Victoria Hartwell found herself spending time in her bedroom on a Monday evening.
Her bedroom was kept very bare, as she hadn't spent copious amounts of time in the room since she began Hogwarts when she was eleven. Therefore in her teen years she hadn't bothered to decorate it the same way her non-boarding school friends had decorated their own rooms. She had only taken down her posters of 80s muggle popstars from childhood the previous summer, as she was embarrassed of her then boyfriend Roger seeing her juvenile room when he came to visit.
As her bedroom was plain and boring, she never spent any of her time within it if she could avoid it. However tonight was the exception. Tonight Cedric was coming to her house to stay for two nights and she couldn't contain her excitement. The Floo entrance to her house was in the guest bedroom next to hers, so anytime she had the smallest creak she would go running into the spare room.
After nine false alarms there was finally a rustling coming from the other room. Vicki immediately put down the book she was having trouble concentrating on as she ran out of her room and skidded into the guest room.
Upon seeing Cedric's smiling face she ran up to him and threw her arms around him.
"Oh Cedric, I've missed you almost as much as I've missed Fred. Almost." Vicki teased as she squeezed Cedric for dear life before letting him go moments later.
"I'd never say I miss Cho more than you." Cedric pouted upon hearing Vicki's words.
"I know. But I know you miss Cho more than me so it's okay. We're even." Vicki grinned to Cedric.
"So er, where should I put my things?" Cedric asked as he pointed to an overnight bag he had packed that was hanging off his shoulder, in an attempt to change the topic.
Maureen Smith (formerly Hartwell) came up the stairs the second she had heard her daughter's squeals. Like her daughter, she smiled widely upon Cedric's arrival and engulfed Cedric into a large hug herself.
"My gosh, look at you. I haven't seen you since you were a little boy. Now you're Hogwarts champion, doing Hufflepuff proud!" Maureen beamed to Cedric once she let him go.
"Were you in Hufflepuff too? I was always under the assumption you were in Gryffindor." Cedric asked sheepishly.
This caused Maureen to chuckle as she quickly shook her head.
"Nope. Maxwell, Vicki's father is the one who comes from a long line of Gryffindors, and won't shut up about Gryffindor. My family were Hufflepuffs, well my father anyway. My mother actually went to Beauxbatons." Maureen explained to Cedric.
This caused Cedric to break out into a wicked grin upon hearing something that Vicki had neglected to tell him during his friendship with her.
"Well, well, well. How many times have I heard you brag you avoided your family house of Gryffindor and fought to be sorted into Ravenclaw? Looks like your family blood is just as much my beloved Hufflepuff as it is Gryffindor." Cedric teased Vicki.
"Yes, but everyone knows Hufflepuff is for nuffers. Which is why the hat didn't even contemplate sorting me in there. It was purely only considering Gryffindor," Vicki stated matter-of-factly "until I argued with the hat for Ravenclaw."
It wasn't Cedric who spoke up in protest, which was the person Vicki was expecting to be annoyed in good humour. Instead it was her mother who was mad and it wasn't in a playful fun.
"Victoria Hartwell! That's a horrid thing to say," Maureen shrieked as she put her hands on her hips "Just for that you can be the one to set up the guest room for Cedric. Come Cedric, dinner is almost ready."
Cedric only sent Vicki a sheepish and guilty smile as he followed Maureen out of the room and down the stairs of the townhouse.
Vicki sighed when she saw that she had to make the bed and prepare the room for Cedric, but a sudden realisation hit her. She was turning seventeen tomorrow. This was the very last time she would need to do chores without the use of magic.
She tried to push the reminder that Fred wouldn't be there for her birthday to the back of the mind, as she grabbed the spare sheets from the linen cupboard in order to make the bed for Cedric.
Maureen, Cedric and Vicki had a very casual dinner where they watched television as they ate - Maureen was adamant that she didn't want to miss the night's episode of EastEnders. This prompted Vicki to explain the whole concept of the show to Cedric, although she was very over the top, and she exaggerated a few things she thought were pathetic.
After dinner Maureen's muggle partner, Alfred came over and was quickly introduced to Cedric. Although Alfred was a muggle, he had been loosely following the Triwizard Tournament by obtaining the news from Maureen. Therefore he was honoured to meet Cedric.
The four had a chat over a hot cup of coco before Maureen and Alfred retired to bed - as they had to get up very early the next morning to prepare for their cruise. Maureen gave her daughter a big hug and a kiss as she'd miss seeing her for her seventeenth birthday, and then Cedric and Vicki were alone once more.
The two decided to sit on the small balcony that was attached to the guest room that looked over the street that Vicki lived on. The weather wasn't warm enough for them to sit comfortably in their pyjamas, but it wasn't freezing. Therefore, the two were able to bear the weather rugging up in warm clothes and placing a blanket over themselves.
"Are you looking forward to seeing Cho tomorrow?" Vicki asked Cedric with a large grin on her face.
"Merlin Vicki, you have no idea just how much I'm looking forward to seeing Cho at your birthday party," Cedric beamed before growing quiet "Sorry. This must be hard for you considering Fred can't make it."
"I was the one who brought it up, it would be unfair for me to not allow you to talk about your girlfriend. I've decided to get over the fact that I won't be seeing Fred on my birthday, or his birthday. Besides, I'll be seeing him in just a few days." Vicki weakled smiled.
"That's true. We're going back to Hogwarts on Friday. I never come home for Easter so I haven't ever noticed how short the holiday really is." Cedric mused.
"My thoughts exactly. So what I've been doing over the past few days is focusing on the upcoming summer holidays instead. They're only a couple of months away. I'm going to have so much time to see Fred. I've actually been compiling a list of things I want to do with him over the summer." Vicki confessed.
Cedric studied the face of his friend intently. Vicki wasn't the most sentimental girl that he knew, so it was a little odd that she would think of a romantic gesture. But he saw sincerity in her face and saw she was serious.
"What have you got planned so far?" Cedric asked her curiously.
"Not much. Mostly muggle things actually, because it would be fun to introduce Fred to a few muggle things he's never been exposed to." Vicki responded.
Cedric was silent for a few moments, but then spoke up.
"I'm trying to think about what I would put on a list to do with Cho over the summer." Cedric mentioned to Vicki.
Vicki went to respond to ask Cedric what activities the two liked to partake in, but then a bright idea hit her. Without warning she jumped up from the outdoor couch as she flung the blanket off her, and bounded back inside to grab something.
When she found what she was looking for she ran back onto the balcony suddenly. Cedric didn't even bother to ask what she was up to as he knew an explanation would be coming from her.
"I've got some pens, and some paper. Our task for tonight is to write down ten things we want to do with our significant others over the summer. Then we'll discuss them with each other." Vicki beamed as she passed the pens and paper to Cedric.
Cedric said nothing but grinned as he immediately began to write furiously.
Nothing was said between the friends as they both began to jot down ideas. It was when Cedric got to ten first when he spoke up for the first time.
"To make it more interesting, why don't we swap our lists and give them back to each other at the end of the school year?" Cedric suggested to Vicki.
"I'm not opposed to giving each other our lists, but I want to know the rationale behind your thinking." Vicki responded.
Cedric shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Unlike Vicki, he was quite the romantic and quite sentimental. Therefore he felt a little foolish in sharing his thoughts with Vicki. He didn't want her to ridicule him, or think any less of him.
"Well there's a few reasons. But overall it would be a lovely thing to do, you know. I'm not going to remember all ten things I've written here, so it would be a nice surprise to revisit in a few months, and something to look forward to." Cedric began to explain.
To his surprise, Vicki joined in on his positivity.
"You're completely right. It's a nice thing for us in a friendship way thing too. Two friends sharing their relationship experience. Let's do it!"
Cedric remained silent as he let Vicki finish her list. It didn't take her long, a few minutes later she had written down ten ideas for her and Fred to do over the summer. The two friends then exchanged the lists and basked in the peaceful silence for a little longer before deciding to go to bed.
"What was the very first spell that you did outside of school, when you turned seventeen at home?" Vicki asked Cedric the next morning, bounding down the stairs and running into the kitchen to greet Cedric at the breakfast table. She knew he must have been in there as she tried the guest bedroom first and it was empty.
"Scourigfy. I decided to clean my room up a little when I woke up that morning. Well, that and it was the first spell I could think of as I really wanted to do a spell." Cedric responded.
"I just did my very first spell at home! I'm so excited!" Vicki squealed as she took a spare seat the table.
"Well, what was it?" Cedric grinned, basking in his friend's glow.
"Like you, I went to use the first spell I could think of. I was thirsty so I was going to find something to drink water from and use aguamenti to fetch some water. In my haste I stubbed my toe." Vicki began to explain.
"Aguamenti, huh? That's a pretty noble first spell to use at home, it's a bit tricky." Cedric mused.
"I didn't use it. I'm glad I stubbed my toe because it made me use a much more exciting spell for the first time." Vicki stated in an excited manner.
"Well, what was it?" Cedric asked as he was growing impatient, but held a smile on his face as he was happy for his dear friend.
"Episkey! The minor healing spell. Madam Pomfrey taught it to me last year when I volunteered in the hospital wing. But my first overage spell was a healing spell, how cool is that?" Vicki grinned madly.
"Pretty cool - for someone who wants to be a Healer, anyway. Seems a bit boring to me." Cedric grinned sheepishly.
Vicki thought of a spell to perform in front of Cedric to show off her new abilities to use magic outside of school. She thought real hard about which one would be most appropriate to use out of the thousands of spells she had learned over the years. However her mind came up blank and she pouted at her inability to pick one.
"I know so many useful spells. I can defend myself against multiple dark art threats. I can brew up a potion for nearly any occasion. I can change people's moods by just using a simple charm. But I know stuff-all about household spells to use right now. I really do need to learn some." Vicki mused.
"Do you know the charm on how to turn vinegar into wine? We learned it a few months ago. That's my favourite household spell." Cedric bragged with a huge smile on his face.
"Barely. I can do it after a few attempts, I normally make it explode or turn it into ice a few times until I finally get it. You should do it before the guests arrive, vinegar is a lot cheaper than wine!" Vicki responded cheekily.
Cedric said nothing but just shook his head and smiled. He thought the conversation was amusing but knew there was a more important one to be had.
"What would you like to do today for your birthday? We have at least a few hours before we need to start preparing before your friends come over," Cedric asked, but before she could respond he pushed a flyer with a post-it note attached towards her "Your mum left this on the table suggesting we go to this today."
Vicki didn't respond to Cedric as she studied the flyer intensely. She hadn't seen one of these in a while. There was a glossy finish that was slick to touch and a lack of moving letters and flashing colours. This was clearly a muggle flyer.
It took Vicki a few seconds to finish reading the flyer but she weakly smiled whenshe understood what it was advertising.
"There's a fete being held at my old primary school. Mum thought I'd be interested in going. Up to you." Vicki shrugged. She was feeling fairly nonchalant about going. She absolutely hated her primary school and most of the people in it. Therefore the ill feelings far outweighed any nostalgia that would make her want to go.
"Primary school? As in, the muggle school you went to before Hogwarts?" Cedric asked curiously.
"Yeah. A fete is kind of like ...this festival thingy. It has like, rides and stalls and stuff like that." Vicki attempted to explain. She knew Cedric grew up far removed from muggles and thus it was challenging to tell Cedric what a fete was using words he would actually understand.
However the lack of understanding seemed to intrigue Cedric. It made him want to know even more.
"What's a ride?" Cedric asked curiously.
Vicki sighed as she weakly smiled. She didn't fancy attending her primary school fete, but she could already tell Cedric really wanted to go. She knew he was too polite to ask to go.
"I'll show you. Let's go to the fete. We'll go after we eat breakfast and get dressed. It's only a ten minute walk from here." Vicki stated, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
Vicki felt slightly anxious as she prepared herself for the fete. She made sure to spend a lot of time to make it look like she hadn't spent a lot of time getting ready. She wanted to look her best - but no one could know this.
Her life before Hogwarts was very different, she was far from popular during primary school (or her first few years of Hogwarts for that matter, but she wasn't unpopular during that time either). As many muggle-borns would recall, muggle children could pick up on small things that made wizarding children different. As Vicki wasn't a muggle born, luckily she knew exactly why she was different to the other children. But it didn't make it any easier.
She was a prime target for bullies and would find herself constantly picked on. Those who taunted her always found themselves worse off. She could never will anything too cruel to those who wronged her - but minor things would always happen such as gusts of wind blowing up school skirts, or important belongings going missing. But it was enough for her to struggle to make friends during those years. The small handful of friends she did make, used to beg her to not publicly state they were friends. She could only spend time with them in secret.
She had tried not to let her past hold her back. She knew she had it pretty easy compared to others at Hogwarts - You-Know-Who or any other dark wizards had not attacked any of her family. It had also inspired her to eventually become well-liked and admired, so she was almost grateful she had a hard time during primary school. But at the same time she wasn't in a rush to go back to the place she hated, and see those who had wronged her.
But she would do it for Cedric, as he had very clearly wanted to go. Besides, she was no longer unfortunate looking. Just because a fete was on wouldn't mean she'd run into people she used to know - there was a good chance her fellow ex-students either wouldn't know, or care this fete was on. But if they did, she was prepared.
"Wow. This is very different to Hogwarts." Cedric said amazed, as they both stood outside the school gates.
They both admired the school ahead of them. To Vicki, it was an ordinary sight she used to say every day. But to Cedric, it was amazing.
The primary school looked like any other primary school. It was built upon quite a large yard and was made up of many different one-storey buildings, with play grounds and garden beds scattered around.
"Have you ever seen a school that wasn't Hogwarts?" Vicki asked Cedric curiously.
"No. I grew up in the village and never had any reason to see another school. Do all schools look like this?" Cedric asked Vicki curiously.
"Muggle ones, yeah. But I doubt Beauxbatons or Durmstrang look this plain." Vicki smiled to Cedric.
The two then spent the afternoon wandering around the school, enjoying what the fete had to offer. The ride selection was pretty pathetic - the only rides set up were bumper cars and a very small merry-go-round. Cedric still found the bumper cars very amusing and they both had a few goes until the operator kicked them both off and enforced a ban as the two kept bumping each other forcefully.
The two then had a wander around the market stalls. They didn't buy anything, but Cedric found a few trinkets that didn't exist in the wizarding world very interesting. They also chowed down some fairy floss and felt a large sugar rush as the fluffy sugar entered their insides.
Luckily for Vicki, she didn't run into many people she knew. Some of the teachers from the school were present and she politely spoke to them and introduced Cedric as her friend. She didn't mind speaking to the teachers - for the most part she didn't have a big issue with her teachers during school. They also couldn't be rude to her as her mother's partner, Alfred, worked at the school.
As she expected, very few of her fellow ex-students had attended the fete. What kind of seventeen year old would waste a day of their precious Easter holidays on attending a minor event at their old primary school? The only people from her year level that she saw didn't recognise her. She pointed them out to Cedric but didn't bother approaching them. She would be glad she was relieved of having to make forced small-talk with them, for them to probably say nasty things behind her back later.
But then she would run into someone she couldn't avoid.
"Victoria Hartwell. Didn't think I'd be seeing you here." She heard a boy's voice say from behind her.
She turned around and saw a boy she hadn't seen in a very, very long time. Even though it had been around five years since she had last seen him (as she had seen him a few times since primary school had ended) she recognised who he was immediately. He was a little plain looking - tall but not in a tall, dark and handsome way. Stocky, but not in a muscular way. Bright eyes and light brown hair that looked in need of a good cut.
"Lucas, hey. How ya going?" Vicki weakly smiled. Her eyes flicked onto Lucas' friend but she noticed he wasn't anyone she knew, so she only gave him a polite head nod as acknowledgement.
"Good, good. School is starting to get stressful, final year and all next year," The boy said nonchalantly and then immediately changed the topic "Wow you look great. I barely recognised you."
"Really? Do you think so?" Vicki said awkwardly as she began to nervously play with her hair due to the compliment.
Before Lucas could say anything to Vicki, Cedric had given her a slightly painful elbow in the ribs to bring her back to reality. She shot him a dirty look. She certainly hadn't forgotten Fred. Cedric just didn't know the backstory behind Lucas Stevenson.
"Lucas, this is my best friend Cedric. Cedric, this is Lucas. We went to primary school together, our mums were friends." Vicki introduced as she lazily waved a hand between Cedric and Lucas.
"Of course I know who Cedric Diggory is. He's Hogwarts champion!" Lucas stated in an excited manner "That's also how I was able to recognise you. You were his hostage in the second task. I saw your photo in the paper. You've gotten very pretty."
"You know about Hogwarts and the Triwizard Tournament?" Cedric asked as his eyes widened. He had spent a day amongst muggles and thus he was surprised to run into someone who knew about the magic community.
"Of course I do. I almost went to Hogwarts. But my father insisted on sending me to Beauxbatons as he was an old boy, and mum eventually caved. Vicki nearly came to join me as well." Lucas cockily stated.
"Psh, hardly! Mum considered it very briefly as her family traditionally went there, Mum and her siblings were first generation English and therefore first generation of Hogwarts students. But there was no way Dad would have let me go anywhere other than Hogwarts." Vicki quickly piped up.
Cedric once again decided to quickly interject. He knew Vicki was in love with Fred and would never consciously do anything to jeopardise that. But it was his role as best friend to look out for her and ensure nothing happened. Cedric could see Vicki was only responding to the Lucas boy's energy, but he could tell Lucas was being a tad flirty with her.
"Sorry, I didn't get your name." Cedric quickly asked the forgotten boy that was with Lucas.
"My name iz Louis. 'Eet iz an honour to meet you. I am hoping you beat Fleur, as well as 'zat Durmstrang scum." Lucas' friend said in a thick french accent. It was made very apparent that Louis was a fellow Beaxbatons student and that's how he knew Lucas.
"Don't mind Louis. He's had a big crush on Fleur for basically all of his school life. She brutally rejected him last year and he's harboured hatred ever since." Lucas grinned to both Vicki and Cedric.
"Fair enough." Cedric responded. Vicki could tell he felt highly uncomfortable talking to the pair. But she knew Cedric and knew he was too polite to say anything, so instead he was making small and very forced conversation instead.
"Fleur took your ex-boyfriend to the Yule Ball didn't she? The gossip makes it all the way over to our school you know. I was quite shocked to hear your name being thrown around. Miss Vicki Hartwell, the little girl from primary school was now apparently a pretty and popular it-girl. May I say, the rumours were all correct." Lucas flirted outwardly.
This seemed to bring Vicki back to life as the reality of the situation hit her. Lucas Stevenson was attempting to woo her. She wanted no part of it and wanted to depart from him as quickly as possible.
"Have you heard the rumours of her having a new boyfriend?" Cedric quickly piped up. He was smart and a socially-aware person so he could sense Vicki's new hesitations. But he still wanted to steer her away from Lucas once and for all.
"Oh. I assumed perhaps you may have broken up, considering you were Diggory's hostage and all. Not many boyfriends would be okay with that." Lucas said with a wrinkled nose after hearing Cedric's news.
"Fred was fine with it. In fact we declared our love for each other in front of all three schools. It was pretty romantic actually." Vicki responded with a cheesy grin.
This made Cedric smile. He was happy for his friend as she recounted the happy memory of her and Fred exchanging I-love-yous. But he was also happy that she had taken a step back from Lucas and wouldn't do anything stupid to jeopardise her relationship.
"We should go. 'Eet iz nearly time for our families to have dinner." Louis quickly said as he tapped his friend Lucas on the shoulder.
"Yeah, Cedric and I better go as well. We have er, engagements on and stuff." Vicki spoke up swiftly as well. She now wanted to depart but didn't want to be rude about it.
Both Cedric and Vicki watched Lucas carefully. He hung his head and they both could tell he had now given up.
"Well good luck for the tournament man, hope you fare well in the third task," Lucas said as he shook Cedric's hand before he engulfed Vicki into an awkward hug "Very lovely seeing you again Vicki. Hopefully we can catch up properly over summer holidays."
"Sure thing. See you Lucas." Vicki smiled in an overly cheerful manner, to which Cedric was the one one who could tell just how fake she was.
Vicki and Cedric walked one way, whilst Lucas and Louis walked in the opposite direction. Both Vicki and Cedric looked over their shoulders and waited until Lucas and Louis had turned a corner before they spoke up about the encounter.
"You're not really going to meet up with him over summer are you?" Cedric asked Vicki cautiously.
"No! I only said 'sure thing' to be polite and to escape the conversation. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I doubt I'll have time anyway. I anticipate that this summer I'll be spending almost every waking moment with Fred. Any spare time I may have I'll squeeze a hang out session with you." Vicki responded.
Without even acknowledging a departure the two began to make their way out of the school grounds to make their way back to Vicki's house. Her party would be starting fairly soon so they both needed to get back to prepare, but also the two of them didn't want to run into Lucas and Louis again.
"So er, is there some kind of history between you and that Lucas guy?" Cedric probed Vicki.
"A few years ago if you asked me that question I would have responded with 'I wish' or something. But no, no history." Vicki awkwardly smiled.
"What does that mean?" Cedric quickly asked.
"I spent basically my entire childhood in love with Lucas Stevenson. It was just lame childhood puppy love of course, I was far too young to actually be in love. But I had the biggest crush on him for years." Vicki admitted, going red and burying her head in her hands out of embarrassment.
Cedric smiled at Vicki. He was glad she was sharing some of her past secrets with him. He found it amusing.
"Did he return the feelings?" Cedric asked curiously.
"Oh heck no! We did spend a lot of time together because we understood each other. We were the only ones we could talk to about magic and eventually going off to magic school - he knew he was magic because he was a half-blood, muggle mother and wizard father," Vicki began to explain and her smile turned sad "Maybe it was because he had a muggle mother, but he was able to fit in a lot better and thus wasn't bullied like I was. He agreed to be my friend, but only in secret. He definitely did not return the feelings."
"That's pretty horrible." Cedric sadly stated as he put a sympathetic hand on Vicki's shoulder.
Vicki went to tell Cedric something but held herself back. She was going to tell Cedric about the comparisons she could draw about her time being an outcast in primary school, and how she had recently been excommunicated from their friendship circle until now where they were finally acknowledging her. But she decided against saything anything. She didn't want to ruin the mood. It was her seventeenth birthday and she was about to party. Who cares about her silly old friends.
"Oh well. He now knows what he's missed out on." Vicki eventually stated with a big grin on her face.
"I'll tell ya one thing Miss Hartwell," Cedric said with a serious look on his face as he rolled up his sleeves for dramatic effect "You sure have a type."
"Okay Diggory, I'll bite. What's my type?" Vicki asked him curiously, smirking as she knew he was mostly just playing around.
"You seem to like them cocky. Confident. Dare I add arrogant? Roger Davies, Fred Weasley and now this Lucas whats-his-name definitely all fit under that label." Cedric teased Vicki.
Vicki said nothing as she let Cedric's words absorb. He was saying it to tease her but she chose not to respond. He was actually correct. She seemed to be attracted to bold and confident boys.
Instead of a response she decided to perform an action instead. She gave Cedric a light punch on the shoulder to show her defeat before she laughed heavily and placed an arm around Cedric's shoulder.
The two friends then went on to walk down the street with arms around each other's shoulders, giggling madly.
