"Please?" Vicki Hartwell asked her boyfriend at breakfast, bravely sitting next to him at the Gryffindor table, clutching onto his arm hopefully.

"I've already told you, hell will freeze over before I step foot in that joint." Fred responded briskly.

"Pretty please, with sprinkles on top?" Vicki asked again in a half-joking manner, batting her eyelashes for added effect.

"Come on, do it for your girlfriend." George sniggered next to Fred, as he gave his twin brother a big pat on the shoulder.

"If anyone had ever previously asked me what I envisaged for hell, the afternoon Vicki is proposing would be my answer. I'm not going into that specific joint and spending time with those two specific people." Fred responded coolly.

Vicki didn't know how to react to Fred's statement. It was a little rude of him to say those words to her. She knew he didn't mean to be cruel, and guessed it was relationship inexperience that caused his inability to have a filter on his mouth in relation to conversing with his girlfriend. But she still wasn't impressed.

"Okay Fred. If that's how you feel. I'll talk to you later." Vicki smartly said as she swung her legs around the table and departed to return to the Ravenclaw table.

Both Lee and George cringed at the sight of Vicki's back as she stalked off. Fred on the other hand appeared confused.

"…what just happened?" Fred asked his twin and best friend. Both Lee and George looked at each other nervously, unsure of who would speak up to explain this to him. George was the one who took the plunge.

"Mate, I definitely agree with you. I certainly would not want to be spending my Hogsmeade trip in that awful romantic teashop on a double date with Diggory and his girlfriend. But there are better ways to communicate this to your girlfriend than shooting down her idea, saying it's your version of hell." George said sympathetically.

Fred's confused look fell as he started to feel a bit bad. He didn't think twice when the words came out of his mouth, but hearing his twin repeat his statement made him realise just how bad it sounded.

"This whole situation has confused me. I don't understand why Vicki even wants to waste her afternoon in that dreadful tea shop. She's always told me how much she hates it. Why does she suddenly want to spend our first date in there?" Fred sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in confusion.

"Well, have you asked her why?" Lee quickly asked.

Fred was silent for a few moments as he knew exactly how his answer would go down.

"Before you can both berate me when I answer that question as 'no', I'm going to go talk to my girlfriend about this. Watch me fix this." Fred proudly smirked as he immediately jumped off from his seat and rushed over to the Ravenclaw table.

Lee and George only shook their heads and laughed to themselves as they watched Fred approach his girlfriend. They were glad that Fred was sorting this out.

"Why are we the voice of reason and giving Fred relationship advice? You especially. You've never even kissed a girl, let alone had a girlfriend." Lee laughed towards George.

"Because that's how thick that one is." George responded as he nodded his head towards his twin making his way over to the Ravenclaw table. They both watched on intently.

Vicki was surprised as she looked up and saw Fred approach her house table. After all it had only been seconds earlier he had shot down her proposal for the afternoon. All of her disagreements in her previous relationship always resulted in non-talking periods and stubbornness from both sides, until she eventually caved in first. She wasn't used to her boyfriend being proactive in fixing any rising arguments.

"I'm sorry I was so harsh." Fred quickly blurted out as he stood in front of Vicki.

Vicki blinked in confusion. As this had caught her off guard she didn't know how to act. Usually a clash resulted in anger and bitterness. How was she meant to deal with Fred actually being reasonable?

"It's okay. Its how you feel. Can't help that." Vicki responded, not showing her usual post-disagreement bitterness, but at the same time making sure she didn't sound cheery.

"Why do you want to spend our afternoon in this tea shop anyway? You hate that place." Fred asked her.

Vicki then began to feel awkward. She realised she had not previously communicated her plans to Fred adequately. Instead of explaining to Fred why she wanted to do the double date with Cedric and Cho, she had immediately lashed out and became argumentative when Fred shot down the idea.

Vicki calmed down as she prepared to explain herself.

"I know you really don't like Cedric. But he came up with the double date idea and I'd really like to do it, you know he's a good friend of mine. Plus it would be funny if you were there in that horrid and sappy teashop with me. We can laugh at all the schmucks trying to have a romantic date. We'd only be going there to be ironic." Vicki explained to Fred.

He was silent for a few moments as he absorbed what Vicki was trying to say.

"So you only want to go to have a laugh, essentially?" Fred slowly asked.

"Correct-o. We only ever have to go to the teashop one time in our lives so you can see how bad it is, I was suggesting today. Get it over and done with." Vicki grinned.

"Merlin, that was actually really damn easy to work out. Okay Miss Hartwell, I accept your proposal. On the grounds that we at least have time to duck into Zonko's before we're due back at school." Fred smiled lightly.

Vicki sighed a breath of relief. Not only had their disagreement been sorted before it escalated into a full-scale fight, she had actually gotten her own way for once. She made a mental note to make sure she improved her communication with Fred in the future.

"I can promise you that you'll have considerable time to browse in Zonko's. In fact, we'll probably still have enough time for a Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks before we come back to school." Vicki smugly predicted.


"So…" Cho nervously bought up as silence fell upon the table.

Vicki, Cedric, Cho and Fred had struggled to maintain conversation the entire time they had been in the tea shop, which had only been a lousy twenty minutes. It was clear no one was having fun, but no one was open to admitting this and calling it a day. It wasn't from a lack of trying – but perhaps that's why the conversation was falling flat. It was too forced and awkward.

The elephant in the room was that the uncomfortable experience was mostly due to Fred's presence. It was perhaps Hogwarts's worst kept secret that Fred and his twin held a lot of animosity towards Cedric. Fred was being civil for his girlfriend's sake, but everyone at the table could feel the tension.

"Here you go lovelies," Madam Puddifoot said as she dropped the coffees off at the table before turning stern and putting her hands on her hips "Now Victoria, with a new boyfriend, can I now trust you to not send patrons out of my shop crying?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Vicki grinned back to the older woman.

"I'd watch out for the new boyfriend actually, he's the one most likely to make people cry." Cedric added on.

Madam Puddifoot only sent a look of concern before being called over to another table.

Fred had been trying very hard to be good company for his girlfriend's sake. He had been polite to Cedric and asked him generic topics. School work of course was the most mundane topic they had discussed, but they also all glossed over conversations such as Quiddich, sleep schedules, and they even got so desperate they began to talk about the weather.

But every conversation ended up falling flat and the four of them were drinking their warm beverages in silence. Fred had resorted to glaring at Cedric quietly in relation to the last remark Cedric made about his personality. Fred was scared if he spoke up, it would be an insult towards Cedric.

Vicki could read Fred well and knew exactly why he was being quiet. She could have been angry that Fred was holding animosity towards her best friend over a simple but ill-thought out comment Cedric didn't mean. But instead she was proud that he was holding it in for her sake. She'd definitely be thanking him later.

Vicki was looking around the teashop in hopes of finding a conversational topic to shift the animosity in the air between Fred and Cedric. She had been pointing out funny things to Fred secretly, such as bratty girls demanding things from their boyfriends and bad kissers.

Her eyes then landed on something and she let out a wicked grin.

"Oi!" Vicki hissed to Fred, as Cedric and Cho began their own conversation on the side.

"What?" Fred asked Vicki. He was glad the two couples had broken apart to have their own conversations. He'd much rather be speaking with Vicki alone.

"See that Slytherin girl with that Ravenclaw boy? The really young girl. She was here last time I was here, but she was with another boy. I may have had a confrontation with her and the boy she was with at the time. I told her that school relationships don't last and love doesn't conquer all. She's with a new one. Should I say something to rub it in that I was right?" Vicki grinned to Fred.

Fred let out a very forced smile at Vicki's words. He didn't know what was worse to hear. A memory that clearly happened from her previous relationship with Roger, or her bleak view on love. He knew he was in love with Vicki but felt it was too premature to reveal this to her. What if she didn't believe in love at all?

"Nah, better not. I was so jaded in my relationship with Roger I was just projecting untrue feelings onto that poor unfortunate couple. Although it'd be funny if that's what caused them to break up." Vicki weakly smiled.

This turned Fred's previous forced smile into a real one and he gave out a loud snort at her words. That was better. Her only references to her previous relationships were negative ones, and her bleak comments about relationships and love were not how she truly felt.

Fred's snort gained the attention of the younger couple. The Ravenclaw boy didn't seem too interested, but the Slytherin girl kept on staring.

Vicki nearly spoke up and made a comment to the young couple's fixation on her and Fred – the only one she could think of was the old muggle 'Take a picture, it'll last longer' but she decided against it, finding it a bit too pathetic to say. She didn't really feel like getting into an argument with a younger student on her first date with Fred.

Unfortunately for her, that's exactly what the Slytherin girl wanted to do.

"I must say. The last one you were here with was much better looking. Better than this Orangutan." The girl cruelly called out.

"I'm not sure who you are or why you're keeping tabs on me or my love life, it's kind of creepy actually." Vicki snarled towards the girl. It was a half-truth, she didn't know who the girl was. But Vicki was attempting to downplay their previous interaction and pretend she didn't even remember it.

"Who I am doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're now with a gross blood traitor." The girl spat out.

Vicki was prepared for a roaring fight but her eyes landed on Cho and Cedric who were watching on with interest. She didn't want to start a big scene in their company. It wasn't the time nor place to do so. Vicki took comfort in the dirty look this girl's Ravenclaw boyfriend was shooting towards his date – whether it was due to the blood traitor comment, or the fact this girl was making enemies of his house's prefect. But either way Vicki knew this girl had ruined her own date and that's all that mattered.

Vicki then darted her eyes towards Fred. He was being very quiet which was certainly out of character for him. When he saw he had Vicki's attention he sent a wink her way.

Vicki chose not to respond as she turned her attention back onto her own table.

"So uh, what's everyone else's plans for the rest of the weekend?" Cedric asked after clearing his throat awkwardly.

Before anybody could answer a loud shriek came from the next table. They all darted their eyes to see the Ravenclaw boy staring at his date in shock. But instead of an unpleasant girl sitting across from him, it was now a bright yellow canary.

Vicki looked to her boyfriend and saw him with a huge grin across his face. It was obvious to her what had happened. He had slipped a Canary Cream into something that foul girl had consumed – most likely melted it into her tea.

"Well. That's quite a bird you've taken out today." Fred laughed at the poor Ravenclaw boy.

Vicki smiled at her boyfriend's pun but then regretted it moments later as Madam Puddifoot came charging over. The plump woman held a lot of strength and was able to easily pick up both Vicki and Fred by the scruff of their uniforms and begin to lead them out of the cosy teashop, the only challenge was manoeuvring them through the limited space available.

"I should have banned you years ago, Victoria Hartwell. You've always made a mockery of my establishment and I've lost a lot of business from your teasings and proddings of my patrons. You are now permanently banned, effective immediately." Madam Puddifoot firmly stated as she lightly prodded Vicki's chest.

Vicki didn't know how to respond. She was surprised she'd never had a stern talking to from Madam Puddifoot before today, but she hadn't anticipated on getting banned so suddenly. The quick turn of events had left her stunned.

"You too, boy. I don't know who you are, but I don't ever want to see your face in my shop again. I could tell you were a troublemaker from the second you stepped in." Madam Puddifoot loudly stated to Fred before lightly pushing them out of her shop and closing the doors forcefully.

Fred blinked and silently looked towards Vicki. He expected his girlfriend to blow up at him. They were supposed to be on a nice date with some of her close friends. Instead he had pulled a prank and had gotten her permanently banned from a popular establishment for students to spend time in during Hogsmeade weekends. Surely she would be cross with him.

Instead she was smirking at him.

"Good riddance. Perfect excuse to avoid that joint now. If anyone ever wants to meet me in there for anything 'oh sorry, I'm banned. We'll have to go somewhere else'. This is probably my greatest achievement to date. Reckon if I wrote to my parents and told them that, they'd be as proud as they were when I became a prefect?" Vicki giggled as the two began to slowly walk down the lane to distance themselves from the teashop.

"See, I'd be more proud of my kid getting banned from that place than becoming a boring prefect," Fred teased, but immediately changed his train of thought before Vicki could respond "Hey, the owner doesn't know I'm a twin. If George ever gets a girlfriend we need to convince him to go in there. The poor sod will get kicked out and have no idea why."

"And deprive him of the story of what just happened? That doesn't seem fair. Come on, let's go. George and Lee are probably still at Zonko's." Vicki stated as she offered her hand to lead Fred away. Fred smiled at his romantic interaction with his girlfriend as he followed her.


George and Lee were still heartily chuckling as they walked into the Three Broomsticks with Vicki and Fred. The couple had easily caught up to Lee and George in Zonko's and had both told them the story as they browsed the joke products.

After laughing too loudly and earning many disapproving stares around the shop (and of course a joke being made that Fred and Vicki now risked getting banned from Zonko's too) it was decided they would retire to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and a proper chat.

The pub was packed as it always was during Hogsmeade visits. The three boys went off to find a suitable table whilst Vicki said she'd fight the crowds at the bar to get drinks. It had been so packed she didn't even realise one of the known patrons until he came up behind her.

"Fancy seeing you here." Vicki heard the grin in his voice. It was a voice that sounded familiar but she couldn't recognise it without seeing his voice. She turned around and saw Ludovic Bagman smirking towards her.

Vicki's eyes darted around the pub in hopes she would catch Fred's eye, as she had no idea how to interact with Bagman. She was out of luck, it was far too busy. She couldn't even make him out in any of the crowds.

She then decided to try and make do with this interaction with Bagman. It hadn't been planned so she didn't have the upper hand for once. But she was still keen to help Fred and George get their money back from him, probably more so than she had ever been. She no longer knew what the plan was with her involvement. But she could briefly use this encounter as a way to try and charm the much older man to try and follow the path of the original plan.

"Oh, hello stranger." Vicki weakly smiled. She wanted to charm the older man for her boyfriend's sake, but with no plan in place she had no idea what she was doing and therefore she had little confidence.

She didn't even know what the end goal for today was. She charms him a little, then what?


For those who celebrate Easter - Happy Easter! Or more importantly it's the 1st April which means it's the twin's birthday. It would have been cool to release a special birthday part but as it's January 1995 in the story right now that wasn't going to happen. But there is one coming... one day. Hopefully soon as I think I need to move this story along a little faster.

It's been nearly 4 months since I updated, sorry. I've taken a lot of the feedback on board and I took some time off in order to plan this story and plan some improvements. It's going to take a while for it to come into effect I couldn't miraculously fix everything in one part. There's something coming up soon that will make you all feel really sorry for Vicki and give you a reason to empathise with her, and it's of course going to stir up some drama. But yeah, expect more regular updates again :)