A/N: Yay for all of you! I'm back and I don't want to talk for much long up here, so I won't! Thanks for reading! Love you and ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Harry Potter stuff! Thanks!


Victory's Wake

Red Letter:

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat shouted. The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers, coming especially from four people. Nikole headed proudly over the Gryffindor table to sit with her four friends. She looked down the table and her eyes landed on Tad. He turned and saw her looking; this caused him to smirk at her. Turning red and angry, Nikole paid attention as her brother's name was called.

"Tancs, Viktor," Professor McGonagall called. Viktor confidently walked up to the three-legged stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head. The Hat sat on his head for several minutes. Batted breaths were held in while the Hat decided where to put.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Vik grinned as he made to Gryffindor. He walked past his sister and squeezed her hand briefly, then proceeded to sit with his friends. Nikole looked after her brother; at least she wasn't losing him. His friends were being very loud as he joined them. A hand shaking her tuned her back into her friends.

"Aren't they just the noisiest?" Rand asked, raising her eyebrow in Viktor and his friend's direction.

"Yeah, they are. I don't know who some of them are though…"

"Oh, well, we can tell you," Rys volunteered. "The brownish-blondish haired one with greenish eyes is named Geoffrey."

"OH! Is that the one you like Randi?" Nikole asked, innocently smiling at the girl.

Randi smiled venomously, "Yes, thank you for pointing that out. The tanned one with the really dark hair and brown eyes is Jeremiah, a.k.a. the most irritating."

"He's not that bad," Adelaide defended, then gave up when everyone else gave her "the look". "Fine. You guys suck. The dark haired, darked eyed, and extremely white one, is called Arrym."

"I hope they leave us alone. I would really hate to have to be a tattle tail and tell Mom that Tad and his little friends are bothering us. That would be a bummer, but I'm willing to do it and get Tad a big fat Howler from La Mama," Randi said, grinning at the thought of a big red letter landing in front of her brother at breakfast and then the entire Hall listening to her mother scream at Thaddeus.

"Hey Em, quit spacing, it's kind of creepy. Em… Emlynn, EMLYNN!" Adelaide shouted at the girl, finally getting her to come back to attention. Four girls laughed at her and Emlyn just sat in her chair, looking guiltily at her empty plate. Em looked up quickly.

"Guys."

"Yes," came in unison from Addy, Randi, Nikole, and Rys.

"I'm hungry." The rest groaned and didn't even bother to comment on her bottomless pit. Food appeared on the table around ten minutes later and the five ate until they couldn't eat anymore, in Em's case, more than that. After about thirty minutes Rys started to get bored.

"I'm tired, why can't we go to bed now?" Rys asked. Having been done eating for quite a while she was antsy to sleep in a comfortable, instead of on the table.

The first week of classes was hell for the five girls. Homework, teachers, and not getting enough sleep were really wearing the girls out. Friday came with relief for everyone, the first time to really relax since they had been there. Five first year girls were found sitting by the fire reading. A book exchange had occurred without any of girls realizing it had actually happening and they were now reading the book they had borrowed from one of their friends. Silence overtook the Common Room since most people were in their rooms, not working. The peace was interrupted when five very noisy boys walked down their staircase into the Common Room.

"I can't believe you did that. It's insane, but it totally rocked!" Tad practically yelled. "That's nuts Arrym!" The girls rolled their eyes at each other and tried to get back to reading, not caring what stupid thing Arrym had done this time.

"I wonder if we could be any LOUDER. What do you do you think guys?" Jeremiah asked, loudly.

The boys all started laughing. The calm that had spread through the Common Room for the past hour was being disrupted by unnecessary volumes.

Randi shouted at the boys, "I don't know, I don't think it could be possible for you guys to be any louder."

Tad smirked at her then moved his smirk around the girls, landing on Nikole. He spoke to his friends while smirking directly at Nikole, "Shall we try boys?" Nikole began blushing under his unwavering gaze.

"No, I don't think you will try Thaddeus Julian Ashmore," Randilyn said, outraged.

Tad stepped up to Rand, "Are you going to stop me little sister?" Randi glared at him. "Oh, yes that's intimidating Randilyn."

"Shut up, you big jerk, don't threaten her like that!" Nikole said, getting up out of her chair and walking towards them. "Just because you are older than us doesn't mean you can push us around! That's not cool!" She stepped closer to him and started poking his chest. "Just leave us alone. We didn't do anything to you and you just prance in here and start acting like you own the place. Girls may think you are all that, but they must only see what's on the outside, not that it is much, because your personality SUCKS!"

"First of all little girl, I don't prance. At least not a lot," Tad smirked, stepping closer to her, "I am older than you, yes. I have more of a control on this place than you think, kid. You are really good at come backs too, you know that?"

Nikole was about to start yelling at him when Viktor pulled Tad out of the line of fire and placed his hand on Nikole's shoulder, then turned to face Tad, "Just cool it, okay? Let this one go buddy," he turned to Nikole, "you stop too. This whole thing isn't Tad's fault, got it? Just let it go. You can't go picking fight just because you feel like it and don't like him."

"But Vik-." Nikole started.

"Don't 'But Vik' me. I'm not gonna get in the middle, okay? I just don't want you guys fighting anymore. Just drop it," he started to walk away, pulling Tad with him, "both of you."

Over the next few years fights similar to this and worse would occur, always to be resolved by a friend. Occasionally, one of the other five boys would bother one of the other five girls. A fight that lasted for almost six months even occurred in Nikole's fourth year and Tad's fifth. People all over the school knew about Tad and Nikole, destined to fight forever beyond. Most learned to tune out their spats. Neither ever apologized for things that they had done to other, just let it go. Sometimes they do something stupid like break something (or something of Nikole's if you were Tad) or they would hit someone (Tad if you were Nikole), but both knew without saying that apologizes weren't needed, just for the sheer fact that neither would know how to react. Tad was made a Prefect in his fifth year, which made Nikole mad. She made her goal to be a Prefect as well and even head girl, not that Tad would be around anymore, but that didn't matter!

Hormones kicked in a few years and the Red Letter Boys (The name had come from the first time each boy had asked a girl on a date, in a very unusual fashion. The boys sent a red letter that looked disturbingly like a howler to the girl they wanted to ask out. When the girl received the letter they were normally scared, not knowing what they had done wrong until they opened the letter and everyone in the Hall could clearly hear the voice of one of the Red Letter's clearly asking the girl to go out with them) started dating and becoming the most widely known and popular males in their school for their good looks and wittiness. The groupies couldn't get over how comfortable and suave the boys were. It blew them away and most never wavered from their fantasies of dating the boys. The five girls blossomed into beautiful young woman, but none of them started dating, having realized that they didn't have the time for that sort of attachment. Drooling males had started calling the girls the Spitfires (for the way that the girls were feisty and turned down boys, sometimes rather harshly…) and none could penetrate the wall they had built around themselves. The only boys who spent any periods of time around the girls were the Red Letters because they had family connections to the girls. Viktor still talked with Nikole and a regular basis and made her be nice to Tad on holidays when they didn't go home and opened presents at school. She obeyed because she loved her brother.

Our story picks up again in Nikole's fifth year…

"So, for the ingredients for boil-curing potions are: Dried nettles, Crushed snake fangs, Stewed horned slugs and Porcupine quills. Is that all?" Nikole inquired, completely at a loss when it came to Potions. Four other girls glared at her. "Okay, sorry, jeez. Enough with the death glares!"

"Okay, sorry," Rys replied, laughing. "We didn't mean to."

"You didn't," Randi grunted.

"Okay then, I didn't." A laugh was a relief in this time before school started. Nikole had been trying to live up to her goal and become a Prefect. She had been cramming for over a week now.

"Nik?"

"What is it, Em?" Nikole asked, still looking at her book of advanced transfiguration spells. Aderys, Emlynn, Randilyn, and Adelaide all looked at each disbelievingly.

"I really don't think that all this extra stuff is necessary. I mean I honestly don't that Dumbledore is gonna know that you did all this and then it will just have been a waste of time…" Em said, cautiously, not wanting to be the center of Nikole's wrath. Nikole looked up slowly and Emlynn hid behind Adelaide. "Please don't hurt me!"

"…Oh, my god…. YOU'RE RIGHT! I'VE BEEN DOING ALL THIS CRAP FOR NO REASON! I KNOW THINGS I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT BECAUSE I THOUGHT THEY WOULD MAKE A PREFECT AND YOU KNOW WHAT! THEY WON'T! That sucks so bad," Nikole sighed. Everyone laughed and dog-piled on top of her on the bed, giggling. The girls laughed then finally ran out the door of Nikole's room, into the backyard. All the girls stopped talking when they saw who else was in the garden playing croquet.

"I didn't know they were here. That really sucks for us, huh?" Adelaide said, pointing out the obvious. Five boys were teasing each other about bad shots and other nonsense in the yard. The girls sat down on the patio to watch the boys play, just to see who would win. After several minutes when one of the boys pointed out that they had an audience, all the Red Letters turned to look the bench.

"Enjoying the view there girls?" Tad asked, smirking directly at Nikole. She turned red, but didn't let him get the enjoyment of seeing this.

"You wish, Letter man," Nikole spat back, barely able to restrain herself from something much worse that "Letter man". It became a glaring contest before Viktor cleared his throat, causing both to look at him instead. Vik looked expectantly between them, knowing they knew what he was waiting for. Getting up from her chair Nikole apologized quickly, at the exact same time Tad did. Nikole quickly murmured that she was going to the bathroom. Returning a few minutes later, Nikole was far less red and she carried iced tea for everyone.

"YES! Mom, guess what? I got it! I'm a Prefect! THIS ROCKS!" Nikole ran around the kitchen the next morning with a letter in her hand. She jumped around and did a jig in the middle of the kitchen. Finally realizing what she was doing, Nikole stopped and laughed nervously while eleven other people laughed at her. "Sorry, He he." She glowered at Tad who was chuckling and smirking at his plate at the same time. Nikole wouldn't stop talking about how happy she was through out the rest of breakfast. Mr. and Mrs. Tancs (the brave souls that they were for allowing ten teenaged children to spend the night at once) finally had to make her shut up and eat.

Later that day, before everyone went home the girls were playing croquet, having missed their chance before. This would be their last time to be together as a group before school started because Adelaide would be taking a very short trip to France with her family. Emlynn would be driving to lower England to visit family. Aderys was working at her dad's company the rest of the summer to earn some money. Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore had taken a cruise down the coast, so Randilyn and Tad were staying with the Tancs' for the remainder of the summer. Nikole and Randi had made a very nice schedule to be able to avoid running into their brother's because otherwise fights always broke out.

Nikole walked out into the hall to use the restroom and standing on the other side of the hall, outside Viktor's room, stood Tad. They slowly walked towards each other. Tad reached for the handle when they had reached the door, only to be cut off by Nikole.

"Ladies first, remember that one?" Nikole asked snidely, trying to push him away from the door.

"Oh well I guess we'll have to flip a coin to see who gets the bathroom 'cause I don't know see any ladies around here," Tad looked around, as if really searching.

"Oh, haha, very funny."

"I know. Anyways you know the saying: Age before beauty."

"Ahh, now you think I'm beautiful? How sad for you because that doesn't actually mean anything coming from someone like you," Nikole spat, knowing she had gotten him.

"Oh I was just meant that because I'm older and better looking I should get to go twice before you get to go once. You wish I thought you were beautiful, just like every other girl in the entire school," Tad smirked.

"Oh you so wish." Silence lapsed because Tad's grin began widening. "What are you smirking like that for?"

"You have to let me go first."

"Umm… why?"

He pushed her by the shoulder, "Because I'm the guest, that's why." Nikole eyes became huge as she stared at him in disbelief. He opened the door and closed it behind him, right in her face. She turned around and opened her bedroom door. Nikole stood in her doorframe for several seconds. Randilyn looked up from her magazine quiz.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate your brother, no offense."

"He's a real pain, isn't he?" Randi shook her head. "So, what did he do this time?"

Nikole crossed her arms over her chest, "We had a little fight over the bathroom and he used the GUEST excuse on me! That's so lame. Why can't he come up with something more creative? Grr… He's so irritating. To every other girl, other than you of course, he's polite and suave. WHY?"

Randi smiled at her magazine, "Maybe because he LURVES you!" Nikole hit her.

"Why would you even say something like that? The "l" word is off limits when it comes to any of the Red Letters, if you ask me, especially him. Eww…." Nikole said, shivering from the sheer thought.

"'L' word? Like…lasagna, lettuce, linguine, and…" Rand was cut off by Nikole, who threw a pillow at her face, causing her to stop talking for a brief period of time.

"Why are all of your "l" words foods? Just shut up Rand. Anyways, he's just so irritating. I can't stand him!"

"Liver!...ew…"

"He doesn't seem to care that everything he does annoys the crap out of me, he enjoys I'm sure." Nikole said, irritably.

"Lobster!"

"He just puts on that stupid 'I'm so hot' act for all the girls. He even does that sometimes when the other girls are around." Nikole finally looked at Randilyn. Randi was thinking about more "l" words and Nikole just stared at her wondering where she found these people.

"Lemons!" Rand shouted. Nikole blinked at her best friend. Randi finally realized that Nikole wasn't rambling anymore. Laughing nervously she asked, "What's the look for?"

"Did you listen to anything I said Rand?"

"Yes…" Randi's eyes went from side to side in an "unsuspicious" manner. Nikole laughed at her.

"What did I say?"

"That my brother's a jerk and that he annoys and that he puts on an act and thinks he's hot," Randi replied, grinning at Nikole. "The things you always say when you rant about Tad." Nikole, after looking at Randi in an "I can't believe you" way, went to use the bathroom, again. She returned successful and the two girls went for a walk around the block.

Returning for the fifth time to the wonderful castle of Hogwarts was greatly embraced by Nikole and her friends. The train was uneventful, save when Em spilled food on herself. Adelaide talked about her trip to France, so all the girls had something to listen to on the long journey. Also, each of them now wore identical bracelets that said all of their names, in pretty writing. On the inside of the bracelets, was engraved the words: N'hésitez jamais pour n'importe qui mais vous-même, meaning "Never waver for anyone but yourself." The saying was something Adelaide had made up herself. Addy had always been good at this sort of thing, along with poetry. When Adelaide ran out of things to say one of the other girls would mention something they'd done that was funny or interesting, maybe how much money they had earned over the summer until Addy remember something else about France.

The sorting ceremony for the first years was as lengthy as ever. Nikole didn't pay attention and only clapped politely when someone got into her house. Dinner was a welcome treat, especially Nikole's throat was dry, she didn't know why though. Taking a drink of pumpkin juice, Nikole noticed her throat was still dry. She let it go and continued eating her food. When desert was done, and Emlynn had eaten almost everyone at the table's left over desert, the girls went up to their dorm where Nikole immediately went to sleep. Randi informed the other three of what had happened at Nikole's house between Nikole and Tad.

"They were fighting over a croquet mallet. I thought things were going to be okay until Tad decided to take the mallet that Nix had already claimed… Why can't they just be civilized?" Randi explained, at a loss.

"The only reason that the boys' group and our group are considered arch-enemies is because of those two," Adelaide mentioned. All four shook their heads.

"I love her dearly, but I think she finds ways to pick fights with him…" Emlynn pointed out.

"True, but isn't only her. He finds ways to irritate and provoke her, too," Rys suggested, knowing this to be a fact. The girls all got up off the floor, where they had been sitting and headed over to their own beds. "Night guys."

Em, Addy, and Randi all replied, in unison, "Night, Rys."

The first day of classes then next day was highlighted by the passing between classes and lunch. Professor Snape seemed especially irritated, showing that no one liked the beginning of the year. The five girls didn't have a terrible lot of homework and were done by nine o'clock and sitting in front of the fire, reading books. The Red Letter Boys trudged down their staircase and, strangely enough, silently sat down a table in the corner of the Common Room. The five girls exchanged looks and all were thinking that the boys were planning something until the Red Letters pulled out their homework, something they never did in public. Nikole shrugged and began reading again.

"Well fellas, I'm bored with this now, what do you wanna do?" Tad's voice broke through the quiet rumble of people talking in hushed voices. Some Crimson Groupies (as Em had taken to calling them) giggled as Tad spoke. He grinned charmingly in their general direction before packing up his bag and jumping up the stairs, taking them by twos. Viktor wandered over to stand in front of Nikole's chair as Tad came hurdling down the stairs and out the portrait hall. Nikole rolled her eyes as she looked at her twin.

"What is it Vik?" Nikole asked.

"I was just coming to say good night and tell you, because I know that your mind is scrambling to answer this question, where Tad is going. He is going to get some food from the kitchen, because we are hungry," Viktor told her before starting to walk away. Nikole looked after him in incredulity, before finally being able to react.

"HEY! I don't care about that jerk!" Viktor turned around and smiled at her in a warm and knowing way, without answering. He walked quietly up the stairs with his friends trailing along behind him. Tad returned a few minutes later with a bag that he hadn't had before he's left. Not that I was paying attention, Nikole told herself. Nikole snapped her book shut. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now guys, I want to be able to function in the morning." The other girls said goodnight and went back to their books.

Nikole woke up the next morning and lay in bed, savoring the idea of weekends. In Nikole's opinion who ever had invented them was genius. Finally crawling out of bed, she tumbled into the shower, taking pleasure in the warm water waking her up and loosening her muscles. She turned off the water several minutes later and dried herself off. She dressed and dried her hair magically, causing it to fall perfectly around her face. Em was talking her sleep in her bed. Randi was doing nothing except for the occasional turn in her sleep. Nikole joined Addy and Rys on Addy's bed. They had been talking while she'd been in the shower.

"Now I'm refreshed," Nikole told them, acting as if they actually cared. She ran her hands through her thick blonde hair.

"As nice as that is Nik, it doesn't matter one way or the other that you feel refreshed because I don't! It's my turn next," Addy said, racing into the bathroom.

"Well then. Good to know I'm important!" Nikole shouted after her. Aderys giggled and Adelaide turned and grinned before closing the door and starting the water.

"Hoo-hah ha. You guys are so funny," Rys said, still giggling slightly. "I'm surprised you beat Addy to the bathroom though, she's is normally the first one awake. That's a-MA-zing." Nikole fell back on the bed, laughing. Addy came out of the bathroom and Rys went in. Randi finally woke up as Rys was coming of the shower. She entered and emerged within minutes. That left Emlynn to be awoken. Nikole sniggered and jumped onto her.

"OH MY GOD! I DIDN'T DO IT! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING IF YOU PROMISE NOT TO HURT ME! I- oh…you guys suck! I wasn't ready to wake up yet," Em mumbled, turning over.

Nikole rolled with her, causing Em to be squished, "We were ready for you to wake up because you were talking to yourself and you smell funny. Take a shower, now." Em grudgingly trudged into the bathroom. The sound of water falling in the shower satisfied the girls.

"AHHHHH! OH MY GOD!" Em screeched, running of the bathroom, still clothed. "Guys there is this HUGE spider in the bathroom. Get it out, Get it out." Nikole walked into the bathroom and took some toilet paper. Finding the bug where Emlynn was pointing she smashed it and flushed it down the toilet. Leaving the bathroom she told Em to shower so they could all go eat. Emlynn appeared in the bathroom door several minutes later. They all headed down the breakfast.

When they arrived in the Hall it became apparent that everyone in the school was awake this Saturday morning. The girls were just beginning to eat when the owls arrived carrying the post. A large cream colored Barn owl came swooping down to drop a bright crimson letter in front of Adelaide. All the girls gasped. Addy slowly broke the seal, not knowing if this was a howler or…something else.

The letter's voice boomed, "Jeremiah Orion Iler would like to ask you to be his date on the next trip to Hogsmeade. Mr. Iler also wishes for you to know that you are very beautiful and kind. He also requests that you wear that slinky little black dress he knows is in your closet."

"HEY! I did not tell it say that last part! Although…if you wanted to…," seeing Addy's glare he laughed nervously, "Joking, I'm joking." Addy shook her and got up from the table. She marched over to Jeremiah and leaned down to his eye level, since he was sitting.

"No thank you," she left the letter on the table and walked out of the Great Hall, bright red. The Hall sat in silence, for no one had ever said "no" to a red letter before. The rest of the girls followed Addy. None of them spoke about this sudden onslaught of red letters as they sat down library. Life flowed at usual until dinner when yet another red letter arrived, this time for Randilyn.

"Well that was interesting. I never thought that any of us would ever get a red letter. That is so weird," Rys said, still shocked by recent happenings. The girls shrugged it off and read books until lunch when they arrived in the Great Hall. Emlynn was enjoying her food when a creamy Barn owl dropped a red letter in front her plate.

"What? WHAT IS THIS!" Em screamed, opening the letter.

It burst into speech, "Arrym Ezekiel Ladris kindly asks that you be his date on a trip to Hogsmeade. This gentleman compassionately tells you that you are funny and adorable. He wishes to tell you that your height is perfectly endearing." Emlynn's eyes were huge and her mouth was wide open. She blinked and looked down the table. Jeremiah was staring at the table, obviously not able to cope with being rejected yet. Arrym was anxiously glancing at Em every few seconds.

"Em, be nice" Aderys whispered as Em got up and starting walking over to Arrym. She stopped next to him.

"No thanks," she stuffed the red letter down the Red Letter's shirt and spun on her heel, walking away. Her friends clapped loudly in the shocked silence of the Hall. All the Red Letters were staring at Arrym in disbelief as he pulled the red parchment out of his shirt and stared at her, an almost… hurt look in his eyes. He quickly recovered by pulling out his wand and disappearing the letter. He walked slowly out of the Hall, only to be followed shortly after by his friends.

"WHY ME!"

A kind voiced letter shouted for the Great Hall to hear, "Geoffrey Quinn Sharyn asked you to accompany him to Hogsmeade. He wishes to bring to your attention that no one can match you in loveliness. He also wishes to tell you that your eyes are exquisite." Randi blushed, but shook her head and got up. She walked over to the boys and repeated what her friends had done. This routine was getting old, Nikole decided. She knew that there were two boys left and she would giggle her teeth out if Vik asked Rys out because they would be so cute together.

Sure enough the next morning a similar occurrence to the three prior to it came to be. Aderys received a letter from Viktor Dmitri Tancs, which she politely turned down. The five girls sat in the Common Room reading. Nikole snapped her book shut, causing her friends to look at her.

"I think this whole thing was Tad's idea. He's trying to use you guys as a way to irritate me. I think he is trying to take my friends away from me one by one. Although I think that some of you guys would be very cute together I think this was planned," Nikole spit out.

"Why was it planned?" Em asked.

"Did you realize how they have shown no interest in us up to this point? They fought with us and then left us alone, that's all. All that crap they were spewing was just that, crap. I think that at least…" Nikole finished looking to her friends for their opinion.

"I guess that could be, but I think you are looking for conspiracies Nix," Addy said, shaking her head.

Nothing happened at lunch, or dinner. Nothing happened for the next week, as a matter of fact. On Saturday morning Nikole was exhausted. She almost didn't notice when there in front of her, was a red letter, with her name on it. Rys shook her shoulder and pointed to the letter.

"Oh, my god. No freakin' way. He is not doing this," Nikole opened the letter and was taken aback at the volume level, which was louder than all the others.

"Thaddeus Julian Ashmore the third would like your attendance on a date to Hogsmeade. He wishes it to be known to the school that he is aware that you are the feistiest girl in school and that he admires you for it. He would also like you do know that you're even though your brother has smaller feet than you doesn't mean you have big feet."

Nikole stood up, outraged, "WHAT THE HELL!" She marched over to Tad and waved the letter in his face. "What the HELL do you want from me? You are mean and rude and stupid and arrogant all these years and then this? What do you want? I don't even know if this is real. It's probably just some kind of prank to get to me and guess what! IT'S WORKING!" She was red and angry. Nikole began to stamp only pausing briefly to say, "Don't follow me," when Tad stood to follow her. The girls stood to follow, but the Letters stopped them as Tad silently slipped out of the Hall, following Nikole.

Nikole was completely oblivious to the fact that she was being followed. She walked quickly through the hall. She murmured the password and slammed the portrait behind her, with much protest from the Fat Lady. She plunked down in front of the fire and stared at it for several long minutes. The portrait hole swung open revealing Tad.

"I thought I told you not to follow me, Ashmore," Nikole reminded him, coldly. Tad didn't answer, but moved closer to her. "Stay away from me. I can't deal with you right now." She turned her back to him by swinging her legs over the chair's arm. He stepped around the chair and sat in the one sitting next to it. He looked straight ahead, but Nikole still had to look at him. Looking at the ceiling she sighed, then got up.

"Please just let me-" Tad started.

"No, you let me. I don't know what your problem is. I mean I do all I can to avoid you and you do something embarrassing like this? What the hell do you want from me? I know you don't want to date me for obvious reasons. This is probably just some prank or a joke. You try to take all my friends and then you humiliate me in front of the entire school. You know that you get to me and you enjoy it! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" Nikole shouted at him.

"Nikole, just calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down! I honestly don't know what your problem is, but how do you expect me to react when you spring something like this on me? What gave you the idea that you could do something like this?" Nikole yelled, her carrying in the empty Common Room.

"Nikole I never would have done this if your brother had said I shouldn't," Tad explained. His eyes were soft as he gazed at her. All her yelling was obviously hurting him. Seeing him this way caused Nikole to lose all her thunder.

"Don't drag my brother into this, Ashmore," Nikole whispered, looking at the ground. She collapsed into her chair. "Sorry I yelled. I just don't know what to do. I don't know if this is for real and if it is what I would do if it were real…" Nikole looked at Tad, who sat quietly staring at the fire.

"I like the fact that you don't let me get away with things. All the girls I've ever dated just giggled when I did something, even if they didn't like, something they never told me. All of them just bent to what I was doing. They didn't want it to seem like they didn't like something I was doing. I went out with someone over the summer and I found myself thinking about what it would be like to be there with you," he had the grace to blush as he said this, "I was freaked out at first because I never would have imagined I would think things like that. I did though. The reason all my friends asked your friends out was because they were cushioning me. Of course, they all liked the girls they asked out, but I don't think they would have done what they did if I hadn't asked them to…" He didn't look at her through all of this, obviously too embarrassed that she wouldn't like him back.

"Tad?"

He looked at her, eyes honey colored eyes boring into her with their intensity, "Yeah?"

"I like you."

"Really? Is it only because I like you because I wouldn't want to be with you if that was it," Tad said anxiously.

"I've liked you since I was eleven. I think that's why Vik told you that you could send me a letter. He's known since then that I have liked you, but…" Nikole trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

"What?"

"I don't think I'm ready to date yet… It's nothing personal; it's just that I want to know for sure that I am mature enough to handle a relationship and school work," Nikole told him, looking in the eye. "I'm sorry." She whispered this last part, honestly feeling sorry.

He smiled kindly at her, "I'm patient and willing to wait. I respect that you aren't just going to jump into something that you aren't ready for. I don't wanna pressure you, take as long as you need, but be warned, I will be around." He stood up and squeezed her shoulder as he walked past.

Tad turned and called back, "Hey Nikole?"

She twisted in the chair and replied, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Nikole grinned, "Me too." He left the Common Room and Nikole sighed contentedly sinking into her chair, feeling cozy and perfectly happy.

Nikole was still sitting staring into space when her friends came into the Common Room with the rest of the crowd who had just finished breakfast and had decided to come back for relaxation time. Nikole's friend made their way over to her side. They all noticed the small almost non-existent smile gracing her face. Exchanging glances let the all know that it wasn't just them.

"Nikole?" Rys asked quietly, placing a hand on Nikole's shoulder. Nikole didn't even jump, she just looked up at Rys, widening her smile. Her eyes almost held a glazed over look as she looked around at her friends.

"Hi guys. How are you?" Nikole asked, dazedly.

"Umm… We are fine, are you okay?" Addy inquired.

Nikole finally had more attention, "I'm great. Absolutely wonderful. How was dinner?" She looked around beaming like never before.

"Umm… what happened to you? You leave us all angry and we find you later in a trance? Did you, like, KILL Tad or something?" Emlynn poked her in the ear with a deft finger. The girls turned a blind eye to the fact that they hadn't been eating dinner.

"No, why would I kill him? He didn't do anything wrong. I think I may have overreacted," Nikole informed them as she lifted herself out of her chair and began walking away. The other four just stared in shock as she moseyed up the stairs. Finally breaking out of their stupor the rest looked around.

"I don't even think I want to know what happened," Rys declared. She shook her head.

Randilyn looked at her, "I do!" The girls ran up the stairs and into their dorm room where Nikole was laying in her bed staring at her canopy ceiling. Randi jumped on her and pushed on her leg. Nikole didn't seem to notice. "What happened? I wouldn't mind if you had killed him, you know."

"Tell us, tell us, tell us," Addy prodded. Nikole looked at them, as if really seeing them. She sat up and then began her entire long tale of what had occurred that morning. All the girls giggled at parts, especially Randi when it came to corny parts. Lying back down, Nikole produced a book and began reading.

That night at dinner four more red letters came in the same sequence they had come the first time. Addy shook her head, smiling. She looked down the table at Jeremiah and smiled, still shaking her head. Finally she nodded her head, chuckling. The Hall erupted as another letter landed on the table. Em stared at it in horror, seeing that it bore her name. She looked at her friends, then down the table. Emlynn gulped then, looking terrified, nodded at Arrym, he visibly sighed with relief. Again the Hall exploded in sound. Another letter arrived for Randi. She jumped up from the table and did jig then ran over to Geoffrey and hugged him. Finally Rys received a letter. She blushed prettily and nodded at Viktor from down the table then averted her gaze. The crowd was all applause when a last letter came. The Hall was silent as Nikole looked at the letter then at Tad strangely, knowing they had agreed on something involving this. He smirked back, raising his eyebrow. She opened it.

"Thaddeus Julian Ashmore the third requests that you join him as a friend to Hogsmeade so neither of you has to be alone while all of your friends are out on dates. He also desires it to be to known that he is keeping true to his promise." Nikole looked up from the letter laughing. She shook her head and then cocked her eyebrow at Tad.

"I told you I'd be around without pushing you!" Tad yelled down the table.

"I know that! Goodness, I guess I can go. Since we will both be alone tomorrow if I don't…" she shrugged, "I can do that." She grinned and the five boys migrated down the table to much applause and some grunts from jealous girls.

Dinner went smoothly from there. The pairs that were turning out to be the cutest were Viktor and Aderys, who were awkward, but totally adorable, and Arrym and Emlynn, who were bickering over everything.

"Fried zucchini is so not better than potatoes, Air.I don't even know where you GOT that!" Emlynn shouted, stuffing her mouth full with food. "What kind of nerd, other than old people, eats zucchini?"

"I DO! I love zucchini! And it's good for you! Eat with your mouth closed. You look like a pig, Em. Oink oink!" Arrym answered, making a pig face at Em. Emlynn swallowed then flicked Arrym.

"Thank you," she replied dryly. Emlynn glared at him and began cracking up. She narrowed her eyes and poked him the ear. "You. Suck." Everyone laughed and Emlynn glared at them, willing them to shut up.

"I'm sorry, Emlynn. I'll stop now, that was rude and impolite. Please forgive me," Arrym asked, smiling warmly at her. Em stared back, blinking.

"Sometimes you are sickenly sweet, you know that? It's okay," Em replied, sighing.

"Well I have to go my club now, 'bye 'bye," Air told them, getting up from the table and strolling away, but not before making pig noises at Emlynn. She hit him.

"I'm going to get you back, STUPID!" Emlynn glared at her food and continued eating.

"We have clubs here?" Randi asked, watching Arrym leave the Great Hall. Geoff shook his head.

"He has special permission to go to Hogsmeade for his sword fighting club on Fridays and Saturdays as long as he gets him homework done. He's really gifted with the sword, we watch one of him competitions once," Geoffrey told her, nodding in agreement with himself.

Emlynn spit out her pumpkin juice, "WHAT? HE SWORD FIGHTS? OH, MY GOD! That is so awesome!" Her eyes became rather large as she thought about watching him sword fight.

"Yeah, he does traditional Japanese sword fighting. Kind of weird for England, but that's okay. He started because he saw it on TV when we were kids and he wouldn't stop. The kid has practice four times a week during the summer. That's okay because his instructor takes breaks. He's awesome at it," Jeremiah gushed. The other four agreed and Emlynn grinned. "He's a really sensitive guy though. He may rock with a sword and he'll put up with most anything you throw at him, but he still has kind of a gentle heart." Jeremiah finished, then blushed realizing everyone was staring at him. He mumbled something about it being true.

Emlynn hit her fists together. "That rocks! Anyhow," she shoveled food into her mouth, "these mashed potatoes are really good. A lot better than zucchini will ever be. Fart." The group didn't stop laughing through out the rest of dinner, especially when Randi dropped an apple on the floor and claimed that it was now "mushy".


A/N: Tell me what you think. I will completely accept it if you think this sucks, because I do. Love you all!