Victorie was perched on a windowsill of the music classroom. She was one of the lucky few about to witness the highly anticipated auditions from a spectator's point of view. Next to her on the windowsill sat Jamie. He had been nagging her unrelentingly to come with him.

They had been on their way back from W.P.S. when Jamie had given her almost every single angle on how it might be in her interest to go. From how she should care about her friends' interests, to how punk isn't dead and she should give it a chance, and everything in between.

All of the sound arguments seemed to dissipate the moment they entered through the portrait hole however, and Jamie had breathed out, seized her and said, "We can sit in the far end and make fun of people behind their backs?" with a shrug.

It was a sunny Sunday. But winter made it so that the sun shining in through the oblong windows only provided timid warmth on their backs. Their figures cast long shadows over a few lined up chairs with other onlookers, pointed toward the makeshift stage where Maya and Teddy had set up a drum kit, guitars, microphones and amplifier funnels.

Next to the chairs students were lined up in two separate queues in front of Maya and Teddy.

"We're going to start auditioning the guitarists." Maya called out over the murmur of the crowd. She showed the first person up to the guitar on the stage and sat down along with Teddy on the reserved empty chairs at the front.

They all then proceeded to witness student after student awkwardly fumbling with the instrument for a good five minutes each, some less. A fair few seemed as if it was the first time holding a guitar, and some were ever so slightly more redeemable at playing.

Victorie shared a glance with Jamie, thinking that there wasn't all that much to make fun of here — it was mostly just sad.

The process was growing increasingly tedious to witness by every minute that passed. The unencumbered noise escaping the amplifiers gave her a headache. She didn't realise how loud it was going to be before agreeing to this. And more often than not Victorie found herself more interested in her own wristwatch than anything going on up at the stage.

Until a student she recognised, but couldn't name, stepped up.

"Thomas O'Leary." Teddy announced, not needing to look at his paper.

"That's me." He said confidently as he picked up the guitar and strapped it around him.

He played decently. He knew how to pluck; he could strum; he even knew the song by heart and didn't need to look at the music sheets. Despite not looking at them though, he let them know that he could also read music.

He had impressed the jury. And when he left the stage to make way for the next student, Teddy and Maya shared a pleased smile.

A smile which disappeared quickly after hearing the next person play, and Victorie was back to eyeing her wristwatch.

"I'm going." She finally let out, to Jamie's dismay. She slid down from the windowsill as soundlessly as she could, and snuck her way to the back of the chairs, where she could creep her way toward the exit without alerting too much attention.

Ethan and Delilah caught sight of her from the audience as she was just about to slip through the exit, and she gave them an apologetic wave before escaping out the door.

But on the other side of it she was met with the sight of a sullen looking Roxanne. She was sitting on the floor in a far corner of the corridor and hugging her knees up to her chest. Her red Gryffindor sweater greatly contrasted the dull brick wall she was leaning against.

"What are you doing here?" Victorie asked light-heartedly after approaching her. She couldn't help a concerned twitch in her eyebrows however when she took in the girl. With the tip of her shoe she poked her softly on her side, and Roxanne finally looked up at her.

"I'm here to audition." She squeaked.

"I didn't know you sang." Victorie blurted. As soon as the comment left her mouth though, she realised her mistake.

"I've been in the Frog Choir since first year!" Roxanne fumed before Victorie had a chance to remedy her mistake.

"Yeah." Victorie scrunched her face up in embarrassment. "Yeah, see, I know that. I just temporarily forgot..." She sheepishly explained away.

Roxanne sunk her forehead onto her knees and Victorie sat down next to her, having judged that there was an oncoming conversation in store.

"I didn't see your name on the sign up sheet." Victorie pried.

"I didn't sign up." Roxanne muttered from her lap.

It was quiet for a moment as Victorie deliberated what the next move was. She wanted to help her cousin. She had to. Somehow.

But it wasn't the time to deliberate. It was the time to take action, she reasoned. She clapped Roxanne on her shoulder and heaved herself up. "Let's go sign you up then." She announced with a little skip.

Roxanne lifted her head. "Victorie…" She sighed.

"No buts!" She said with another skip.

"Victorie." The girl reiterated. "Listen… you know those times when the choir does performances for the school?"

"You're always so great in them!" Victorie exclaimed with a few exaggerated hand movements to compensate for the ignorance she had so far shown.

But the scowl she received from Roxanne was anything but pleased. "I've never participated." She growled between her teeth. "I always make an excuse so that I don't have to."

"Oh…" Victorie uttered. She was beginning to sense more than a little animosity from her relative, and she was once again forced to reckon with her inattentiveness to those around her.

Roxanne's voice shrunk to a speck of dust and she sank her head down. "I attend the practises. I perform in a group with our instructor watching us." She explained. "But when it comes to performing in front of a large crowd I get scared. I've grown a little more confident over the years, and this summer I made a promise to myself that I would perform with them at the first day's feast." Tears began to well up in her eyes, but no sobs escaped her. "But I chickened out again." She sniffed and held her breath to keep herself from getting lost in her emotions.

"I felt so bad about myself." She continued. "Then when I saw the sign up sheets for this thing, I thought that with the smaller crowd I might be able to push myself to at least audition… However I could never bring myself to jot my name down whenever I walked past the notice boards… I'm not sure why I'm even here." She finished meekly.

Victorie bit her lip, racking her brain for a solution.

"What if you come in after everyone's gone?" She suggested. "I bet if I asked Teddy, he'd be more than happy to hang back and see you perform. It would just be us watching you. The same amount you're already used to."

"I could do that." She nodded. "But I don't really see the point, seeing as I wouldn't be facing my fear of crowds."

"That's right..." Victorie noted. "Well, what if we just go and peek inside? It's really not that big of a crowd, perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as you imagine."

Roxanne twisted her lips to the side.

"Just a peek." Victorie pleaded. Then, before Roxanne could refuse, she took her hand and pulled her up to her feet.

The girl rolled her eyes but followed her back to the door to the classroom. But just as Victorie was about to tug on the handle, the door opened and everyone came milling out. They stepped back and waited for everyone to disperse.

"Shoot." Victorie muttered under her breath.

Upon entering they saw Maya sitting by the drum kit with a deflated countenance. Teddy had a hand on her shoulder and was murmuring what looked to be words of comfort at her. Everyone else had left the room in the outpour.

"How did it go?" Victorie called out.

They both turned their heads to her as she approached, while Roxanne stayed in the background.

"We found both a lead and rhythm guitarist." Teddy explained. Then glanced at the gloomy Maya. "…But none of the singers stood out."

Victorie leaned her hand against one of the chairs. "I don't get it, we have a whole choir at this school. Surely someone must have been up for the task?"

Maya and Teddy shared an ambiguous look. Victorie was confused, until Roxanne stepped up behind her and filled her in, "They're all too pretentious to want to sing pop punk."

"Really?" Victorie recalled every last performance she'd witnessed by the Frog Choir. The sight of them all lined up neatly in front of the Great Hall, extending their necks as they sung classical music. Somehow she didn't find herself all that surprised on second thought.

Teddy turned to Roxanne with his full attention. He drilled his gaze into hers. "Roxanne, you're in the choir, please tell me you're here to say that you'll do it."

The girl cowered when being addressed with such devotion. Victorie could see that she was about to shake her head no, so she spoke up. "She wants to audition." She stammered in Roxanne's place.

Roxanne's eyes flitted over to Victorie in horror and she grabbed her arm resolutely, dragging her away from Teddy and Maya.

"You realise that if I agree to do this, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to follow through on the day? What if I just can't do it?" She whispered.

Victorie gnawed on her nail while thinking. She looked up at the stage. Then she was reminded of something. She grabbed Roxanne's upper arm and angled her toward it. "See those amplifiers?" She pointed at the array of funnels directed at them. "The subtle strings and harmonies you're used to are nothing compared to them! Those things are loud. And they will match your voice, so you won't feel as exposed."

Roxanne pursed her lips for a moment.

"Just try it." Victorie urged her.

Then the girl leaned her head back and let out a sigh. Victorie smirked, already knowing that she had agreed.

Roxanne strutted up to Teddy –she wasn't in front of a crowd yet– and cocked her head to the side, awaiting instructions. Teddy smirked as well and went to get the music sheets. Maya even perked up and grabbed her drumsticks. Victorie sat down, feeling a little excited to see them perform.

"Alright Roxanne." Teddy began. "You're going to be singing Floo Powder. It's one of our-"

"I know the song." Roxanne cut him off. "But I will take that." She snatched the music sheet from him that contained the lyrics to the song.

Teddy's lips twitched and he gestured for her to take her place on the stage.

"I'll cue you in." Maya said.

Teddy strapped his bass guitar around him. The two nodded at each other and began playing.

Roxanne's eyes went wide when she heard the power of the music. There was an amalgamation of shock and elation reflected in her features as the steam omitting from the funnels bobbed out and cascaded around her. She lifted her arms and watched it tumble around them.

Then Teddy and Maya both froze in their movements. The echo of Maya's last bang on the drums and Teddy's last strum sounded out and disappeared. It was quiet for one… two… three…

"OH YEAH, IIIIII…" Roxanne belted out with one eye on the lyrics.

Victorie flew back in her chair, startled by the power in her voice.

Then Maya and Teddy joined in again as Roxanne kept singing. She peered down at her sheet with a big grin on her face, mirrored by everyone else.

"Only listen... It's really not by choice..."

Then Teddy swung his guitar back and stepped up to the microphone. Victorie's attention was immediately snapped away from Roxanne when the boy began to sing.

"But when I hear your thoughts... It's like a singing voice..."

She hadn't even realised that Teddy was going to be singing. But of course he would be. She just never imagined that it would sound this good.

His voice was as smooth and clear as water. Listening to it was like dipping your fingers into a forest stream and feeling the water discreetly flowing against your skin.

A mysterious but exciting feeling erupted in her stomach as she watched the boy go about his performance. She tried to pay as much attention to the other two as well, but it was hard to tear her attention from one of them. With a tiny smile playing at her lips she beheld him with as much secrecy as she could.

Still, in the back of her mind, guilt itched away at her when she looked back at Roxanne. Not once in the past few months, or even years, had she managed to pay attention to her friend for long enough to know this key thing about her. Not to mention the fact that she was going through something.

Then there was the fact that Victorie had never once bothered to listen to any of Teddy's music, or properly heard him sing. She was upset at herself for missing out, especially on that last one. But most of all disappointed in herself that she could be so self-absorbed.

When the performance ended, Victorie went up to the front and embraced Roxanne in a hug. "You were amazing!" She exclaimed.

"Thank you." Roxanne piped.

There was a worried undertone to her statement though, like she knew that something ominous was approaching. But for the moment there wasn't much time to even consider such notions, because Maya seized hold of her soon after and dragged her off with her, bombarding her with questions and information about what was next.

Victorie smiled to herself as she watched them, then sensed a presence behind her. She swirled around and was met with Teddy, eyeing her as he unassembled the equipment. Suddenly she felt very aware of herself. Her hand flew up to rub the back of her neck.

It wasn't just her own awkwardness she was aware of. She had always known that he was attractive, but suddenly she felt very aware of that too.

She felt like she should say something, but let a little too much time run on while watching him pack everything up before getting to it.

"Something wrong?" Teddy proposed as he stepped between the instruments to access the microphone.

In the background Maya stopped yammering on for a second to impatiently ask, "Are you coming?"

Her and Roxanne were waiting by the door now.

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to put this away." He motioned at the equipment.

The girls left, but Victorie was still not ready to leave. She wanted to begin to remedy her lack of interest in his music and give him a compliment, but didn't know exactly how to go about it.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Teddy asked her amusedly, though still a little distracted by his task. He passed her with the microphones and disappeared into a closet with them. When he appeared again through the doorframe he chuckled upon seeing her staring dumbly at him.

"I just-" She trailed off. Somehow this was proving excruciatingly hard. Teddy looking up at her as he carried one of the guitars to the closet didn't help the situation either. "I, uh…"

His expression sank into a frown. "Bring one of the guitars for me, will you?" He pointed at another, resting on a stand. She instantly obliged, feeling that he was growing frustrated with her lack of efficiency in getting to the point.

When she entered the closet with it he pointed to a place on the wall where she could hang it. After reaching up to help her get it positioned he leaned back against one of the shelves.

"Now… Will you tell me what's going on?" He looked at her from under his brows, searching for a clue or perhaps willing her to spit it out.

The slightly darker broom closet provided a much-needed veil to not make her feel quite as exposed when she said, "I wanted to say… That I think you were great. Up there." She crossed her arms, almost like she was hugging herself.

But the statement rang out anticlimactically. Teddy furrowed his brows, seemingly confused as to why that had taken her so long to say. But a moment later, his facial expressions wiped themselves clean as something dawned on him. Victorie eyed him sideways, sensing something ill-boding coming for her.

Teddy started smiling and his eyes immediately found the floor, only further cementing Victorie's feeling. Any shyness in his demeanour only lasted for a very short while though, and immediately after he looked directly into her eyes. "You were impressed." He announced, like he was telling her he'd won the Quidditch World Cup.

"I just didn't know that you could sing." She explained, as though it would somehow detract from his conclusion. "And I'd never seen you properly play before either, so…"

She went on, "And I know you're meant to give other people positive feedback if you want them to like you."

His eyebrows shot up. "So you want me to like you." He concluded with the most self-assured smirk she'd ever seen.

Victorie wrinkled her nose. His last deduction seemed to instigate something in him, and he straightened his back, stopped leaning. It was one of the rare times when she had shown more interest than him, and with that in mind, he moved toward her.

He stopped when they were inches apart. His eyes darted between hers. Her face was in the shadow, but the light shining through the open door illuminated her outline. Strands of her hair glimmered in the light.

She wasn't sure who initiated the move, but Victoire soon found her back placed against another shelf with Teddy in front of her. The light from the entrance now shone on both of their profiles, annoying the corners of their eyes.

An urge to break the tension between them motivated her to speak, but an audible crack in her voice cut her off and she cleared her throat. Neither of them attempted to voice themselves after that.

His smile had disappeared, and he beheld her with utmost concentration. He leaned in. She inhaled. His nose graced against hers. She tilted her head up to give him access and her eyes fell shut.

While her vision was inhibited, she felt nothing for a while, then let out a faint gasp when his nose began trailing up the length of her neck. When he reached her chin she opened her eyes, but the dark closet didn't grant much of a difference while her eyes adjusted.

In the darkness he leaned in until his mouth was mere millimetres from hers. Her mouth fell open. He inched closer, and their lips almost touched. Her senses grappled with the inundation of his cologne, the bliss of his breath. He leaned in so that he could access her lips properly, but only let his grace against hers briefly, stopping himself before there was any real contact.

She would have finished the job for him had the wait not been so infuriatingly exciting. But when he leaned away with a smile playing at his lips and a flush on his cheeks, she began to worry that he wasn't actually intending to.

His hand, which had been resting on the shelf beside her, fell away and he straightened. Victorie couldn't help the indignation washing over her face. But Teddy still wore the same smirk as he backed away.

That was until he turned toward the door.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the presence of someone standing at the other side of the door, looking on with his mouth agape, as though he wanted, but couldn't, tear his eyes off the scene before him.

"Uuh… Hi…" Teddy tried. The apprehension in him contorted his face. It wasn't just because being caught totally undercut his triumph of walking away from Victorie with the upper hand for once. It was also the thought of all the possible repercussions that could come to fruition because of this.

Victorie on the other hand had frozen stuck. She stared dumbstruck at the boy.

"I was coming back to ask you about the rehearsals." The boy stuttered. "But I'll come back another time." He quickly added.

Teddy put his hands on his back pockets and twisted between the girl and the boy, as if stalling for time. He opened his mouth to speak, but the boy didn't hang around for him to make a decision. He hurried off, leaving them stunned in the closet.

"Shit." Victorie evicted under her breath. Teddy gazed at her in a panicked state. But she wasn't about to stay and chat. She needed to stop their intruder from going around and gossiping about what he'd seen, so she rushed out of the closet and classroom in search of the boy.

When she came out into the corridor she spotted him turning a corner and disappearing. "Hey!" She called after him.

She continued down the corridor, leaving Teddy behind to pack up the rest of the equipment.

"Hey-" But his name had slipped her mind. Yet again she cursed her own ignorance of everyone around her.

Come on Victorie. She urged herself.

It was the same boy who had played so well in the auditions, the same Ravenclaw who had complained about them during the Quidditch match and in History of Magic. They had several classes together every year.

"…Thomas!" She finally remembered as she passed the corner. But the boy was gone.

By the time dinner rolled around she figured that most people knew already. Either that or Victorie enjoying her supper had suddenly become an innately interesting presence to behold.

But the joy of nourishment kind of lost its flair when one was being stared at by several people at once.

None of the people she usually sat with at dinner were there to provide a distraction either.

Then on second thought she figured that they would have probably stared just as much, not to mention would have probably tried to talk to her about it. And so she concluded that she had most definitely made the right call in waiting until the very last minute to eat before the Great Hall closed for the evening, so that she wouldn't have to go through the tribulations of having to take that conversation.

She'd spent the day loitering out on the grounds. The snow-swept façade of the castle was a beautiful sight to behold this time of the year. She had received a nice view of it from the Owlery, where she had spent some time reading to get away from the cold and other students.

Without finishing her meal, Victorie stood up to leave. As she walked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff table, several heads turned and leaned back to get a good look at her. She sank her head down, clasping tightly on the strap on her satchel. She felt as though she was wading through tall reeds on her journey to the exit.

The corridors and stairs were mostly empty on her way back to the Gryffindor Tower. But upon entering and seeing more people stare at her, the same feeling came back to her. She looked down and tried her best not to pay attention to it. Instead she hurried into her dorm.

When she got inside she slammed the door shut and locked it, then let out a sigh of relief with her forehead against it. She deliberated barricading it, but then her dorm mates wouldn't be able to get in.

"Hi." Someone said from behind her. Victorie's eyes widened when she realised that she was not in fact alone.

Victorie closed her eyes into a frown before wiping her face of all negative emotions a millisecond later and turned to face Delilah.

"Hi." She said, but her nerves made the greeting almost vibrate out of her. "What's up?" She re-tried. Despite using her best efforts to sound casual, it only came out stilted and final.

Delilah didn't answer for a little while. She had Teddy's Gryffindor scarf in her lap, and she was eyeing it carefully while stitching up a hole in it with a needle and thread. Victorie could tell it was Teddy's because it had several rounded little lapel pins attached to it down by the fringe. "I'm just helping out." She mustered through a strained voice. "The material they use in these things is so flimsy."

Victorie pouted with her lips and nodded in response, hoping that it would suffice as small talk, then turned and went to unload her bag by her bed.

But just as the bag made contact with the floor, and she thought herself free, Delilah had a change of heart and decided to jump right in. "Are you in love with him?" She asked with a much too forward curiosity for Victorie's liking.

She trained her eyes on the wall but remained with her back toward Delilah, so that the girl wouldn't have to receive her current glare.

A moment later she dropped the bag and swivelled around. "No!" She said, completely forgetting to act ignorant.

Delilah let the scarf rest on her lap and studied her for a moment. "Well, is he in love with you?" She wondered. Then her eyes went wide as something seemed to dawn on her. "He's liked you all along, hasn't he?" She exclaimed breathlessly while gripping the fabric in sheer suspense.

"No!" Victorie reiterated.

Delilah's shoulders relaxed, and she gave Victorie the most disbelieving once over. "Then why were you kissing?" She argued. The question came from such a level-headed perspective and tone that Victorie was forced to consider it.

"I don't know!" She cried out when she found that she couldn't solve for it. "Wait a second…"

She recalled Teddy's lips brushing against her, but resolutely avoiding the blissful contact she had desired. She covered her face with her hands and let her fingers comb her hair back.

When she released her face it was flushed in anger. "We weren't even kissing when that guy caught us!" It wasn't a fact she'd soon forget. She distinctly remembered how smugly Teddy had withheld payoff.

Thomas –his name had now been etched somewhere along the frontal lobe of her brain– hadn't just made her the topic of teenage gossip. He'd also grossly exaggerated the whole story! Which she supposed most gossip was, albeit since this time it pertained to her, the fact was tenfold more infuriating.

Delilah didn't look convinced. She returned to her project. Poking the needle in and out of the fabric. "I heard that you kissed." She remarked, not looking up from her stitching.

Victorie felt as though her eyes might just pop out of their sockets. "Well then whoever told you that is wrong — we weren't kissing!"

The room went quiet.

"But you have kissed?" Delilah asked.

Victorie remained silent, but her silence spoke lengths.

"Then I suggest that you two should probably discuss why that keeps happening." Delilah broke the last bit of the thread off and put her finished project on her nightstand. She presented her hand to Victorie and nodded her head at the redhead's discarded scarf, currently resting on her bed frame. "Shall I do yours now?"

The next time she caught Teddy alone was in the library on the eve of the next day. She was scheming with Jamie on their Yule Ball extravaganza. It was a nice distraction. He hadn't mentioned the gossip going on about her and the blue haired boy once, which she was thankful for.

The only inkling that he was in the know came when Teddy entered the library with his book and pen strapped to his hip by his hand. Like a reflex, Jamie's eyes flew over to Victorie upon spotting the boy, along with a few other students.

Victorie gave him an apologetic smile now that they suddenly had several eyes on them. Jamie returned it, albeit with a hint of melancholy behind it.

Delilah's sentiment from the day before had cemented itself all throughout the day's classes, and now that school hours were over Victorie had come to the conclusion that she wanted to discuss the matter with Teddy.

The fact that people around them sort of knew that they'd kissed made it harder for them to ignore the fact too. She'd found herself avoiding him, and she didn't want to.

Considering the effect it was having on their lives now that the cat was out of the bag, she didn't know how to get back to their normal repartee without at least bringing it up once. So that they could both shrug it off and have it be done with.

She excused herself and went over to the small, secluded table Teddy was sitting down at. Jamie watched her go, but soon busied himself by writing down verses in his poetry notebook.

Teddy was placing his book on the table in front of him when he looked up to see who was approaching him, not considering for a second that it would be the very person that kept increasing his heartbeat. When he saw that she had somehow mustered up the courage to approach him after the incident he froze with his hands still holding his book.

It wasn't until she pulled out the other chair and sat down that Teddy unfroze. He looked out across the library, but the other students, although some not refraining from staring, were well out of hearing distance. "Hi." He greeted, still in a low voice, and sat down next to her.

"Hi." She whispered back with a hint of amusement. Then she glanced at his book and said in a normal voice, "I've really turned you into the studious type, haven't I?"

He took her amusement as a hint to drop the secretive mannerisms, but refrained from commenting on her remark. "What's up?" He asked casually, yet couldn't help but eye her wearily.

"We have to discuss the kissing." She said, then cursed herself for the small stutter on the word 'kissing'.

"Oh." Teddy looked out on the other students again. Only a handful of them were now looking, but they all busied themselves with other things when he caught them.

He hadn't expected her to bring it up, or even approach him at all. Was he witnessing a newfound confidence in her? He wondered.

"Yes." She confirmed in her most pragmatic manner. "If we discuss it now we can then go back to normal."

"Okay..." He nodded slowly, taking his time in deliberating her proposal. But something still wasn't quite clear to him. "Normal as in before the kissing started, or normal as in before the whole school found out?"

Victorie paused. She hadn't considered which 'normal' she was referring to. It had gone on for a while now, and both could in fact be considered normal. But now that the question was being posed to her in front of the very boy it was concerning, she sure as hell wasn't going to go with the second option.

"As in before it started." She hurried out, feeling like she had been silent for a little longer than she would have liked. "There's really not much reason for it anymore."

It was important for her to stress that fact. Yet she somehow simultaneously came to regret the statement as soon as she'd said it. Wasn't there a way for her to seem unbiased, while at the same time not making it sound so final?

"It was just a helpful way for me to get to practise." She blabbered on to the wincing of her insides.

"You do have that big kissing-tournament coming up." Teddy remarked sarcastically.

Victorie glared at him and he chuckled.

"Right…" His smile wandered off and he started examining her closely. "And there are no other reasons?"

She didn't understand whether he wanted her to confirm his stance or spitball with him, so she shrugged.

This seemed to be the wrong answer, because Teddy continued his line of questioning. "Well, can you think of any other reasons?" He asked casually while scratching at the edge of the table with his nail.

"No." She quickly replied.

"You can't think of any other reasons?" He asked in astonishment. When she once again wouldn't give him one, he folded. "Okay then." He said with almost tired amusement. But the way he subsequently pressed his lips together told another story. Like he was trying his damnedest to hold something back that he just couldn't say out loud.

"Has anyone asked you about it?" Victorie asked curiously. "About the rumour."

"Yeah, but I've denied it every time." Teddy quickly assured her.

"Alright." Victorie stood and pointed with her thumb at the boy still scribbling in his journal. "I'm going to go back to Jamie."

Teddy's eyes went thin as slits. "Are you guys planning your prank again?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure that you still want to do it?" He asked carefully. "Didn't you hear what Mrs Delacour said in the howler you received?"

Victorie smirked. "You haven't seen it yet though." She said, as though its esteem would justify it.

He raised his brows in a superior fashion. "No, but I have a wild imagination."

"Just wait until you see it. I don't think my mother will be too bothered by it." She smiled mysteriously at him and left him to continue fostering his imagination.

A/N: Hi!
Q: Is the Yule Ball going to be the same thing as the original or were you planning on changing things up?
A: It'll be pretty similar to the one in the books, though perhaps with similarities to an American high school dance (the way it's depicted in movies) too.

Thank you for the kind words on the latest chapters.

Published: 24 April 2022