As Vicki's body hit the surface of the water she took a deep breath in, without even realising she needed it.

She felt a little dazed and groggy as the light from the sun bounced around the surface of the water and hit her face. The side effects of the now worn-off sleeping charm weren't helping either, nor was the fact that the last thing she remembered was being in Professor McGonagall's office at nightfall being put to sleep amongst very few people. Now she was in the middle of the cold school lake in broad daylight in front of hundreds of spectators.

"C'mon Vicki. Let me help you paddle to shore." Cedric kindly said to Vicki as he tried to link arms with her.

"No! I'll do it myself." Vicki snarled, lashing out at Cedric in utter confusion as she swatted his arm away (with great difficulty due to the water and her groggy state).

Although it had been nearly an entire day since Vicki had been put to sleep by Dumbledore, to her it felt like minutes ago. The previous night she had been escorted into the office by Professor McGonagall where her headmaster was waiting inside as well. They all made excruciating small talk as they waited for Ron and Hermione to be escorted in.

Eventually the two were accompanied by the two Weasley twins – Fred had obviously found George along the way of his quest to bring Ron and Hermione to McGonagall's office. Vicki had wanted to tell Fred that she loved him but she felt herself choking up. She felt she couldn't say it with an audience.

But then the twins were sent out after promising Dumbledore they wouldn't utter a word about Vicki, Ron and Hermione being summoned to McGonagall's office that night. Vicki got to give Fred a quick hug goodbye but that was it. She didn't get the chance to say she loved him back.

And now she was in front of the entire school.

"Hogwarts champion number one Cedric Diggory appears to be the first champion back with his hostage, the very stunning Victoria Hartwell." Vicki heard Bagman's voice boom around the lake.

As she got closer to the shore she was able to finally stand on her two feet and wade towards the edge of the lake. All the swimming had depleted Cedric's strength so Vicki was easily able to reach the shore before he did.

She planted her feet firmly into the ground as she offered a hand to Cedric to help him out of the water. He accepted it without hesitation and Vicki used her strength to pull him up.

"Did you hear Bagman? We're first! I saw Potter down there and tried to warn him about time running out. But we got back first!" Cedric said in an excited manner, although weakly.

"No Cedric. You did it. As it turns out I was your hostage and you rescued me. This is all of your win. Embrace it." Vicki smiled.

She noticed their hands still entwined so she quickly raised them to show triumph to the crowds around. There was a loud, deafening roar that bounced around the air let out by most people present.

Vicki immediately turned her eyes to the crowd to try and see if she could see Fred. Before she could focus on individual faces she found herself being roughly pulled into a thick blanket and dragged away by Madam Pomfrey.

"No! I need to see Fred." Vicki meekly protested as she tried to shrug the blanket from her shoulders.

This was futile as her hands were trapped inside the blanket and Madam Pomfrey had a good hold on her. She led Vicki over to a bench set up to the side near the judge's panel and sat her down roughly. Cedric had followed them both willingly with a blanket wrapped around his own shoulders but he too was distracted as he tried to find Cho amongst the crowd.

Vicki was pushed onto the bench by Madam Pomfrey next to Fleur Delacour.

"'Ave you seen my sister?" Fleur asked in a panic, as she shot her hand out from under her blanket to grab Vicki's shoulder roughly.

Vicki grabbed the Pepper-Up potion in Madam Pomfrey's hands and skolled it quickly in order to avoid answering Fleur's question. Vicki was still dazed and confused and wasn't quite sure what was going on, but knew it wasn't good news that Cedric was announced as the first champion to return if Fleur was sitting on the bench with no hostage next to her.

"Fleur, your sister seemed fine. You may not know Dumbledore like we do, but he would ensure no harm came to her. Right Vicki?" Cedric tried to assure Fleur.

It took Vicki a few moments to respond as she had steam coming out of her ears from the Pepper-Up Potion. When it started to subside she was finally able to say what she needed to.

"That's true. I've also read a lot about the Triwizard Tournament. Y'know, for Cedric's sake. There's actually really strict rules about outside entities facing danger. This is all smoke and mirrors for show." Vicki quickly added on.

This appeared to do little to appease Fleur, but Vicki nor Cedric had the ability to comfort Fleur, as Viktor Krum and Hermione Granger had appeared by the banks of the water and had stolen their attention. Krum had Hermione lean on him as he helped her out of the water.

Madam Pomfrey abandoned Cedric and Vicki as she rushed over to help Krum and Hermione with two more thick blankets draped over an arm.

Amongst the crowd Fred Weasley had been watching on intently within the sea of students. After a sleepless night he had been feeling exactly how Fleur Delacour presently felt. He knew deep down that his loved one would be fine – but he was worrying because he couldn't see her and he couldn't be the one to save her. It was the unknown that was scary.

When he saw Vicki rise with Cedric he let all uneasy feelings drain from his body to become his usual chirpy self again. He didn't even mind when he saw Cedric and Vicki holding their hands to raise them in a triumphant manner. All he really cared about was a reunion with his girlfriend as soon as possible.

"Mr Weasley, not yet. Let Madam Pomfrey look over Miss Hartwell first." Professor McGonagall sternly warned Fred as she put an arm out to lightly hold him back as she sensed her student's discomfort.

Fred waited impatiently as he watched Madam Pomfrey wrap both Vicki and Cedric within thick blankets and led them over to a bench where he could see they were fed Pepper-Up Potions based on the steam emitting from their ears.

It was when Krum and Hermione emerged from the lake when Fred finally made his move. He didn't know whether McGonagall would still attempt to keep him from approaching the healing area but he wasn't going to take the chance.

Whilst everyone was pre occupied with the internationally famous Quidditch player and his fairly ordinary hostage, Fred was able to slip away from the crowds and most importantly Professor McGonagall's grasp. He was walking at a brisk pace but once he was a fair distance from the crowd he broke out into a run.

"Vicki!" He called out once he was within ear shot of her.

Vicki heard her boyfriend's yell and stood up immediately. Madam Pomfrey was too busy fussing over Hermione and Krum and feeding them Pepper-Up Potions to take notice of Vicki abandoning the healing bench.

She had gotten up to cautiously approach Fred, knowing that everybody could see her. Including the judges. It was the first time she had realised her former Head Boy and Fred's brother, Percy, was one of the judges. But that wasn't her concern right now.

"W-what about our plan with Bagman?" Vicki nervously asked Fred quietly once she approached him.

Fred looked behind Vicki and he could see Bagman eyeing the two nervously. It made a wicked grin spread across his face. Not only had Bagman stiffed both he and his twin out of their life savings, Bagman was now attempting to seduce his girlfriend at every opportunity he had. To Bagman's credit he had no idea Vicki was attached as their plan was to make Bagman think he had a chance with her. But Fred had seen the dirty letters Bagman had been sending Vicki and they were sick.

Fred no longer cared about using Vicki to get his money back. He was about to get his money's worth anyway.

"Oh, forget Bagman. Let's pick up from where we were last night." Fred urged Vicki.

"But your money?" Vicki asked with a small frown on her face.

"We've now got incriminating evidence against Bagman for blackmail. At this point there's nothing of value you could add to the operations," Fred began to explain but quickly panicked "I'm not saying you're not valuable. You know how I feel about you. You're everything to me, Vicki. I love you."

Vicki looked over her shoulder cautiously. Even though the rest of the crowd were focused on Viktor Krum and Hermione Granger she saw Bagman looking in-between the lake and the young couple. They had half of his attention.

She decided to listen to Fred. She would be glad to let go of the Bagman situation and no longer have to communicate with him. She also wanted to tell Fred how she felt about him. That's all that seemed important to her right now.

"Damn, Fred. I wanted to tell you last night but we were cut short. Fred Weasley, I'm in love with you." Vicki confessed, smiling but biting her lip out of small nerves at the same time.

Fred said nothing but instead grabbed his girlfriend's shoulders and pulled her into a sloppy kiss. The two had grabbed a lot of attention from the large crowd as the charm of Krum's entrance had worn off. Now it seemed every eye present was focused on Fred Weasley and Vicki Hartwell.

"Good for you two," Madam Pomfrey beamed from behind the two before roughly grabbing Vicki by the blanket now barely covering her shoulders "But I'm going to need you to come with me and sit still until I deem you well enough to continue on with your day."

"Can't Fred come with me at least?" Vicki weakly protested as she slowly followed Madam Pomfrey back over to the healing area.

Madam Pomfrey stopped for a few moments as she peered down at the students in love. With a roll of her eyes but a small smile on her face she responded with "Oh, I suppose so."

Vicki beamed as she unwrapped the blanket to allow Fred in. She expected Madam Pomfrey to complain and sent her a sheepish grin but the older matron said nothing as both Vicki and Fred plonked themselves onto the healing bench.

"All right, Diggory?" Fred beamed towards Cedric.

Cedric blinked in confusion before shooting Fred a wary look. It was the first time Fred Weasley had ever been civil towards Cedric and due to Fred's prankful nature he was wondering if it was some sort of trick.

"Yes, fine thanks." Cedric responded, too stunned to ask the same question towards Fred. This would normally anger Fred. But right now he did not care. Vicki loved him. What else mattered right now?

No other conversations flowed between Fred and Cedric. Even little words were exchanged between Cedric and Vicki. Instead her focus was solely on her boyfriend.

Fred and Vicki were in a little love bubble and were ignoring the rest of the world. They were both so pre occupied with one another they hadn't noticed Fred's brother, Percy, marching over to them.

"I hate to interrupt your inappropriate displays of affection you two-" Percy pompously stated but was immediately cut off by Fred.

"-then don't." Fred snarled matter-of-factly.

"Might I remind you that your youngest brother is still in that lake and has yet to be declared safe?" Percy scoffed, before briskly walking off back to the judge's area before Fred could respond.

Vicki watched as Fred's face fell. She knew her boyfriend well and knew it was guilt etched in his body language. In turn this caused Vicki to feel guilty as well. He had been so caught up in worrying about her, Fred had forgotten all about his little brother. As much as the twins loved to prod and tease Ron, Vicki knew that deep down he was their closest brother (aside from each other). Vicki knew Fred would now be feeling very worried.

Vicki said nothing but grabbed his hand and the two sat in silence as they watched the lake intently. Only every now and again they took their eyes off to look around. Vicki noticed Fleur was shooting sympathetic looks towards Fred, as she must have overheard his conversation with Percy. Fleur and Fred presently had one thing in common – siblings still inside the lake.

Then there was a disturbance on the surface of the lake. Neither Fred nor Vicki could make out what had broken the surface of the water but it was much easier to see in contrast once a lot of little green haired people popped up.

Harry's figure could be seen dragging two people towards the shore – one with vivid red hair and the other a dazzling platinum colour. Ron seemed to get his bearings back very quickly as he could be seen helping Harry get Fleur's sister to shore.

"iz zat your brother with Potter?" Fleur asked Fred suddenly.

"Yeah, it is." Fred widely smiled with relief.

"He iz helping with Gabrielle." Fleur said in shock. She blinked a few times and then realization seemed to dawn on her as Vicki saw Fleur take off towards the shore so fast she almost seemed like a blur. Madam Pomfrey had to take after her to try and prevent her from entering the water.

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd admit Ron is your brother." Vicki quietly teased Fred.

"Never thought I'd see the day Victoria Hartwell would admit she's in love with me." Fred teased back.

The next few minutes that followed were eventful. The crowd could not stop cheering toward Potter's heroic rescue efforts. The judges all huddled as they discussed something, but Vicki's attention was instead on the healing bench.

There was a lot of commotion once Harry, Ron and Gabrielle sat down and received care. There was such little room that Vicki had to sit on Fred's lap to make room for the new three, however Madam Pomfrey quickly pulled Vicki up.

"You're still sopping wet, you'll make this one sick." Madam Pomfrey gruffly scolded her as she indicated to Fred. Vicki said nothing but kept pouting in annoyance.

"Weasley, err Fred, up," Madam Pomfrey corrected after realising two Weasleys were on the bench "I'll make you a deal. You can stick around, but you need to vacate the bench so my patients can receive care."

Fred didn't say anything but followed her instructions not wanting to get on the bad side of the school matron.

"You too, Chang. You can hang around to be close to Diggory but you're not a patient so I need you off that bench." Madam Pomfrey quickly added on.

Vicki whipped her head around to see that Cho was seated at the end of the bench next to Cedric. Vicki had been so preoccupied with Fred and then anxiously waiting for the Potter and the others she hadn't even realised that at some point Cho had joined Cedric.

Vicki sent a small smile to Cho who looked away quickly. It was an uncomfortable situation but Vicki hoped it would fizzle out quickly as she began to theorize the reasons why Cho was acting strangely. The entire school had seen Fred and Vicki's canoodling this afternoon. It was pretty obvious that Vicki's heart truly and utterly belonged to Fred, and there was absolutely nothing between Diggory and Vicki aside from deep friendship.

Vicki turned her attention back onto the tournament happenings – the judges deep in discussion and the patients receiving care from Madam Pomfrey.

"Merlin, how many Weasleys does this task need?" Vicki joked to her boyfriend.

"…you know, that sounds like the start of a joke I'm going to think of, and tell in the common room tonight." Fred grinned as he placed a lazy kiss on the side of his girlfriend's head.

"Shush! Bagman looks like he's about to give out the scores." Hermione bossily stated and silence fell upon not only the champions, but the previously rowdy crowd as well.


Vicki emerged from the prefect's bathroom almost two hours after the task had ended looking fresh as a daisy. The champions and their hostages were ushered back to the castle before the rest of the school so they could get out of their wet clothes as soon as possible.

Vicki took the opportunity to have a long steamy shower and reflect the day's events. She felt this could possibly be the best day of her life. Cedric had scored the most points in the task and she had finally declared her love to Fred.

Therefore she felt a bit of pampering before dinner was in order. She even took some time to style her hair nicely and wear a little extra makeup. She figured no teacher would scold her for wearing makeup today. Well, except Snape. She made a note to avoid Snape.

Vicki began to trot down through the castle to make her way to the Great Hall. Dinner must have started a while ago as the corridors were mostly deserted.

Closer in her journey to the Great Hall she found a few stragglers also making their way to dinner. But something felt off to her.

Being a popular student, people constantly went out of their way to acknowledge Vicki. It wasn't unusual for complete strangers to wave or smile in the corridors towards her. Sometimes she found it tiring when acquaintances would hold her up when she had a class to get to, or was especially hungry before a mealtime.

But walking to dinner tonight was a completely different story. People were scuttling away from her the second they made eye contact. Even Cassandra Adhurst – an annoying fifth year Ravenclaw prefect who normally worshipped the ground Vicki walked on completely ignored Vicki when she called out 'hello' to her.

Something funny was going on, and she was about to find out exactly what was happening.


So... apologies for messing with the canon in this chapter. I know it seems very taboo to change the canon to give my OC a bigger part. But there's actually a very good reason I've done this. I've taken some constructive criticism on board, and as hinted at the end of this chapter, Vicki's about to lose her spot as Miss Popular.