A/N: Amazing to this updated, isn't it? I"m sorry it took so long. I had a...personal issue that involved this story and I couldn't finish it with that personal issue still around. This story probably won't last that much longer because of the sheer fact that it's coming to a peak. You'll see what I mean. Thanks for reading this if you are, I know it's been forever and I am truly sorry for that. I had most of this written before I stopped writing for a while. Sorry if the end sucks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
. Victory's Letter
Non-Existant Letter:
Addy entered the common room and her eyes traveled to the couch, where her boyfriend was sitting, staring at something in front of him. Nikole had, apparently, already left with Tad to meet with the other Prefects before patrolling started. Adelaide approached Jeremiah and sat down beside him. He looked over at her and smiled.
"Hey, Addy, how are you?" he asked pleasantly. Addy eyed him, and what appeared to be a mirror, suspiciously.
"I'm fine, how are you?"
"Fine, thanks," Jer replied, turning back to his mirror. Addy looked over at the mirror, but didn't see her own reflection, or Jeremiah's. Her eyes went wide because of what she saw. She leaned over Jeremiah and gasped.
"What is it?" She brushed the side of the mirror with her hand and looked at Jer. He was smiling as she examined the reflective object.
"It lets us see anyone in England and its surrounding areas. The Reds can see what anyone is doing at any given time anywhere in this country," he chuckled, "Tad used to use it all the time to see what Nikole was doing. He became rather strange about other people knowing what he looked at in it once we made it in third year, but we all knew he used it to observe Nikole." He shook his head, still chuckling.
Adelaide's eyes went even wider upon hearing this and she began laughing enthusiastically, "Really? That is so funny! What am I supposed to be seeing right now in this mirror-thingy, though?"
Jeremiah stared at her, blinking several times. "You can't tell?" He blinked a few more times and cocked his head to side. Addy stared at the mirror.
"No. I can't actually see it because your body is blocking my view," Adelaide told him, matter-of-factly. He smiled and leaned back, revealing the mirror. "Is that who I think it is?"
"Most likely," he remarked, bringing the mirror between the two of them, so it was resting on Addy's lap, too. Adelaide gasped. This was what she thought. Inside the mirror was Nikole's image, and she wasn't alone.
Nikole had just left the room where the Prefects met before patrol. Tad had followed her out of the room. He must still have been completely oblivious to the fact that Nikole knew everything she knew. Tad hadn't said much, but he was still cheerful. Nikole nodded her head when Tad asked her if they should just go.
"I agree. That would be best," Tad smiled as they walked down the corridor. Nikole walked stiffly next to Tad, but he remained oblivious to any signs of strain in the air. Silence fell over the two as they continued walking. Tad even began to look uncomfortable. The look on his face almost appeared to show that he was fighting an inner battle. Nikole walked on silently, noticing that Tad had started ringing his hands together.
Nikole bit her lip, "Umm…is something wrong, Tad?" Tad looked up, shocked. Not having expected her to say anything, he began stuttering.
"Umm…N-no…E-everyt-thing is f-fine," Tad, stared at the ground hard, as if wishing it would open up and create a way for him to somehow escape from this situation. Nikole walked on silently glancing at his face occasionally, to check his reaction.
"Tad, is there something you need to tell me?" Nikole looked at his face, her eyes clouding over in confusion. She really hoped that he wouldn't lie to her. That would cause her to not be able to trust him, knowing that he had kissed someone else. If he couldn't tell her, trust her…
"I guess I should just tell you this…" Tad stopped walking and turned to her, grabbing her arm to stop her as well. Nikole looked down at his hand her arm, then up to his face. She became very red and nodded, indicating he should continue. "Well…there was this thing that happened. I'm really sorry Nix, it wasn't my fault, I swear. If I could have avoided it I would have. This girl that used to date Geoffrey, Keres Delateur, she…well she…kissed me. I'm so sorry! You have no idea how badly I felt." He looked at her miserably, knowing that this must be a shock and would hurt her. After all, he had promised that he would wait for her and then this had to happen. Darn that Delateur.
Nikole made her eyes look confused and she feigned hurt, "Oh…okay. I'm…glad that you told me. It's good to know that you can trust me," she looked around, "I guess we should keep going." Tad looked stunned as she continued to walk, yanking slightly on his shirt to get him to follow her. He trailed after her.
"So..so you aren't mad?"
"Why would I be? It wasn't your fault, right," she paused and he nodded, "so I have nothing to be angry about. If you could try to avoid anything like that…I guess I would appreciate that, but, no, I'm not mad. I guess I still have to let it sink, but I'll be fine." She looked back at him and smiled, assuring him that she wasn't mad. He sighed, pretending to be sad.
"Dang, I was hoping you would react like a jealous girlfriend, but I suppose you aren't that, are you? You could have at least been jealous, but NO! You had to go and ruin everything by being cool with it," Tad pouted at her. She pulled on his lip and dragged him down the hall further.
"Would you like me to pretend that I am jealous?" Tad heard this and nodded vigorously, smiling despite the fact that his lip was still being help hostage. Nikole smiled sweetly at him and let go of his lip. "You sure about that?" Nodding again, Tad began grinning.
"I would indeed," he replied.
"Too bad," Nikole turned on her heel and began walking in the other direction. Tad chased after her, keeping pace and chattering at her once he'd caught up.
"Oh, my god! That is so cool! He trusts her…I'm happy now. This is…happy. I like that mirror thingy…"Addy told Jeremiah once she knew that nothing else exciting was going happen. He smiled down at her and wrapped his arm around the back of the couch. Adelaide grinned back and rested her head on his shoulder. A loud slap met both of their ears just as they were getting comfortable.
"You SKANK! Get the hell away from him!" Nikole's angry voice echoed through the empty Common Room. Addy and Jer looked at each other and then immediately at the mirror. Inside Tad, Nikole, and Keres Delateur stood in a hallway. Keres had up against a wall and Tad was wide eyed behind a very angry Nikole.
"What's it to you anyways, Tancs? It's not like he's yours, he's mine," Keres said. She looked coyly at Tad, "Isn't that right, baby?" Nikole stuck her finger in Keres's face.
"You shut up! He doesn't like you, just go away! You should be going to your Common Room. Leave us alone, or I'll report you," Nikole cocked an eyebrow. This was not something she wanted to deal with right now. Nikole just wanted some time alone with Tad.
Keres put her hands up in fake terror, "Oh, I'm so scared. I guess I'll just have to deal with you some other day. I will, too, so watch your back, missy." Keres brushed past Nikole and touched Tad's chin with her fingertip before continuing on her way. As soon as Keres was around the corner Nikole stamped her foot on the ground.
"That no good, dirty, filthy, disgusting, horrendous, SKANK! I can not believe the nerve of that girl. How could you do that? Just waltz right up to someone, in front of someone else, and start hanging off of them!" Nikole mumbled to herself, forgetting that Tad was standing in front of her. He quirked his eyebrow and chuckled, which caused Nikole to remember his presence. "Oh, yeah… Hi, Tad." She laughed nervously and waved, before continuing to patrol.
Tad caught up to her again and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
"Huh? What did he just say? I couldn't hear him! Why must he whisper! Damn his mad whispering skillage! Grr…" Jeremiah remarked. His girlfriend was not paying attention because she was laughing very hardly, next to him. He looked over, noticed this, and changed his mind about wanting to know what Tad had said. Adelaide laughing so hard was never a good sign for the male gender. Addy abruptly stopped laughing and her eyes grew wide before she looked Jeremiah in the eyes.
"Hey, Jer?" Adelaide asked quietly.
"Yes?" Nervously, he bit his lip, not have any idea what she was going to ask. She blinked and cocked her head to the side. Jeremiah was growing anxious.
"Did you ever try to spy on me with this mirror?"
"Well, there is a block on the girls' dorms for anything like this. I could only see your closet…" Jeremiah told her, airily, thinking about her slinky black dress. He smiled and she smacked him.
"So you have!" She said loudly, but jokingly. His eyes grew wide like a deer in the headlights and he tried to look innocent. Jeremiah held up his hands to protect his head against anything dangerous, like a slap to the face.
"Ye-well no…not exactly?" He grinned nervously and laughed. Addy just shook her head before getting up and walking over to the fire. Jeremiah followed her and sat beside her, placing his arm on the back of the couch. Placing his head against hers he whispered, "I only saw your closet; you have nice clothes. Like that dress…" Adelaide laughed at his mention of that dress, yet again, and pulled her feet up on the couch and turned so that her back was facing Jeremiah. She leaned back and he turned to wrap his arms around her.
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"Grr… Why does Sprout have to hate us so much? She gives us loads of homework and my friend Idina said that she didn't give them as much homework as she is giving us! That's uncool! Grr…" Nikole threw down her pencil and rested her head on her arms, which she folded on the table. Her friends ignored her and continued working on the grueling essay. Looking up Nikole stared at each one of her friends, in turn. "Hello? This was supposed to be the part where you all stop working and pity me!" When no one answered she sighed and began working again.
"Well, I'm done. That was completely sucky! Have a good time with your things guys! I'm tired. I'm heading up to bed. Nighty Night," Rys said, as she packed her things and stood. She walked over to the stairs. When she reached them she turned and noticed her friends glaring at her. Smiling she walked back and sat again, "Want help?"
The other girls nodded and grinned at her. The sound picked up as all four tried to get her to help them at the same time. Eventually all the other girls finished and Rys went to bed, finally able to achieve her much earned sleep. Nikole went off with Tad to patrol and Addy and Em went up to bed to read, leaving Randi in the Common Room by herself. Randilyn relished being alone for once and sat by the first, soaking up its warmth. A solid figure sat beside her and she barely opened her left eye. Seeing that it was Geoffrey she leaned on him.
"Stressful night?"
With her eyes still closed, Randi smiled and replied, "Just a little bit. I guess it could have been worse, though."
"Would you like me to help you relax?" Geoff whispered into her hair. Randi's eyes shot open and her muscles tightened. Geoffrey chuckled and squeezed her. "I meant more along the lines of a massage…" He chuckled again and rubbed her back. Rand sighed heavily and relaxed again.
"It's okay. You really don't have to. I'm glad that you came to see to me though, it means a lot to me," she smiled faintly and snuggled in closer. They sat like this for a few more minutes until Randi spoke again, "How do you think their patrol is going?" Geoff knew that she was speaking of Nikole and Tad.
"I don't know. Those two sure can fight with words when they want to. Dumbledore is a genius for having them patrol together. It patched up that little hole and it's just generally humorous," Geoffrey replied, smiling at the thought of them battling over the last roll at the dinner table. They had gotten angry at Emlynn for taking the last one, until more magically appeared on the plate. Both had blushed, not remembering that more would come from the kitchens. "Crazy people when put together, those two." He shook his head, chuckling yet again.
Randi laughed, "Yeah! I bet they are fighting right now, over something stupid, too. Those two are funny. Nikole always complains about him, even though she has established that she likes him…Strange one." She, like her boyfriend, shook her head. Falling into silence, the couple was content.
Little did they know, but Randilyn's guess what not far off. Nikole and Thaddeus were fighting, but not over something stupid, or at least not stupid in their eyes. Their discussion was over something that greatly impacted their study time and the happiness of the school.
"Why did you have to volunteer us to help set up the Ball? I really don't like planning! I always screw something up…You could have let anyone else do it, or done it with someone else, but NO! You had to go and volunteer ME! Without my permission. You suck, you know that right?" Tad told Nikole, forcefully. Nikole just walked on silently, not bothering to say anything to him while he ranted. Nodding occasionally to let Tad think that she was listening, Nikole began planning out the decorations in her head. "What are you making hand motions like that for, Nikole? You...aren't listening, are you?"
Nikole looked at him, "No, I'm not. You are going to help me with the Ball. You don't even have to worry about it for a long time. It won't be until, like, the end of the year, okay? Just forget about it. I'll ask Thomas or Idina to help me, okay?" Nikole had used her good looking fellow fifth year Gryffindor Prefect's name because she hoped that this would make Tad jealous enough to help her. She glanced over and could tell by the look on his face that her plan would either work fantastically or fail miserably.
"Fine. You go and plan your little crap thing with stupid Thomas. See if I care," Tad told her, looking at the ground, shading his eyes. He brushed past her and Nikole followed. Walking silently down the corridor Nikole gave him time to think.
"Are you sure about that decision, Tad?"
"No."
"Do you wanna work with me?" Nikole asked, looking at him airily.
"No…but I will, if it means keeping you away from Thomas, I will," he looked up and smiled weakly. Nikole grinned back and looped her arm through his. The two walked down the hall, continuing their patrol.
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"Hey Vik, could you pass me a biscuit, please?" Rys asked, giddily anticipating her biscuit. "I could eat bread all day long! Yummm!" She smiled and closed her eyes as she bit into her biscuit, enjoying the flaky goodness. Rys rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and continued chewing. The rest of their group of friends had all slept in that morning and two were able to spend some time together.
"You would get fat if you ate bread all the time, Rys," Viktor replied, spooning eggs into his mouth. Aderys glared at him and continued to eat her wheat product happily. Rys began humming to herself and she munched. Viktor shook his and chuckled.
"Did you start that essay for Transfiguration yet? Because if you haven't, you really should, it's kind of difficult," Aderys told him, noticing how he began smiling at her when she said the word "difficult". She narrowed her eyes. "What is that face for?"
"You know I adore you, right?" He said, playfully. Rys shook her head and ignored him. "What? You won't let me copy your paper? Why not? Am I not good enough anymore?" Rys just shook her head again, not allowing anything more than a small smile to creep onto her lips.
"I'll help you, but I won't just hand over my paper, how's that sound?" Aderys replied. Viktor grinned and wrapped his arm around her. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush.
"Then it's a date," he laughed, "meet me in the Common Room at seven, okay?" He told her, before getting up and leaving the Great Hall. Rys smiled to herself and finished her biscuit and left the Hall herself.
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"I don't understand you sometimes, Nix. You are so strange to the people around you. How does making random noises and hand gestures then engaging in side splitting laughter count as a conversation?" Tad asked Nikole, who was still giggling after having met Idina in the halls. Their conversation hadn't much more than Tad had described because both were still munching from breakfast.
The girl just shrugged and continued eating her toast. She swallowed and began talking again, "You wouldn't understand. You're a guy, we knew what we were talking about. That's all that matters really. It's not like you would have understood what was going on if we had been talking." She smiled innocently as she finished and he stopped. Tad had obviously stopped to think about this, and Nikole didn't wait. Finally, it dawned on him what she meant and he raced down the corridor after shouting, "HEY!" Her laugh rand down the hall.
Thaddeus pouted, "You are so mean to me. I ask you a simple question and all I get back is a smart ass remark." They continued to walk and he started again. "You really should work on being nicer to those around you, you know." Again, Nikole shrugged and smiled.
"I don't have to be nice to people. It's why what I do and my meanness is why people love me," she said perkily, grinning. "Have I already explained to you why people love mean people?" Nikole began to swing her arms back and forth.
Tad just stared at her, in complete awe at what went through this girl's brain. Why did he like her again? Maybe I should rethink that… he thought sarcastically to himself. After a few seconds he replied dryly, "I don't recall."
"Okay! I'll tell you then."
"Joy. Enlighten me." Nikole frowned at Tad's lack of enthusiasm, in an obviously sarcastic manner. It was situations like this where she decided to ignore his stupid comments.
She skipped down the corridor and turned so she was walking backwards once he caught up to her, boy was she hyper tonight… "Alright, well my theory is that people love mean people because the mean people are the only ones willing to say the mean things that everybody else is thinking but doesn't want to say at risk of sounding mean," she smiled widely, "I'm right, aren't I? I do, however, know the difference between being mean and being tactless. Unlike some people I know." Nikole coughed and it sounded surprisingly like Randilyn, but Tad already knew this. He was related to the blabbermouth after all. The two laughed and entered the Gryffindor Common Room.
They collapsed on the couch and Nikole sighed, "Thank the lord for the weekends. I couldn't possibly go to school tomorrow. Ugh, that reminds me, I still have to finish that foot long essay for Sprout. I swear, she really does hate us." Tad chuckled to himself as she trudged away to write her essay. That girl sure was a firecracker. Fun to play with, but dangerous once it's set off. Mostly he just teased her now, but over the years she had been set off several times. He was intrigued by her and that was one of the many things he had come to like about her.
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Nikole banged her head on her book as she lay on the floor of her dorm, on her stomach, finishing her essay. Rys, just laughed at her, having already finished her essay, along with Adelaide. Faking a glare them, Nikole mumbled to Emlynn and Randi, her fellow essay writers. "Damn over-achievers. Always showing us up, why do we associate with them again?"
Randi shrugged, agreeing with Nikole, and Emlynn jumped up and grabbed Aderys and Addy's heads, pulling them into a hug, "Because we love them!" Everyone laughed at her and she smiled, laughing a little, too.
"As nice as that is, Em, get your big butt over here and finish your essay. We don't want you staying up until two o'clock in the morning again," Nikole told her, snapping her fingers and pointing at the ground where her papers were. Emlynn pouted and sighed, sliding down to the ground and back to her papers mumbling something about stupid motherly conscience figures. Nikole just made a face at the back of her head because she was looking down at something her book. She looked up when everybody else started laughing. Smiling innocently, Nikole denied accusations of having done something. Nobody would tell Em what had happened so she ignored
them.
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"Why can't I get rid of you?"
"Because you don't want to," Keres Delateur replied cheerfully to the question asked by Tad. He sighed and continued walking, choosing to ignore here again. She hadn't left him alone since they had met in the corridor the other night. Tad came to the conclusion that her catfight with Nikole had inspired her to be even more awful and annoying. The skank factor had only gone up and she had taken to wearing revealing shirts when she sought out Tad. As much as he wanted her to go away, he wasn't going to be mean to her because of one stupid thing (or several stupid things including that kiss…) she had done, just chose to be nice enough as long as she didn't do anything he didn't want her to. He had not enjoyed their kiss, but he had gotten over it. When Keres linked arms with him, Tad froze and she jerked back and demaned to know why he had stopped so abruptly.
"Let go of me."
Keres smirked and put her face close to his, "No."
Tad's face darkened and his voice lowered, "Let go of me, Delateur. I do not want you hanging on me, so let go. Now." Keres's eyes widened and she almost looked like she would let go. She smiled teasingly.
"Ooh, baby's got balls. Although," she looked down quickly, "we already knew that, didn't we? I am really turned on now. You are sexy when you are mad." Tad pulled his arm away and Keres frowned. "If you can't put up with me, how can you stand that stupid bitch you seem attached to?"
"'That stupid bitch' has a name, it's Nikole and how can I stand her?" His voice was deathly low, nobody insulted Nikole while he was around. He put his face level with Keres's. "She isn't you, that's how. Nikole isn't like any of the other girls around this place, who skank it up just to impress guys that will never want them for anything other than their bodies. Is that what you really want, Delateur? Because that is exactly what you are going to get. Now go away." He walked off and she called after him.
"Watch your bitch's back, baby!"
He spun and growled back, "If you touch her, you will pay, Keres." Tad turned and stalked down the corridor. If Keres wanted to play that way he'd have to play by the same rules.
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Over the next few days Nikole noticed that Tad always seemed to be around, after her classes, at meals, in the corridors, patrolling. If he wasn't there one of the Red Letters was sure to be. However, she remained completely oblivious to the forces of a war that was at the peak of breaking out with Keres Delateur by the Red Letters. This was exactly the way the boys planned on keeping things. None of the girls were even partially clued into what was going on and if they thought back on it, maybe, just maybe, they thought, that not telling the girls was a bad idea. The secrecy continued for several weeks before coming to a front…
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"Oh, I practically have him eating out of the palm of my hand. The boy can't get enough of me. We've even done that. He wants to do it again, but I won't let him. At least not until he can show me a really good time, if you know what I mean," all the girls giggled at the implication made by one Keres Delateur one night in the Common Room. Keres was being fawned with attention and people telling her how lucky she was. Laughing, she brushed off the attention, secretly reveling in it.
From the corner a girl hid in the shadow, listening to all of this and shaking her head. Was it not totally obvious to those bimbos that Keres wasn't exactly telling the truth? Obviously not. Kere excused herself and headed up the dorm. The girl followed, a magical tape recorder in hand. She had the whole conversation on tape for the world to hear when the time came. That would make things easier for certain people. Now to go find out what else she could dig up.
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The next day rumors were wide spread about the newest hook-up: Keres Delateur and Thaddeus Ashmore. Tad walked throught the halls, unaware of this news. As he walked into the Hall he just shook his head at the number of people fanning around Keres. Idiots.
He was half way through breakfast when a Fourth year Hufflepuff came up and poked Tad on the shoulder, "Are the rumors true?"
Tad stared back, confused, "What rumors?"
"The rumors about you and Keres?" The girl replied.
Narrowing his eyes, Tad asked, "What rumors about me and Keres?"
She gulped, "That you're…together?"
He jumped out of his seat and slammed his hands on the table, shouting, "NO, THEY ARE NOT TRUE!" This caused the girl to cower away and Tad felt a pull on his sleeve. It was Arrym.
"Calm down, Tad. It isn't this girls fault that some idiot starting spreading stupid rumors. Sit down and apologize," He said quietly. Sighing, he sat and said he was sorry for yelling at her when she hadn't done anything wrong. The frightened girl quickly left after this and Tad felt a twinge of regret for shouting at the innocent girl.
Keres walked by and fluttered her eyelashes at Tad. Her followers were asking her questions one after the other, "Why didn't he send you a Red Letter?"
"Because he didn't want to tell people about us until we were ready," she answered quickly, smirking at Tad. Finally, Tad couldn't take it anymore and he raced out of the Hall, before Keres could and Viktor followed, telling the other three to think about a way to fix this. They agreed and stayed behind. Viktor had a calming affect on people and they didn't feel the urge to deal with Tad's anger when Vik so willing agreed to go talk to him.
"Well, we need to get on rumor control and get it around that Keres is a big fat liar, I should think," Geoffrey started, looking at Arrym and Jeremiah. They nodded and Jeremiah picked up where he left off.
"We also have to find evidence that she is lying, you know that girl we planted? We should check up on that. You guys agree?" He asked, and the other two nodded. All three knew what the others were thinking but none wanted to say it, knowing that deceiving their friend would be hard.
"And we have to make sure Nikole doesn't find out," they finished in unison, then laughing at the weird timing.
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"That crazy, stupid, bitch. I can't believe she would even think of something like this, that bitch. She really knows what she's doing, doesn't she? The way to really screw up other people's lives and she enjoys it, which only makes it that much worse. That stupid bi-," he yelled before being cut off by Viktor.
"Oh, just shuddup, Tad. I know you're angry, but screaming like that, as nice as it feels, won't actually make it better. You need to calm down and breathe, okay?" Viktor told him as they entered the Gryffindor Common Room. The two boys made their way up to Tad's dorm. After talking for an hour the two came down the stairs and the other boys were waiting.
"We've got it under control. Are you gonna be okay, buddy?" Jer asked, once they were seated and comfortable. Tad nodded wearily and the boys began discussing how to control the situation at hand.
A/N: Sorry if that sucked...It's been a while...
