It took a little over a week, but sure enough Victoire received the exact response she had anticipated from Ted.

She smiled to herself as she read the letter back to herself in the middle of her morning Transfiguration lesson. Professor Ivanson was busy reviewing the more advanced stages of Human Transfiguration Theory; luckily, he was paying more attention to the blackboard than to her.

"And of course you must concentrate," Ivanson said as he pointed his wand towards a large banner above the board with the phrase, 'You Must Concentrate' written across it in large letters. "I've been telling all of you this since your first year. It only becomes more important the more advanced the magic becomes…"

Victoire glanced back down at her letter. Transfiguration was never her favorite subject, or her easiest, but she felt that she had understood the principles the first time through well enough to tune out the review. This was mostly because she had something worthwhile to distract her.

Vic-

You did that on purpose. Just for that, I'm actually going to give you advice. I don't know who this bloke is, but I promise you that he's asking you in the hopes that he can touch you inappropriately. That's reason enough for you to stay away from whomever the wanker is. Unless that's what you want. Then...do whatever. I don't know.

Hope that helps.

Look at that, two paragraphs already (and yes, the second one counts).

I saw Simon the other day and he asked about you and sends his hellos. He's got a girlfriend now, so you may finally be free of his incessant awful lines and attempts at flirting. She's a lovely girl and you'd probably like her.

What else…? Oh! My presentation went well. I forgot to tell you that. It actually went amazingly well, which means more work for me. Now instead of having to answer to one person, I get to answer to loads more. I'll tell you more about it next time we talk. I've reached my letter writing limit.

Hope all is well,

Ted

That was about what she'd expected. It was all so quintessentially Ted that she could practically envision him writing this word for word. She smiled to herself as she glanced up at Ivanson. He was trying to re-explain a concept to Alex Wood that he wasn't grasping, so she took the opportunity to reach into her bag and pull out another smaller roll of parchment. She casually set it on her desk before setting to work on a response.

Ted,

It certainly took you long enough! I suppose I can overlook that since you actually filled an entire sheet of parchment...even if you did write rather large and allow yourself very generous spacing. Still, beggars can't be choosers, so I will take what I can get.

Tell Simon I send my love as well and that I'm happy for him. Of course he would find a lovely girl because he's lovely and deserves nothing but the best. Here's hoping I can meet her on one of my trips home.

And congratulations on work! And to think, none of us thought you would amount to much. Haha. I'm kidding of course. Honestly though, I'm very proud and even a little (a very little) jealous. That's only because I wish I was done with school already and working on my own already.

Also, why do you automatically assume that a boy would just want to be inappropriate? Perhaps he just enjoys my company? I mean, by your logic, what does that make you? You most certainly have asked me to hang out in the past, so that makes you either a liar or a pervert. Now which one is it?

It's Stuart Reynolds, by the way. I'm sure you're rolling your eyes as you read that. Hopefully the next time I write to you, I'll be able to give you some more interesting news on me and him, but unfortunately, we've barely spoken since I last wrote. Were you the one who told me that inter-house relationships never work and were a waste of time? I'll have to prove you wrong!

"I want you all to make a revision sheet for this information," Ivanson's voice called out as Victoire made a hasty attempt to shield her note. "I can't stress to you how important this is for your N.E.W.T.s. Now one last thing before I dismiss you for the day…"

She slowly pulled the letter back out to quickly finish it before the lesson ended.

Ivanson is babbling as I write this. I think I can safely say that this is my least favorite class. Anyway, you had better keep writing and distracting me. It's the only thing saving me from complete and utter boredom.

With Love xoxo-

Victoire Weasley

She stared at the end of the letter. Why she had signed it with her last name she didn't know—it had just happened—but she chuckled to herself and quickly scanned it once more when the bell rang. Ivanson was shouting that he would be checking revision sheets next class as Victoire folded up the letter and placed it inside of her bag next to the letter she had written her parents.

"I think I'm going to nap before lunch," Whit said as she and Victoire exited the classroom. "I'm exhausted. I've got Care of Magical Creatures this afternoon and I like to make sure I'm alert for that class. You never know what exactly Professor Hagrid is going to pull on us."

"I'll see you later, then," Victoire said. "I'm going to run to the owlery to send some letters."

"I'll see you at lunch, then," Whit said before the two went in totally separate directions—with Victoire heading off towards the owlery while Whit split off to Gryffindor Tower.

The hike up to the West Tower tended to wind Victoire on a good day, let alone a day where she had to carry her heavy school bag along with her. By the last spiral staircase, she was cursing herself for not bothering to drop her bag off as she wiped several beads of sweat off of her forehead. She pushed open the door and felt a cool draft upsweep her hair. Several owls screeched and hooted at the newest arrival as she tried her best not to slip in the owl droppings that covered the floor.

"Here we are," she said, taking down an alert looking tawny owl that belonged to the school. She attached the letter she had written to Ted to its leg and sent it off, watching as it flew away.

She turned to search for another one, finding a large barn owl that she decided was suitable enough. She tied her parents' letter to its leg and observed as it also flew out into the chilly morning.

She let herself watch this one fly away for much longer; it slowly became smaller and smaller against the horizon. She glanced down at the hem of her robes and made sure they were hiked up enough to not track through the bird and rodent remains, side-stepping her way toward the door. She'd been about to exit when the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs caught her attention.

She'd reached the clear part of the floor that was free of droppings and moved to the side to allow whomever it was to pass her freel; that was before the person suddenly came into view. As soon as they had, Victoire reflexively frowned.

"Victoire," said Colleen, having reached the top steps with a letter in hand. She seemed rather surprised to see her.

"Colleen," Victoire muttered, wondering if there was some way she could quickly dart straight past her without more conversation.

They both stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, right until Colleen decided to move first and walk further into the owlery. She passed her and went over to a small gray owl; Victoire reckoned this was her chance to leave without an encounter.

"I heard you fancy Stuart," Colleen suddenly said.

Victoire let her brow furrow. "From me most likely. I've been telling you that on and off for three years now."

Colleen didn't look at her. She seemed to be struggling with attaching her letter to her owl. "I heard he asked you to Hogsmeade."

Victoire stared at her. The only person she had even mentioned that to was Whit and she knew she hadn't told anyone. How did Colleen know?

"Stuart told me," she added.

Victoire's heart skipped. She was almost tempted to press her further for what exactly he had said, but she had to remind herself who she was speaking to.

"You know," Colleen continued, "I'm tired of the fighting."

Victoire tilted her head to the side and wondered if she had misunderstood her. Colleen didn't get tired of fighting; she thrived on it. She needed it to survive. Food, water, and fighting.

"It seems like everything in my life is a fight," she added.

Victoire said nothing, but that wasn't because of a lack of something to say. She instead bit her tongue. Hard.

"My parents are getting divorced," Colleen said. "My father's met someone new."

Victoire still said nothing, unsure of what to do. She had a strong desire to run towards the stairs and get out while she could, but a very small part of her suddenly felt pity for Colleen.

"Loads of fighting," she continued, now staring out the window. "It was inevitable."

Victoire had actually been about to offer some sympathy—perhaps it was how she was raised, but despite her being awful Colleen was still human and probably somewhere had feelings. Victoire couldn't pinpoint where, but she was sure they were somewhere deep down inside.

"It's why I'd like to stop the fighting here, between you and I," she continued. "I'm not interested in this drama anymore because I have enough to deal with at home. And while I know being friends is not exactly something you're keen on, it doesn't mean we can't stop with the petty arguments."

"I agree," Victoire said, speaking for the first time in over a minute.

"I want to call a sort of truce," she said before she sent her owl out of a window and watched as it flew away. "I won't bother you and you won't bother me."

Victoire laughed at that before she thought better of it. "Does that include starting shit rumors about how I've shagged Merlin himself?"

Colleen waved her hand in a dismissive sort of way. "I don't even know why I ever started that Tom Haines rumor to begin with. I was probably bored and annoyed with you."

"Well, that makes it all better, then," Victoire said through gritted teeth. "But next time you're bored could you, perhaps, find a proper hobby instead of ruining my relationship and getting half the school to call me a cheating slag?"

"It wasn't half the school," Colleen said. "It was maybe a handful of pricks and jealous cows. And it's not as if it stuck, everyone still adores you just as they did before. You took that way too seriously. If you'd only laughed it off from the start—"

"Laughed it off? Dave and I fell apart because of that rumor. He broke up with me."

Colleen rolled her eyes. "You two were never meant for anything more than a couple of months anyway. Dave wanted to have sex, and since you're a prude it was only a matter of time—"

"I am not!" Victoire snapped, her voice rising. Just because she didn't sleep with someone straight away like some people—like Colleen liked to do—it didn't make her a prude. Sex simply wasn't something she wanted to rush into. There was nothing wrong with that. It didn't make her prude.

"Whatever," Colleen said, clearly unconvinced. "Just know that Stuart will want to have it too—he and Elizabeth did it all the time, so it's something he'd be expecting. They all are at this point. You should be aware of that before you get in too deep."

Victorie stared at her. A younger her may have been fooled; may have actually believed Colleen was genuinely offering her a piece of advice and looking out for her. But she knew better now. This was the kind of passive intimidation she'd been pulling on her for ages now. She'd fallen for it countless times—she was sure of it. She hated knowing that she had.

Not anymore. She could piss right off with all of it now.

"I can handle myself," she said. "Thanks."

Colleen didn't flinch. "Of course you can." She turned away. "Anyway, back to this truce. I'm only asking that we can coexist without me constantly worrying about what you're planning to do. I have my parents and N.E.W.T.s to worry about."

Victoire made a face. Not that she had anything 'planned,' but she couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"You didn't seem to care much when I was about to sit for my O.W.L.s."

"I said I was sorry for that."

"Actually, you didn't."

She frowned. "Well, then I'm sorry."

Victoire rolled her eyes. This was so pointless. "The truth is Colleen, you don't have to worry about me planning anything because I don't enjoy playing your games. I've moved on."

She shrugged in a bored way. "Fine. If we're telling the truth, then you should know that while Stu may be particularly interested in you now, I'm not going to stop trying to change his mind."

"Of course you're not..."

"But I'm not going to stoop to dirty tricks against you to get him," she added. "I think that's fair. Other than that, do we have a truce?"

Victoire didn't trust her as far as she could throw her, but realized she was no worse off than before if she did call a truce. Nothing changed if she did; she still would avoid Colleen like the plague and carry on with her life. Maybe Colleen would truly leave her alone if she said yes.

Victoire shrugged. "If it makes you feel better to hear me say it. Fine."

She smiled. "I'm glad."

"Sure," Victoire muttered, unable to think of anything else to say.

She turned and left without another word, making her way back downstairs.

She didn't even want to question Colleen's sudden change of heart because the truth was she didn't believe a word that came out of her mouth. It all seemed too convenient; too neat and tidy. Especially with Stuart still being a factor.

She was actually now more apprehensive of what was going to happen than she had been before.

"Go Ravenclaw!" someone yelled in the Entrance Hall.

The morning after her 'truce' with Colleen, Victoire had found herself just outside of the castle with most of the rest of the school filing their way out the front doors. It was the first Quidditch match of the new term and after the winter hiatus had been lifted. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, a match that Victoire had been anticipating for some time now. It was a much needed break from her problems—even if it was freezing and nasty outside.

"Piss off!" some other people yelled through the cheers of agreement. "Let's go Gryffindor!"

"Wait until you're outside!" commanded Professor Ivanson as he noticed several people pushing and shoving. "And horseplay will result in a loss of points for your house!"

"Quidditch matches always bring out the best in people," Louis joked once they'd finally made it outside into the open air.

"If by best you mean worst," Whit said, adjusting her Gryffindor scarf around her neck so that it hanging down the length of her front. "All the houses get along until the day of a match, then the next thing you know people are fighting and shoving and shouting."

"Whit's not a big fan," Victoire said to her brother. "In fact, this is your...what? fourth match?"

"This year?" he asked.

"Ever," Whit corrected as they followed the masses towards the pitch.

" Ever ?" he asked, his eyes practically jumping out of his head. "What do you do during them if you don't go?"

"Study," she said. "Nap. Enjoy an empty common room. You name it."

Louis pulled a face, seemingly finding that hard to believe. "Why come to this one?"

"Why do you think?" Victoire asked with a knowing smile, thinking of Jack. Given that Whit suddenly sighed and blushed, it was clear that she wasn't the only one now thinking about Jack.

"Ohhhhh, right," Louis said, figuring it out. "Obviously."

"It's a bit more interesting when she's got someone to watch," Victoire teased, watching as Whit's cheeks turned redder and redder. She made a point to look in the opposite direction.

"Jack will be happy to hear you came just for him," Louis said with a wink.

"You two are certainly related," Whit muttered.

"It's only funny because you get so bent out of shape." She grabbed Whit by the arm and playfully shook her. "We're just taking the mickey."

"Yeah, it's all in good fun," Louis said.

Whit shook her head. "I'm glad you all take pleasure in my embarrassment."

"What's to be embarrassed about?" Louis asked. "You fancy Jack, he fancies you. Enjoy it."

"Wait, did he say he fancies her?" Victoire asked him.

"That's not my place to say," Louis said before he suddenly looked ahead and noticed some of his friends waving him down. He waved back before taking several steps forward. "But do you really think he doesn't?"

"I don't know," Whit said lamely.

"He asked you if you were coming today, didn't he?" Louis asked as got a few steps ahead and turned around backwards to face them.

She nodded.

"Wait, he did?" Victoire asked. "Why am I just hearing this?"

"Well," Louis continued, ignoring his sister and addressing Whit, "he's never done that before." He paused thoughtfully. "Then again, he's never had to ask because everyone else always just comes to the matches."

"I get it," Whit said. "I'm the freak who doesn't like Quidditch."

"You are," he said before he started to walk off to catch up with his friends. "But think of it this way, he still wanted to make sure you were coming." He smiled. "I'm not saying anything, but I'm just saying..."

With that, he ran off to catch his friends.

"What on earth does that mean?" Whit asked.

"I think Lou likes to pretend to be more elusive than he is," Victoire said as she shook her head. "When in all reality he just comes off as daft." She swatted Whit. "And you didn't tell me Jack asked you to come."

"I didn't think it was significant," she said. "Should I have?"

Victoire stared at her. "Of course it is! He wanted to know if you were going to be here to watch him."

"I suppose I just don't pick up on these sorts of things."

"You must think I'm mental, then," she said. "I come to you trying to examine every move Stuart makes."

"I figured you just got excited about him," she said as they entered the Quidditch arena and proceeded to make their way up into the stands. "That you enjoyed talking about him."

"I do," she said, "but it's more because I want your opinion so that I don't over think things. I tend to do that."

"Do you think I'm mental because I don't do that?" Whit asked. "Because I never even think about asking."

"You don't need to if you really don't think it matters," Victoire said, making her way through the crowds to get to a seat. "But at the same time, the fact that you're blatantly ignoring clear signals from him shows that you may need more guidance than you think."

"So, you overthink things and I under think them?"

"Sounds like it," she said before she took a seat near the top.

"Our powers combined could equal one rationally minded person, then." Whit joked once she sat down next to her.

"There's no such thing as rational when it comes to this sort of thing," Victoire said, just as people started cheering louder and louder all around her.

"You'll have to explain a few things to me," Whit said as they both joined the crowd and stood as the players flew out onto the pitch.

"We're the scarlet and gold team," Victoire joked.

"Alright, I'm not that bad."

"You know the basic gist of Quidditch though, right?" she asked. "The Chasers have to get the Quaffle through…"

"Is the Quaffle the ball?"

"The big one," Victoire said, now pointing to the referee who was currently holding it and marching to the center of the pitch. "They need to get that ball through those hoops for ten points."

"Okay," she said. "And the Beaters, they knock around that other mad little ball and try to stop the other players from doing their job. It's the Bludger, right?"

Victoire smiled. "See, you know more than you think."

She smiled meekly. "When Jack told me he was a Beater, I made the mistake of asking him what that meant. I think he thought I was strange for not knowing, but he explained it anyway. It's an awfully violent position."

"A violent position that Jack's really great at," Victoire said, right as the Quaffle was suddenly released and the players scattered after it.

"Stuart is a Chaser, right?" Whit asked as she scanned the sky towards the Ravenclaw end of the pitch.

"He sure is," Victoire said with a dreamy smile. She cast a glance near the Ravenclaw goal posts, where Stuart was flying by, watching the Quaffle. She could barely see him, but she knew he probably looked adorable.

"Stuart's good, but we're better. Their Chasers probably won't be able to score much. Not against Durrin."

"And then Dominique's the Seeker, right?" Whit asked as she craned her neck up high into the sky to the pitch.

She nodded. "She catches the Snitch and the match is over."

"Why doesn't she just catch the Snitch now?"

"Because it hasn't appeared yet."

"I'm not even going to ask," Whit muttered before she was interrupted by the Gryffindor fans' wild cheers. They had just scored.

"And that's ten points for Gryffindor!" shouted the announcer as Victoire watched Jack hit a Bludger square into Henry Davies' side. He doubled over his broom.

"A hard hit on Davies courtesy of Ians," the announcer said. "He looks like he's in pain, but still holding on!"

"That's a good thing, right?" Whit asked.

"Not for Henry Davies," Victoire muttered as she watched Ravenclaw turn over the Quaffle to Gryffindor and send it speeding back down to make the score. The Gryffindor side started cheering wildly again, all while jumping up and down in the stands ferociously.

"How long do these things usually go for?" Whit asked.

"It could be five minutes, it could be five hours."

"Five hours ?" Whit said, her face almost horrified.

"It could go five days, even," Victoire said. "But they never let it get that long here at school."

Whit didn't seem the slightest bit excited at the prospect of a five hour match, but lucky for her the Snitch was caught a half hour later by Giggleswick, the Ravenclaw Seeker, to make the final score Ravenclaw 170- Gryffindor 220.

"But why did he catch it if he knew they were going to lose?" Whit yelled over the loud cheers that echoed all the way back towards the castle.

"Because he didn't want us to get it," Victoire yelled back. "Or perhaps he just wanted to end the game and put them out of their misery. They only scored twice!"

"The Ravenclaw team didn't look happy," she said as they jogged up the hill back to the castle.

"Yeah, I don't think now is the right time to tell Stuart if it was a nice effort," Victoire said with a glance over her shoulder. "We might as well enjoy our win."

By the time Victoire and Whit had returned to the common room, it was already loud and alive with celebration. People were cheering and chanting and laughing; someone started shooting red sparks out of the tip of their wand. Soon enough, an entire crowd of people were doing the same thing and running madly around, creating a blur of color and noise.

"We won!" James Potter called to Victoire as she walked past him and tousled his hair affectionately. He and his friends were positively giddy and were taking turns jumping off the sofa trying to see who could get the most height.

"Hey!" said Louis, who had come over to where Victoire and Whit had just found seats. "Great match, huh? Did you see Jack?" He nudged her several times in the arm. "He was bloody brilliant. That hit on Davies! That stupid git deserved it."

"That was my favorite part," Louis' friend, a boy called Flynn, said as Sarah appeared next to him. "Jack is a beast!"

"Is he?" Whit asked with a confused smile directed at Victoire. She simply shrugged and smiled back.

"Rotten luck that Nic couldn't catch the snitch though," said Sarah.

"Yeah, what was that?" Louis asked, shaking his head.

"It was right in front of her face!" said Flynn.

"Go easy on her," Victoire said. "You know how hard she is on herself after matches. And Ravenclaw and Giggleswick always give her trouble.

Louis and his friends could agree to that, though they suddenly switched gears and started talking about going to snag food from the kitchens. They all walked away before Victoire could confirm if they were actually going to do it.

"After a match is always fun," Victoire said to Whit, observing everyone around the room.

"Yeah," Whit said sarcastically. "It's wonderful seeing everyone go mental."

"It's good fun, though," she said before she noticed Colleen and Penelope were huddled together across the room and whispering with Natalie Young of all people. Victoire couldn't help but notice that Natalie's face was practically filled with excited energy for being included in by Colleen and Penelope. Apparently anything Victoire had ever told her had gone in one ear and out the other.

"Odd," she muttered.

"What is?" Whit asked.

Victoire pointed; Whit followed her finger. At that exact moment, all three girls giggled loudly as Colleen and Penelope suddenly stood. Natalie followed a moment later, and soon all three of them were walking towards the portrait hole.

Whit turned back and gave Victoire a peculiar look. "They're suddenly friends?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"They did have to fill that vacant spot you created," she joked. "I heard that if Colleen doesn't have two people standing on either side of her for support, she collapses under the weight of her enormous head."

Victoire slowly smiled, but didn't laugh. Her mind was too busy wondering why Colleen and Penelope would want anything to do with Natalie.

"It's probably nothing," Whit added. "Maybe they really are moving on and finding new people to bother so they can leave you alone."

"Yeah…" Victoire said, still feeling slightly unsettled. "Maybe."

"Plus, if Natalie wants to be their friend, let her. If she's dumb enough to get herself into that mess after you warned her—"

"It's not that easy sometimes," she said. "It's one of those situations where unless you were there and really know, it's always a novelty."

"I wasn't there and I know."

Victoire grinned. "We don't all have the common sense you do. Some of us do make mistakes."