Written for QLFC Round 8

Team: Falmouth Falcons

Position: Keeper

Prompt: Write about someone who falls in with the wrong crowd.

Word Count: 2,988

Warnings: Bullying

Lonely

Victoire sat by the window in the empty compartment she'd found, waving at her parents and siblings as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of King's Cross station. Once they were out of view, she sank back in the seat and stared out of the open door, throwing out smiles at anyone who happened to look in. Some smiled back, but none of them granted her silent wish of having someone join her.

Pulling her long, thick, blonde hair over her shoulder, Victoire made quick work of plaiting her hair, ignoring the shorter strands falling out of the plait and framing her face; almost like magic. Much like her mother, Victoire knew she was beautiful, but she didn't have her easy knack of talking to new people. Teddy had promised he would be back, to travel to Hogwarts with her; it was her first year and she was the first of her cousins to be going, so she didn't even have them for back-up.

Tying the end of the plait with a piece of ribbon, she laid it down on her chest, twirling the ends of her hair to curl it neatly. It occupied her for two minutes. She looked at the open door again as voices approached. Two older girls giggled as they past without looking in the compartment.

With a heavy sigh, and a deep ache in her chest, wishing desperately she was back home playing chess with her father, Victoire pulled a book out of her bag and stared at the page.

XXXXXX

Teddy spotted a familiar head of blonde hair walking just ahead of him as the students climbed off the train. Her shoulders were rounded and her head dipped down.

"Oh no," he said under his breath.

"What've you left?" Ari Walkden, a fellow Hufflepuff and best friend, asked.

"Nothing," he said with a heavy sigh. "I forgot to go back for Victoire. I promised her she wouldn't be alone."

"Who's Victoire?" He peered over the heads to see who Teddy was looking at.

"A family friend. My parents and her parents were friends." Teddy started pushing ahead, telling Ari he'd see him on the carriage. "Victoire!" he called when his feet his the platform.

Her head snapped up, glancing around and finally she spotted him. She came to a standstill and waited.

"I'm so sorry," he said quickly, a little out of breath. "You should've come and found me."

"It's fine, Teddy," she said, leaning away from his reaching hand going towards her shoulder. "It doesn't matter."

Neither of them didn't get to say anything as Hagrid called for the first-years.

XXXXXX

"You'll do well in… RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was lifted and the bright light from the floating candles blinded Victoire for a moment. The students on the Ravenclaw table cheered and clapped at another student joining them. She glanced to Teddy on the Hufflepuff table, his bright blue hair easy to find, and he gave her two thumbs up with a bright smile.

With a quiet sigh, Victoire straightened her shoulders, just like her mother had shown her when scared, and ignored her racing heartbeat as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. The first-years that had been sorted ahead of her made room for her, all smiling uncertainly at each other.

No one really spoke to Victoire for the entire feast. She didn't speak to them either. She picked at the mashed potatoes and half-listened to her housemates discuss their backgrounds and siblings who were already in the school.

It wasn't until the Ravenclaw girls were getting into their beds, excited chatter happening around Victoire, that someone spoke to her. Betsy Clearwater stood by Victoire's bedside, giving her a shy smile. She was smaller than Victoire in height and her hair was dark brown, almost black, plaited neatly down her back.

"I have some lavender oil," she whispered as the other three girls shrieked at something funny one of them said. "To help you sleep." She widened her smile. "Would you like some on your wrists and pillow?"

Victoire returned the smile, a little bit of her ache for home disappearing at Betsy's kindness. "Thank you," she said. She held her wrist out when Betsy produced the little bottle and unscrewed the pipette lid.

"I'm missing home too," Betsy said as she dabbed the oil on Victoire's wrists. "I miss my little brother, but he'll be here next year."

"I have a sister and brother. Dominique is next but she's two years younger," Victoire explained, watching Betsy squeeze two drops of lavender oil on her pillow as she rubbed her wrists together. "Thank you."

Betsy gave her another smile. She had such a warm, friendly face. "Hope you sleep well."

XXXXXX

"Vic," Teddy called down the corridor. "Vic!"

Victoire finally heard him over the chatter of the surrounding students. She stopped and looked around. He waved at her, catching her eye as he reached her. "How's it been? I've not seen you properly."

"Fine." She shrugged, turning away form him.

"Vic?" He pulled gently at her elbow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She sighed. "What do you want, Teddy?"

Teddy frowned at the hard edge to her voice. "I've got my first Hogsmeade visit this weekend, I was wondering if there was anything you wanted me to get you?"

"No, thank you." She walked off before he could say anymore.

Teddy watched her blonde hair disappear down the corridor as it slowly emptied of students making their way to the next lesson. Victoire had been at the school for a whole month and he realised he'd not seen her much. With all his new lessons, he'd been a little swamped, but he'd make more of an effort to seek her out.

XXXXXX

Victoire leant her elbow on the table, slouching as she rested her head in her hand, the other hand pushing her cold porridge around in the bowl. The school was almost empty with most students being down at Hogsmeade. There were a few still in the Great Hall, but no one she knew. Even Betsy seemed to be finding something to keep her busy all the time.

"You're a Weasley, aren't you?" a giggling voice asked behind her.

Victoire sat up quickly to look over her shoulder. Two second-year Ravenclaws stood there, smiling brightly at her. "What about it?" she asked, pushing her porridge away.

"I thought all the Weasleys had red hair," the girl with brown hair said.

Victoire started to get up. There were always two ways people reacted to someone being a Weasley – either to ask about her Uncle Ron or sneer at their hair colour. Sometimes it was worse for her dad when they saw his scars.

"That means you're related to Harry Potter, doesn't it?" the boy with freckles asked.

And then there was that.

"So?"

There was a shared look.

"What's he really like?" the boy asked.

Victoire pushed through them and walked quickly out of the Great Hall, but they followed her.

"Sorry. You must get that a lot," the girl said quickly.

They fell in step on either side of Victoire, both making their way back to the Ravenclaw common room with her.

"Sometimes," she said quietly. She couldn't work out if it was good or not that they were talking to her. She couldn't even remember their names, only that she'd seen them in passing.

"We noticed you were always alone, so we wanted to say hello," the girl said after a moment of silence. "I'm Catherine and he's Wilf."

"Victoire," she replied quietly.

"We usually do our homework in the library on a Saturday, want to join us?" Wilf asked.

Victoire looked between the two, waiting for the joke, but they continued to look at her with smiles. "Okay," she said with a smile of her own.

XXXXXX

Teddy heard a familiar laugh nearby – a laugh he hadn't heard in a while. He looked around to see Victoire laughing deeply with two other Ravenclaws. He smiled at how she was finally finding her way at the school. He knew she'd be fine once she's found some friends.

"Didn't you say she was a family friend?" Ari asked, his voice low and by his ear.

Teddy faced forward again. "Yeah," he replied, sure he was about to get some stick for watching a pretty girl.

"You should warn her about them two. They might be Ravenclaws, but they may as well be in Slytherin for how sly they are." Ari glanced over to them again. "The girl, think her name's Catherine, is always up to something, and Wilf's her distant cousin, so they always cover for each other."

"How?" Teddy looked at Victoire again, a heaviness in his stomach at being the one who would have to warn her.

"They set up pranks – or that's what they tell people when they're not happy – but someone always ends up in the hospital wing. They've had loads of detentions because of it, but sometimes others end up being blamed and they get away with it. Didn't think your friend would be the sort to want that?"

"No," Teddy said with a heavy sigh. "She wouldn't."

"She's a Weasley, isn't she?"

Teddy nodded, shoving his toast away.

"I reckon they've made friends with her because she can get them cheap pranks or something."

Teddy sniggered. "Good luck with that. George doesn't give any of his family discount."

XXXXXX

Not wanting to be the reason Victoire got upset, Teddy made it his mission to find out more about her friends before he said anything. No one seemed to like them much, which was impressive for students only in their second year. Ari was right, they were mean-spirited in their pranks, but they were clever with how they barely took the blame. And it was always the quiet ones – the ones who didn't know how to stand up for themselves.

Teddy didn't even have to look far for their most recent victim – a small first-year came into the Hufflepuff common room, one Sunday afternoon, sporting a black eye and a vaguely familiar telescope in his hand.

"You okay?" Teddy asked as he sat down on the couch by him.

"Just a prank." His voice said it was anything but 'just'.

He threw the telescope onto the couch and Teddy picked it up, turning it over in his hands. Teddy spotted the familiar trademark of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He frowned; they never sold this one, but George would sometimes bring them to the parties the Weasleys threw.

"Who did it?" Teddy asked.

"Some Ravenclaws," he answered sullenly, punching the heel of his hand on the arm of the couch. "They're always doing it… I hate pranks."

Teddy sighed, handing him the telescope back.

XXXXXX

"Vic! Hang on!"

Victoire rolled her eyes when she heard Teddy's voice calling as she left the Great Hall after breakfast. "I won't be a minute," she said to Catherine and Wilf.

"I didn't know you knew the weirdo," Wilf muttered with a smirk.

Victoire frowned at his words, not feeling quite right about the way he said it or the way Catherine was sniggering with him. "He's a friend," she said quietly.

"Can we talk?" Teddy asked when he reached her. She didn't miss the odd look he gave her friends over her shoulder.

"I have to get to Potions."

Teddy put a hand on her elbow. "Just for a second… please?"

Victoire sighed. "I'll meet you in the library later," she said to her friends, who sloped off giggling and whispering to each other.

She watched Teddy watch them leave.

"You know they're not nice, don't you?" Teddy asked bluntly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She could see he had a problem with her friends, but she wasn't expecting him to be so horrible about them. "They've been really nice to me. Made me feel welcome here. More than you."

"Vic, don't be like that. We're not even in the same house, never mind same year. I tried talking to you."

Teddy reached a hand out again but she took a step back.

"It's nearly Christmas and you've only tried twice." Victoire didn't bother waiting to hear anymore.

XXXXXX

Victoire sat down to lunch, glancing at the entrance for Catherine and Wilf as she put a sandwich on her plate. Another figure sat by her, blocking her view of the doors.

"What's up?" Betsy asked, a book clutched tightly to her chest.

"Nothing, why?" Victoire immediately felt bad at how angry she sounded.

She hadn't become best friends with Betsy like she'd hoped after their first night at Hogwarts, but she'd always made sure to partner up with Victoire in lessons and talk to her before they went to bed. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her sandwich.

"It's okay. You looked a bit fed up all morning." Betsy put down her book to grab a sandwich.

Victoire relaxed, knowing she wouldn't have to eat her lunch alone. "It's nothing. Just Teddy being annoying."

"Teddy Lupin?" Betsy asked, instinctively looking to the Hufflepuff table. "He was really nice to Janet the other day. I think she really likes him now." Betsy giggled.

"Janet?" Victoire looked to the Hufflepuff table herself but didn't see his blue hair.

"Yeah. Catherine and Wilf were picking on her in the library and he made them stop."

"They wouldn't do that," Victoire snapped.

Betsy froze, giving Victoire a weird look. "They're horrible. They're always picking on people."

"Did Teddy make you say this?"

"No," Betsy replied in surprise. "I've never spoken to him." She put a hand on Victoire's shoulder. "Victoire, I know they've been okay with you, but they're really mean to a lot of people."

"They were the only ones who spoke to me," Victoire said, getting up and leaving before Betsy could say anything more.

They were her friends. Victoire knew they liked pranks, just like her Uncle George did, but that didn't make them mean… Did it?

XXXXXX

A few days after Teddy and Betsy had told Victoire that they thought her friends were mean, and having found herself avoiding them, she was walking to the library by herself. Usually she would've gone with Wilf and Catherine, but she left before they found her in the common room, and kept thinking about the stuff she'd seen her friends do over the last few months. Had it been bullying instead of a bit of harmless fun? Should she have kept the stuff Uncle George had let her take hidden? He had said they'd never been sold for a reason, and that poor Hufflepuff boy did cry when he was thumped with the telescope.

As she reached the corridor leading to the library she heard a sharp cry.

"Get off me! Stop it!"

Betsy?

Victoire pulled her wand out of the side pocket of her bag and ran towards her voice, her bag swinging painfully against her legs.

"Victoire is none of your business! You stay away from her!"

Wilf?

She rounded the corner to find Catherine pulling at Betsy's hair while Wilf had his wand in her face. Betsy's cheeks was bright red and tear-stained.

"What are you doing?" Victoire cried, dropping her bag. "Get off her!"

Wilf and Catherine jumped away from Betsy.

"We saw how upset you've been after she spoke to you," Catherine started sweetly.

"She didn't upset me," Victoire said firmly, gripping her wand tightly.

"We were making sure. That's all," Wilf said. He reached out to pat Betsy's shoulder but she flinched away. "No harm done."

Victoire looked to Betsy and saw the cut on her lip and a redness to the side of her face that was more than just from crying. Victoire held her hand out to Betsy who ran to her and grabbed it. "Nice people don't hurt others."

"We didn't. Did we, Betsy?" Catherine's face had an ugly smile on it.

"We're your friends, Victoire, not her. She'll only lie to you. We've done nothing. Tell her, Betsy," Wilf added.

"What's happening?" Teddy's voice asked from behind Victoire.

"Oh go away, freak," Catherine said spitefully, folding her arms and giving him a murderous look. "No one wants you here."

"Is that true, Vic?"

Victoire could hear the laughter in his voice without looking at him. "They were hurting Betsy," she said. "I was telling them I can't be friends with bullies."

"That's not what you were saying when you were sat all by yourself in the Great Hall for all those days," Catherine said with a sneer. "Come on, Wilf. Leave her with the weirdos. Thought you might be as cool as your uncle, but you're really not."

Victoire grabbed at Catherine's wrist and purposely dug her nails into her skin, just like her mother showed her if anyone tried to hurt her. "Uncle George makes sure no one gets hurt and that everyone laughs at the prank. He's not a bully."

Catherine snatched her hand away, rubbing where Victoire's nails had pinched. "Don't expect us to be around when they aren't."

The three of them watched Catherine and Wilf walk down the hallway. Victoire let go of Betsy's hand. "I'm sorry they hurt you. I should've listened the other day."

"You didn't make them hurt me," Betsy said gently. She picked up Victoire's bag and hooked it over her shoulder for her. "Thank you for standing up for me."

Victoire sighed, feeling a sob building. "I was just really lonely and they were really nice to me."

Teddy put an arm around her shoulders. "Vic, we're not mind readers. You should've told me."

"Me too. I thought you were okay," Betsy added.

Victoire gave them a wobbly smile. "I don't know how to speak to people like Mama."

"You have to practice," Teddy said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Come on. Let's take Betsy to the hospital wing and go raid the kitchens."