The next Friday I was sitting in Charms class tapping my quill and staring at my watch. It was my last class of the day and I desperately wanted it to end.

The worst thing about Roxanne being a year younger than me was that we had absolutely no classes together. Consequently I was sitting by her brother Fred instead. Our friends Grace and Aidan were sitting in front of us.

Professor Grimsdyke, who had taken over as the Charms professor when Flitwick had become headmaster had ordered us to read out of our textbooks and had promptly left the classroom. So, of course, no one was reading.

Fred turned away from the conversation he was having with Aidan and Grace and looked at me. "You're certainty acting impatient," he commented.

"It's Friday," I replied. "I want to get out of here."

"I would expect you're also pretty excited for tomorrow's Hogsmeade trip," he said. "And a certain someone, perhaps," he added, waggling his eyebrows.

Aidan turned around in his seat. "Oohh, Teddy Lupin. He's sooo dreamy," he said in a high-pitched voice.

I giggled. "I do not sound like that."

"You do a little," he replied, grinning.

"I do not," I argued. "Grace, help me out here."

Grace turned around, tossing her long strawberry- blonde hair over her shoulder. She was possibly the nicest girl in the entire school and everyone knew Aidan was madly in love with her. Too bad she had always just considered him a good friend.

"Boys," she said. "Leave poor Victoire alone."

Of course they ignored her and to my utter horror began to make loud, exaggerated kiss noises. The entire classroom turned to stare at us. I buried my face in my hands.

"Oh, Teddy. You're sooo handsome. I love you!" said Fred in a stupid girly voice.

"Hold me! Kiss me!" added Aidan, laughing hysterically.

"Oh god," I moaned.

Grace looked at me sympathetically. "I got this," she told me.

"Fred! Aidan! I didn't know you two were so in love with Teddy Lupin. I must have missed when you came out of the closet," she said loudly. The entire room burst into laughter.

They both shut up.

I laughed. "Wow, Grace. That was uncharacteristically mean for you."

"Well, sometimes being nice can get boring. You gotta spice things up every once in a while, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but just be sure that you don't spice them up to much," I said, gesturing to my stomach.

"Yeah, I think I'll just stick to being mean to those two," she said, nodding at Fred and Aidan, who were busy laughing at an inappropriate joke Fred had told.

"Well if you change your mind, I'm sure Aidan would be happy to help you out with that," I said, lowering my voice.

"Vic!" she hissed, smacking my arm. "We're just friends."

"Well, why don't you ever give being more than friends a shot? He's funny and pretty good-looking. Plus he loves you a lot," I whispered.

She sighed. "I know. It's just… I've always thought of him as a brother, you know?"

"Yeah I get that. But, you know, I used to think of Teddy as a brother. And well… now I definitely don't. Sometimes things change."

"Yeah," she said. "But that doesn't mean they always do."

I opened my mouth to reply, but at that moment Grimsdyke came hurrying back into the classroom and everyone quieted down immediately.

"Well," he said. "I trust you've all had plenty of time to complete the assigned reading. Miss Bell, why don't you sum up what you read?" He smiled at her, exposing his disgusting teeth.

Grace turned red. "Err," she began, "it was about a charm."

"What kind of charm, Miss Bell?"

"Erm," she said, stalling, "well…"

Suddenly a loud crashing sound echoed from across the room. An entire bookcase had fallen. Grimsdyke promptly forgot about Grace and hurried over to assess the damage.

I glanced at Aidan who was tucking his wand into is robe with a grin on his face. He leaned over towards Grace. "You're welcome," he said with a wink.

"You did that?" she whispered.

"Only for you, m'dear," he replied, tipping an invisible hat.

"I had everything under control."

"Sure you did. You weren't even able to name the spell, let alone summarize the reading."

"Fine," she said. "Thank you, Aidan, for once again wreaking havoc."

"Wreaking havoc to save your butt," he added.

She giggled. "Yeah, yeah, thanks."

He shot her his most charming smile. "You're welcome."

Grimsdyke came hurrying back to the front of the room. "Now Miss Bell, why don't you continue where you left off?"

The bell rang.

"On Monday, be ready to explain that charm to me," he shouted after Grace's retreating figure.

"I will, Professor," she called over her shoulder.

I started toward the door.

"Oh, Miss Weasley, may I speak to you for a moment?" Grimsdyke called after me.

I grimaced and turned around slowly. "Yes, Professor?"

"I've been meaning to ask you, how's your little situation going?" He leered at me.

"Fine," I mumbled, my stomach growling. Why wouldn't he let me leave? Dinner, I needed dinner.

"Good, good," he said. "So are the rumors I've been hearing true? Are you really dating Teddy Lupin?"

In my head I was shouting, That's none of your business, you slimy creep! But out loud I said, "Yes, Professor."

"And is that his?" he asked, nodding at my stomach.

This man certainly knew how to pry, didn't he?

"Nope," I said, shaking my head.

He squinted at me with his dark, beady eyes. "I see."

In his head he was probably calling me a slut. Whatever, at least I wasn't a pervy, middle-aged beaver-man.

"Well that's good that it isn't his, I suppose," he added.

"And how do you figure that?"

"Teddy's a brilliant boy. I'd be a shame for him to have to give up his dreams to help raise a child."

My mind flashed to Colin and his utter horror at the idea of having to give up his musical career for our baby. I guess my baby just wasn't as important as everybody else's dreams.

"I have to get to dinner, Professor," I said suddenly, not wanting to spend one more minute with him.

"Ah, yes. Eating for two now. Well off you go then, Miss Weasley."

I nearly sprinted out the door. All the way to the Great Hall, I wished that I'd had the nerve to tell him off. If Rox had been there, she would have put him in his place. He'd never ask such personal questions again. Scary girl, that Roxanne Weasley.

By the time I reached the Great Hall, I was fuming.

"What's wrong?"asked Roxanne, as I sat down next to her, Aidan, and Fred.

"Grimsdyke was being a major creep." I looked around. "Where's Grace?"

Everyone shrugged.

"What was Grymsdyke doing?" Rox asked.

"Oh just asking me a bunch of personal questions. Like if Teddy is the father. Then when I said no, he had the nerve to say that that's good because Teddy shouldn't have to give up his dreams to help raise a kid."

Rox shook her head. "He's a pig."

Before I could respond, Grace came walking in, looking extremely pleased about something. The rest of stared at her as she sat down. She was practically glowing. Seriously, nobody should be that happy.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Mmm…" she murmured, staring at the Ravenclaw table.

I glance over at where she's looking. It appeared to be a group of seventh year Ravenclaw boys.

"Alright, who is he?"

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Who's the guy you're staring at?"

Aidan looked up from his food.

"I'm not staring at anyone," she replied.

"I just saw you, Grace. You were looking over at those Ravenclaw guys. So which one was it?"

"Yes, Grace," Aidan said. "Which one was it? We're all dying to know." He was trying to use a teasing voice, but mostly he just sounded angry.

"Matthew Davies," she mumbled in reply, looking embarrassed. "He just asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow."

"Kind of late to ask you, don't you think?" said Aidan. "I mean, it almost sounds like you were a last resort or something."

"For your information, Aidan, he told me that he's been trying to ask me all week, but he only now worked up the courage!" Grace snapped. "You could try being happy for me, you know. You're supposed to be my friend!"

I'd never seen her that angry before. Or him for that matter.

"Yeah that's all I'll ever be, isn't it?" he shouted, glaring at her. "Your friend!"

"Well right now, I'm not even sure about that anymore," she replied, tears filling her eyes. "I'm not hungry anymore," she added, standing up. And with that she spun on her heals and ran towards the door.

The rest of us watched as Matthew Davies got up and followed her. He caught up to her right outside the entrance and pulled her into his arms, comforting her.

"Excuse me," said Aidan, standing up. "I'm going to go murder Davies."

Fred grabbed his sleeve and yanked him back down. "No you're not, mate."

"Why shouldn't I?" he demanded.

"Because you don't own her," Rox answered. "She's allowed to date whoever the hell she wants."

Aidan crossed his arms and pouted. He looked like my little brother Louis when Mum tells him to finish his vegetables or he doesn't get desert. Except Louis was eleven and made it looked cute. Aidan, not so much.

"But what does she see in Matthew Davies?" he asked in disgust.

"He's hot," replied Roxanne matter-of-factly.

"And amazing at Quidditch," I added.

"He's pretty smart," said Rox.

"Those eyes of his are to die for," I said.

"He's super nice. I heard he volunteers at an animal shelter and a nursing home during the summer," added Rox.

"Hell," Fred chimed in. "if I made a list of guys I'd go gay for, Matthew Davies would be number two, right after Teddy Lupin."

"Yeah, honestly Aidan, there's probably no way in hell you can compete with him," I said.

"Wow, thanks guys. You're support is overwhelming."

"That's what friends are for," said Fred, clapping on the shoulder.

"I just really thought she was starting to come around," said Aidan with a sigh.

"Cheer up," Rox told him. "You get to hang out with me tomorrow. Fred will be with his girlfriend, Vic will be with Teddy, and Grace will be with Matthew. So it's just me and you."

"Great," said Aidan. "Just great."

So this chapter focused a lot on Aidan and Grace. I didn't mean for that to happen, it kind of just did. I'm planning on the next chapter being mostly Teddy and Vic, though.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Don't forget to review!