"Two weeks to go!" Vicki grinned in an excited manner one evening during her and Cedric's prefect patrol. They had been making idle chit chat for half an hour but it had grown flat, so Vicki attempted to bring back some excitement.
Cedric's status as a Triwizard Tournament champion only exempted him from year end exams. As a Hogwarts prefect he still had a duty to the school and thus still had to partake in his patrol shifts. When he was first announced as champion the Head Boy and Girl did go easy on him and take away most of his duties. But with the growing workload that came with the growing excitement for the second task, even the champion had to help out with the grunt work.
There was still some glory that came with being a champion. Both Vicki and Cedric had talked their way into being patrol partners each shift. It was the only chance the two had to spend time together. It was better than not having time to see each other at all.
"Yes, I am aware. As everybody in the school keeps reminding me, or speaking about to me every second of every day." Cedric moodily grumbled in response.
Vicki winced as she realised how poor her attempt at conversation was. Now the second task was only just around the corner, so many people had approached Cedric to talk about it. Some people were just giving him well wishes whilst others were inundating him with unsolicited advice. As the task was now a big part of Cedric's life, Vicki thought she may get a free pass to bring it up as his best friend. But now she realised he must be so sick of hearing and speaking about the Triwizard Tournament, even if it was brought up by her.
Therefore she knew she had to shift the topic away. She didn't have a very good segue, so a silly statement would have to do.
"What are you on about? I wasn't talking about the tournament. Two weeks to go until its two weeks closer to my birthday. Seventeen, it's finally almost here. Just under two months to go." Vicki guilty grinned.
"W-what do you have planned for your birthday?" Cedric asked as he was caught off guard by Vicki's subject change.
"I don't know. It's during the Easter holidays, but my parents aren't even going to be around. Both my parents assumed I'd be staying at school so my mum booked a cruise with her partner, and my dad is going to visit my great uncle in Australia," Vicki shrugged but then added on "I sure as hell am not staying at school though. How depressing."
"Well I'll be there. We'll plan something great." Cedric smiled in an attempt to cheer up Vicki.
The two were silent once more as they paced the corridors together. The hallways were deserted this time of night so the only sounds echoing off the stone walls were their pacing footsteps. Even Peeves could not heard – he must have been pre occupied or on the other side of the castle annoying the other prefects, one of his favourite after dark rituals.
"Sorry about before, Vicki. I'm just under so much stress lately. This upcoming task-" Cedric began to suddenly explain but he was cut off by Vicki.
"-I know, it's a lot of pressure. We don't have to talk about it anymore. We can do our Diggory and Hartwell special by just talking smack to get your mind off it."
"There's," Cedric began to state before he lost confidence and backed down. Then suddenly, as if jolted by electricity, bravery ran throughout him once more and he finished his sentence "There's something you really need to know."
This caused the two to stop walking through the corridor as Vicki turned to face Cedric to give him her full attention.
"Cedric, are you pregnant?" Vicki asked with a large smirk on her face as she put her hands to her hips in mock judgment. Her face fell when she saw the serious look on his face and she noticed he didn't find her joke amusing whatsoever "What is it?"
Cedric watched his best friend carefully. He was about to divulge in something he had kept from everyone, something that was keeping him awake at night. He no longer felt nervous. He was glad and relieved to be letting it all out.
"I absolutely love you Vicki. You know that. You mean the world to me. It's probably cliché and does an injustice to what you mean to me, but you really do feel like a sister to me. You will always be family to me." Cedric stated to Vicki.
Vicki sent a large toothy grin towards Cedric. She was truly touched. As a Ravenclaw she was more logical than emotional and sometimes had trouble conveying her feelings properly. This would be one of those times.
"Awww, you too, Ced!" Vicki replied as she gave him a punch on the shoulder.
Luckily Cedric knew Vicki too well and knew in those four words she meant the exact same he had just spilled out. He knew it was safe to continue on.
"I haven't told anyone this. But I'm in love with Cho. I know it's not just an infatuation anymore. I truly and deeply love Cho Chang. I'm such a lucky guy. I get to love two amazing girls in two different ways, the sister figure and the girlfriend. But now it's bringing me to my downfall." Cedric stated. At the start his voice was bright and proud but by the end his voice had faltered, and he finished his statement with a loud sigh.
"Well Cho and I are lucky to be the two leading ladies in your life. Although I'm luckier. I've got you as a bestie and I've also got an amazing boyfriend as well. Best of both worlds. So nerrr." Vicki immaturely teased as she poked her tongue out at Cedric.
"Well that's the issue. Not the whole Weasley as your boyfriend thing. But that you both mean the world to me. You're both the ones I would miss the most if you were taken from me. Equally. Can't choose between you both." Cedric pointed out.
Vicki wanted to make a smart, teasing remark to Cedric. But she was growing concerned as she studied his face. His brows were furrowed and a large frown was growing as he was facing her. Cedric was normally a very happy go-lucky lad. There was something very wrong and now was not the time for humour.
"Okay. What's the problem, and what can I do to help?" Vicki asked him.
She watched him wince at her words and begin to nervously play with his hands. As his best friend Vicki had seen sides of Cedric that were never exposed to anyone else, and thus she had seen him experience nerves and awkward feelings. But she had never seen him like this. Anxiety began to wash over her and she was beginning to grow impatient at his silence. She contained herself and sat there in silence with him, knowing she was perhaps being a little selfish.
"The clue for the next task in the egg had a line which said 'we've taken what you'll solely miss' and as much as I love my broomstick I don't think they're talking about material possessions." Cedric stated glumly.
"Oh," Vicki responded with as it took a few seconds for what Cedric was hinting at to sink in "Oh! You don't know if it'll be me or Cho. You care for us in different ways, but you care for us equally. Got it."
Cedric's head snapped up as he turned to look to Vicki. He wasn't sure if the full brunt of the danger had hit her yet but she seemed almost unnaturally calm about the news he had just given her. He was almost annoyed that she wasn't expressing the same inner turmoils he felt but then realised he was being unreasonable. He had been given weeks to mull over these facts. Vicki had been given seconds.
"I um…I'm going to need time to process this information. Have you had this conversation with Cho yet?" Vicki stuttered out.
"No. I haven't actually. I thought it would be easier to speak to you first." Cedric confessed.
"Okay. Well you need to. As your girlfriend she'll most likely be the one picked anyway so she needs time to prepare for what's ahead. But um, this may cause issues socially too. You know that, right?" Vicki winced as she hit Cedric with the hard facts.
"W-why?" Cedric stuttered very quickly.
Vicki shot Cedric a small, guilty smile as she looked him directly in his handsome face. She felt horrible that she was the one telling Cedric bad news when he was already filled with nerves and a sense of unease. But as his best friend she wanted him to be aware of what was coming. He was so focused on the task he obviously hadn't had time to think about other consequences.
"Well, let me just say this. If Fred was champion, and Angelina Johnson was picked as the one he missed the most – it definitely would not sit well with me." Vicki stated to Cedric.
She was preparing for Cedric to panic at her words. Instead her words seemed to ease him as a large smirk appeared across his face.
"But it would never be Angelina would it? It would be between you and his twin. Surely you wouldn't be mad if his brother was chosen over you?" Cedric asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
Vicki pondered Cedric's question for a few moments as she wanted to give a truthful answer. She ended up slowly shaking her head.
"No, I wouldn't. We've only been together a couple of months. George on the other hand is another part of Fred, almost an extension of him. Their special bond can't even be put into words. It would make sense for George to be picked over me. I'd be okay with it.' Vicki responded slowly.
"Sounds sort of like one of the champions doesn't it?" Cedric grinned, and continued to explain even after Vicki sent him a sceptical look "Okay, you're not my biological sister. Okay, we only became best friends this year. But the sentiment is still there. If a clever Ravenclaw like you can understand that with your own boyfriend, another clever Ravenclaw should be able to understand the brother-sisterly bond her boyfriend shares with someone."
"I'm actually quite excited for this bloody second task to be over. Harry's going to kick Cedric's sorry behind and we won't have to hear over and over how amazing pretty boy is," George arrogantly stated towards the end of a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson "No offense Vicki."
Moody had kept the same seating arrangement that was decided upon in the first lesson of the year – Moody used it as a strong example of his 'constant vigilance' that he always preached. That first lesson was straight after one of Vicki and Roger's fights and that day Vicki had chosen to sit in a row of four with Fred, George and Lee. Therefore to this day she was still required to sit with them each class in the same order. One class George had taken a seat next to Vicki to try and play the 'switch-a-roo' twin prank, but Moody saw through it instantly and growled for George and Fred to switch seats as he was able to tell between the two.
Vicki didn't mind the seating arrangements. Lee had been a good friend of hers since the previous year, and Fred of course was her boyfriend. She was also now starting to grow close to George which was expected, as he was the twin of her boyfriend. Vicki enjoyed the break from her friendship circle to sit with her boyfriend's friends. They were humourous and made the lesson enjoyable for her.
However she didn't appreciate it when they made fun of her friends.
"No offence Vicki? How about no offence to Cedric! Actually, you don't have the guts to actually insult Cedric to his face. He didn't hear your comment." Vicki glared towards George.
"Oh, you're right. My bad." George smirked.
Vicki sent him a sceptical look as she knew a Weasley twin was not to be trusted in a moment like this. Vicki would be correct. George stood up quickly from his seat which earned the attention from the entire class as everyone grew silent.
"Cedric Diggory is a pretty boy and Harry is going to beat him in the task on Wednesday!" George exclaimed loudly to the class boldly before turning to Vicki "See Vicki? I do have the guts to say it to Cedric's face"
Most of the class did not take kindly to George's statement. Vicki quickly shot her eyes towards her friendship group who were shooting daggers towards George. Vicki mouthed 'I'm sorry' to Cedric who only sent her a kind smile to show he wasn't mad that her table companion had said rude things. Although Fred and Lee sniggered at George's loud comments, the Gryffindor girls seated behind them including Alicia and Angelina were less than impressed.
The entire class lost their train of thought when Moody loudly rapped his desk in anger. Everybody jumped and grew quiet as they turned to face the front in fright.
"Extremely poor sportsmanship Weasley. You should be cheering on your fellow student no matter his house or social status. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your extreme cowardice in putting down a champion." Moody gruffly growled towards George.
George didn't look too taken aback at this loss of points as he kept grinning and nudged both Fred and Lee. Vicki assumed the opportunity to say what he had said out loud to Cedric was worth the house points loss to George, who had lost many more during his time at Hogwarts.
Other Gryffindors were less than impressed as they shot daggers towards George. Normally his jokes were quite popular with the rest of the students, but insulting the most popular boy in the school was not a crowd pleaser.
The bell rang not too long after Moody took the points from George. The students began to pack up in an orderly fashion and leave quietly. Some teachers (softies, like Flitwick) allowed students to quickly pack up and fling themselves out of the classroom to leave quickly. Other teachers (stricter ones like McGonagall) forced students to pack up quietly and leave in a formal fashion. Moody was one of the stricter teachers which the students learned very quickly at the start of the year.
"Weasley, Hartwell. Wait right there. There's something I need to run past you." Moody growled.
"Which one?" Fred and George asked in unison. Normally it would be assumed that Moody would be referring to Fred when addressing Vicki as well, however he could have been addressing George as he had recently scolded him.
"Whichever one of you wants to do a special task this evening with Hartwell for me." Moody briskly responded.
George quickly jumped up and grab his books. He shot a wink towards Vicki and tapped his twin brother on the shoulder roughly with his free hand.
"I'd love to play around and fight with my dear brother for his opportunity to spend some quality time with his girlfriend. But I know Moody means business and then poor Hartwell would be stuck with my company this evening." George loudly stated before turning around and exiting the classroom – leaving Moody, Fred and Vicki alone in the classroom.
"Professor Moody. Before you go any further – I have prefect patrol tonight with Cedric. Kelly and Paul really need us prefects in the lead up to the task. I doubt they'd let me skip tonight's one." Vicki quickly spoke up.
"Already taken care of, Hartwell. I spoke to Greene and Winters separately and mentioned I needed my bright sixth year Ravenclaw student to scour the castle with a partner of her choosing to make sure all cracks are secure." Moody responded.
Vicki shifted uncomfortably in her spot. She was a suck up and never argued with teachers. Normally being given a task about all others would make her feel proud and she would take it with a great honour. But it was two days before the task and she was very time sensitive right now.
"Professor, I really appreciate the opportunity. But I would really prefer to be patrolling with Cedric tonight. It's his last patrol before the Second Task and I don't think I'm going to be able to spend any time with him before then." Vicki pouted, trying to sound as sweet as possible.
Fred was taken aback and looked at his girlfriend in shock. Her words really stung. She would rather be spending the evening with Cedric and she would even disagree with a teacher to fight for it. He didn't know whether to be mad or upset.
"It's not negotiable Hartwell. I'm sure Diggory will be just fine without you tonight," Moody stated but then began to stare at her eerily down the bridge of his nose "Besides I think with what's ahead of you, you should be spending your time before the task with your boyfriend."
Vicki dropped her books in shock at Moody's ominous words. It was still unknown who would be taken as Cedric's hostage – whether it would be herself or Cho. No extra hints or information had come to light to indicate who would be chosen. Until right now.
Even though Fred wasn't happy with Vicki he bent down to pick up her books as an out of character move to be chivalrous to his girlfriend. Vicki muttered a 'thank you' as she regained her composure and was ready to try and press Moody for more information.
"Are you saying that I'm going to be-" Vicki tried to ask, but she was briskly cut off by Moody.
"-I don't know what you're talking about. Now I suggest for you to scurry along to dinner. I will meet you both after dinner with further instructions." Moody gruffly stated.
Vicki loitered around for a few moments in hopes Moody may change his mind – either about the task with Fred tonight or explaining his hidden words to her. When he continued to stare her down with no explanations she eventually left the classroom with Fred in tow.
Normally Vicki was quite obsessed with her boyfriend. But right now she had other things on her mind.
I've had this chapter written for a while but I wanted to wait until the next one was written so I could go back and re-edit this, and see what needed changing.
Apologies this chapter is a bit boring. Next chapter is a bit of a filler as well (and as it's written already it'll be out in the next day or so) - it's just setting the scene for some really big chapters coming very soon. Things are also going to move a bit faster from here on in.
