguration book shut, growing bored of study.

Steph shot her head up at Phillip's words as she too shut her book. She had been wondering the same thing herself, but felt it was too rude to ask Vicki directly.

"He's hanging with his Gryffindor mates. You see we're comfortable enough to spend time apart and still spend time with friends. And by the way, I can easily tell the twins apart thank you very much." Vicki snapped at Phillip.

"Why don't you turn onto Ced? Cho's not here either. Where is she?" Steph teased Cedric to take the attention off Vicki, causing Cedric to shoot his head up from his book.

"She's with her friend Marietta. Apparently Marietta gets a bit upset she doesn't get to see Cho as much anymore. So Cho promised to spend the day with her." Cedric responded with a small shrug.

"Nah. Teasing Cedric about Cho isn't funny, they are good together in a sickly sweet way. Let's tease Roger instead. After all, he had the best looking girl in history and he lost her," Phillip grinned and then quickly turned to Vicki "Sorry Hartwell, I'm not referring to you."

Phillip's slightly cruel comment was lost on Vicki as her eyes met with Roger's across the table. She sent him a guilty smile which he returned before they both looked away.

It wasn't public knowledge that Graham Montague had slipped Vicki a love potion at the Yule Ball. Vicki was surprised that Montague had been radio silent since the news had broken that she was with Fred, she thought he'd try something to make it difficult for them both out of revenge.

However as all those that knew the truth had kept the secret, no one knew why Fleur Delacour had grown cold towards Roger Davies just as quickly as things had began to heat up between the two. It was because he had taken a few moments out of his night to ensure his ex-girlfriend's safety the night of the Yule Ball. Fleur didn't appreciate the loss of attention, even just for a moment.

Vicki felt a little guilty that it was because of her that Roger blew his chances with the girl he liked. Especially as things had worked out really well for her with the boy she liked. Things were still a little strained between Roger and Vicki. They had never been friends before – before they had gotten together they had very rarely interacted. But there was a mutual respect between the two and they still cared for each other in a platonic way. Therefore Vicki did wish the best for Roger moving forward.

"Who cares. I got what I wanted from her in the rose bushes." Roger smirked.

This caused most of the group to shoot Roger dirty looks.

"I certainly would not expect such a crass comment to come from a Ravenclaw." Titus, one of the social circle members from Hufflepuff spoke up as he stood up in protest.

"Yeah Rodge, that's pretty gross. I'd expect Phillip to say something like that. Not you." Steph said as she rolled her eyes and followed Titus' lead.

Most of the occupants of the table ended up leaving at this point. Some of them said it was due to Roger's cheeky comment, but Vicki had a feeling it was mostly because everyone wanted to call it a day in terms of study and enjoy their last evening of freedom before term started the next morning.

"I'll speak to everyone and get them to let it go. I'll say it was an ill-thought out comment that came out the wrong way." Vicki said to Roger as both he and Phillip began to pack up their books.

Roger only sent her a grateful smile as he silently left, with Phillip chasing after him to tell Roger he thought the comment was 'brilliant'.

The only person who hadn't left the table was the person seated next to her. Cedric. He waited until Roger and Phillip were long gone before he spoke up. When he did, he did so quietly.

"I ended up figuring out the clue in the egg. I've already told Potter, as he warned me about the dragons. It's only fair." Cedric informed Vicki with a whisper.

"What? Details!" Vicki responded suddenly, knocking her belongings off her desk in shock before awkwardly grabbing them under Madam Pince's glare.

"You were sort of right. The egg did require something to muffle the screeching. It wasn't a spell, or a pillow. Believe me I tried them all. I then tried putting it under the water in the prefect's bathroom and the sound became clear as day under water." Cedric explained to Vicki.

"So you told Harry before me. Cho I can understand because you guys are shagging, but Harry." Vicki responded in mock hurt, although there was a slight hint of a serious nature in her tone.

"I'm not shagging Cho!" Cedric corrected her quickly, which caused Vicki to let out a large grin. "I also haven't told her about the egg yet either."

"Ha! I got that bit of information out of you. Probably more important than the egg business. So you and Cho haven't gotten frisky yet, eh? I guess it makes it much harder if you're in different houses." Vicki grinned.

Vicki and Cedric had never spoken about such intimate topics before so Vicki knew she was treading dangerous waters. She felt comfortable speaking this way with Steph (who had told her many details about her love life with Stebbins) and her muggle friends. But she was testing to see how Cedric would react.

"Er, well no. We've only spoken about it once. We're um, we're both virgins so we've agreed to take it super slow." Cedric explained as his face heated up.

"Cute! Well um, I guess when you're both ready you have the prefect's bathroom at your disposal. I know for a fact that troll-ish looking Marcus Flint used to take gross non-prefect Slytherin girls in there last year. Pretty annoying as he wasn't a prefect himself, he only got access as the Quiddich captain." Vicki teased Cedric.

Cedric had turned bright red in embarrassment but still held a small grin on his face. It was a tortourous conversation to him and he was feeling very flustered but a small part of him was in fact enjoying the light teasing from his best friend. Right now he was just the goofy awkward Hufflepuff boy who was exploring adult life for the first time. He wasn't the amazing Hogwarts champion everyone had put on a pedestal.

This is why he enjoyed the company of Vicki his best friend, and Cho his girlfriend. Those two meant the world to him in two different ways. Vicki was almost family to him (considering their two families were quite close as well) and Cho was the love of his life. He felt the most normal when he was with either of them. Which is why he was concerned that he didn't know which one would be taken to be used in the second task. How could he explain to either that not only were they possibly in danger – but one of them would be determined to be more important to him.

"I could ask the same for you and Weasley. Should I start avoiding the prefect's bathroom in case you use it to your advantage?" Cedric smirked towards Vicki, feeling more confident as he shifted the topic back onto her.

"I can't get away with it. Paul Greene would kill me. He already banned me from the boy's dormitories when I was with Roger." Vicki responded with confidence.

She, unlike Cedric had experience due to her long relationship with Roger. Therefore she wasn't as shy about the topic as Cedric was.

"So you admit you have thought about the uh... deed with him?" Cedric grinned brightly. It was only now that Vicki's confidence began to decline.

"Well, no. It's only been a week. We haven't even spoken about that stuff yet." Vicki stated awkwardly.

"He's a teenage boy. He's probably thought about it." Cedric teased, but his eyes widened as he realised how inappropriate he may have sounded.

Vicki on the other hand thought nothing of it. This was the sort of conversation she'd have with Stephanie, or her muggle friend Sarah. It was a tiny bit different this time around as Cedric was a boy, but as her closest friend it was a normal thing for her to speak with him about this.

"Heh. Judging by that response, I can tell you've definitely thought about it with Cho." Vicki grinned.

"Well we have been together for quite a few weeks now, you can't blame a guy…" Cedric stammered out going bright red.

Upon hearing Cedric's words, a thought crossed Vicki's mind. She wasn't sure if she should say anything as she would be turning the topic back onto herself. However when Cedric didn't continue out of embarrassment she knew it was safe to voice her concerns.

"Do you think it will matter to Fred that I have er, quite a bit of experience with Roger?" Vicki asked Cedric nervously.

"Well, wouldn't he have previous experience himself?" Cedric responded quickly.

"What do you mean by that?" Vicki shot back.

"Fred and his twin are popular. They're also both confident and real go-getters. Surely they've both had lots of interest from girls," Cedric answered but then his voice grew soft "I guess a question you need to ask yourself is that would it bother you if he has experience?"

Vicki was silent for a few moments as she seriously considered what Cedric was saying. She wasn't bothered by what Cedric was proposing but rather more surprised. Fred had certainly never said anything about other girls to Vicki. Even his previous crush on Angelina she had heard from Roger a long time ago. But she didn't discuss her past with Roger with Fred. It wasn't a topic they ever discussed. Therefore Fred could have an extensive history she had no idea about.

"I'd be a massive hypocrite if it bothered me that he had experience with other girls. It also means we'd be on equal footing, which would make things a lot easier. But at the same time, it's not really a conversation I want to have with him. I don't want to know the details. Ignorance is bliss." Vicki responded.

"Good answer. Now, let's shift the topic away from sex and onto happier things." Cedric grinned.

"What's happier than sex? That's something a total virgin would say." Vicki snorted.

"That's something a girl who is not shifting the topic would say." Cedric retaliated.


That night in the Gryffindor sixth year boy's dormitory, Fred was about to have a very similar discussion with the boys in his year. It wasn't even his twin or close friend who would bring up the topic. It would be one their dormmates, Kenneth Towler.

Fred wasn't a big fan of Kenneth. So much so that he put itching powder in dear old Ken's pyjama pants the previous year. At that time Kenneth had been talking dirty about the girls in their year. Vicki's name was eventually bought up and Kenneth had said she was at the top of his 'to do list'. That was it as far as Fred was concerned. Kenneth went to sleep and his spare pair of pyjamas had itching powder applied. This memory made Fred laugh now due to the fact that she wasn't even on speaking terms with him back then, but since the start of the previous school year he had wanted to know her. And now she was his girlfriend.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed like Kenneth still thought inappropriate thoughts about his girlfriend.

"So….you and Hartwell, eh?" Kenneth grinned towards Fred as he made his way into the dorm that night.

"Yes. What about myself and Vicki?" Fred asked in an unamused fashion.

"Surely you've by now had a piece of that, right? If I could get Vicki Hartwell to go out with me, I would be doing the dirty with her in no time at all." Kenneth arrogantly stated with a large grin on his face.

Lee and George who were also present shot each other uneasy glances. They knew how strongly Fred felt about his girlfriend and how protective he could get over her. This had the potential to not go down very well.

"Unlike you Towler, I'm not a caveman and that's not all I think about." Fred growled, not being in the mood to fight him on his perverted thoughts.

Unfortunately for Fred, Ken wasn't going to drop the subject.

"What's wrong with you? I wouldn't be surprised if every boy in our year level has had inappropriate thoughts about your girlfriend. Surely it's crossed your mind quite a few times that she's now yours, to do whatever you please." Kenneth confidently stated.

Very few sixth years were game enough to cross the Weasley twins. Kenneth Towler was one of them, especially when the topic shifted to pretty girls in their year level.

"What's it to you? He doesn't have to tell you anything. At the end of the day Vicki is his, not yours. Who's to say they haven't already done anything." George remarked loudly, filling in as Fred had gone silent in rage.

Instead of annoying Kenneth, George's statement had the opposite effect. It caused him to grin widely.

"Oh, I see. Fred has already gone there with Miss Hartwell but doesn't want to share the details. That's no fair." Kenneth pouted.

"You know what? Just shut up. You're pathetic, Towler. Panting like a dog, patiently waiting for seconds. The seconds in this instance being intimate details about my girlfriend. Well you're not getting any, so put your tongue back in your mouth and rack off." Fred snarled at Ken angrily before jumping into his bed and roughly closing the curtains on his bed. He was done for the night.

"I bet Hartwell has already told him that Davies was better. That's why he's being so touchy about it. Chasers would have much better stamina than Beaters." Kenneth said loudly, in order to tease Fred further.

"That's kind of creepy that you'd think about that, let alone say it." Lee growled in defence of his friend.

"I'm onto you, Towler. It appears you have a mad crush on Davies, and you're trying to get the details to win him over through Vicki. Your secret is safe with us. Or is it?" George snorted.

"Oh you lot are no fun." Kenneth whined as he too retired to his bed and pulled his curtains shut.

George and Lee quickly shifted the topic and made small talk as they prepared themselves for bed. Fred however had stopped paying attention to the shenanigans in his dorm as he stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts running wild.

He had absolutely no issue whatsoever that Vicki had a past with Davies. He was over the moon that she was now his girlfriend, that's all that mattered to him. However at the same time it wasn't something he liked to think about and be reminded of. He could remember the way that Vicki used to cling onto Davies, how she'd always talk about him and stare in his direction. It was in the past and that's where those thoughts belonged.

But comments like the ones that Kenneth had said made his previous insecurities come straight back. It made him remember what it was like to watch from the sidelines as Vicki fell in love with Davies. What if Davies had qualities that he did not possess?

What if Fred's lack of experience would be an issue? He had never been with a girl before – not just in a relationship, but intimately either. Would this cause problems with Vicki in their relationship?

Just as these questions began racing through his mind, they disappeared almost as suddenly as a moment of clarity hit him. He understood that it was scary putting his heart on the line in case he ended up getting hurt. But none of this mattered. Vicki wanted him, and only him.

It was hard for him to previously watch as Vicki fell in love with Davies. But this was no longer the case. He now got to experience being in love with the girl himself, and no longer was he watching her from the sidelines. He would live in the experience as she began to fall in love with him.

Therefore he quickly forgot Kenneth Towler's teasing as he began to drift off to sleep. Maybe those insecurities would reappear, and he knew if they did he would most likely just need to speak with Vicki about these small issues directly. But for now he was looking forward to sleep, so he'd be able to wake and see his girlfriend during lessons the next day.


Sorry if this chapter is a bit 'crude' - I've purposely kept profanities and direct sex scenes out of this story, but I've kept in implied sexual activities as hey, that's what teenagers do.

In response to the reviews...

Paulies 1994 - haha thanks for those reviews, they made me laugh - and want to celebrate with you! Yay!

ForeverTeamEdward13 - thank you! I'm glad too :)

grueneHimbeere - as always thanks so much for your review. It's really good to read your analyses of what has gone on, and what is most likely to come. And you're correct - my wedding was on Saturday that's just gone, so I got to read your review beforehand. Thanks for the well wishes :) It was really good. Unfortunately one close family member got too drunk and made a scene but hey, it was actually a bit funny as they're the ones who made a fool of themselves in front of everyone ha ha.

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