Chapter 7

Detention every day for a week was completely ridiculous. Sure they'd broken a few rules, been out after hours, whatever. But did that really necessitate a week's worth of detention? It was overkill really, bordering on barbaric. Was she not a human being? Did she not make mistakes? Was she not deserving of a little forgiveness, a little empathy? Was god above so cruel that he'd rip her after dinner cigarette with Lee away from her for seven full days?

Apparently he was. As day six of detention rolled around, she had been feeling incredibly sorry for herself. So far the detentions had been grueling. The past five days she'd had to polish all the kitchen's silverware, organize all of Filch's files alphabetically, by offense instead of name, clean the stables, polish the silverware again, and varnish the lower hanging paintings, in spite of the frames' less than grateful subjects hissing at her to get out of their personal space the entire time - all without magic. And to make matters worse, Filch had separated her and George on the first day, convinced they would use the detention to socialize, despite the students' insistence that they would be perfectly behaved.

"I guess our sentences are together then?"

Vivian rolled her eyes, not wanting to glance up from the stones she had been scrubbing, her shoulders aching from the half hour of work she had already put in.

Detention had started at 7 sharp, their task being to scrub the entirety of the entry hall, which was presently caked in mud thanks to the torrential rains from the previous week. An arduous task without magic, to say the least. When she had shown up (on time), Filch had told her she would be joined by another student who had yet to grace her with their presence. She had begun to fear that she would be alone for the entirety of the cleaning project, which would have greatly lengthened her detention when a much too peppy voice rang in her ears. Whoever it was thought they were going to show up late to detention and then try to be buddy-buddy with her? Absolutely not. They were lucky she wasn't shooting a hex into their face just for their perkiness alone.

The annoyed quip that had perched on her tongue immediately faltered and died as she felt her heart drop down to her stomach when she finally lifted her eyes to the newcomer.

In front of her stood a chiseled god of a man, standing over her with a confident but genuine smile. Though she had never had a chance to actually speak with Cedric Diggory, it was impossible not to know of him. The way other people talked about him, one might think he actually walked on water.

Not that Vivian was above ogling him either. She was only a girl after all. She just couldn't help but notice how muscular his shoulders looked that day, despite being covered by his robes. Or how flawlessly coiffed his hair was, apparently immune to the November wind that had turned her blonde locks into nothing short of a rat's nest. Or the way his perfectly gray eyes sparkled down at her alongside his confident grin. Or-

"I-I guess so," she stuttered, realizing she had been silent for far too long. She grinned shyly up at him, hoping he hadn't noticed her odd pause, "What are you in for?"

"Tracked mud around after practice yesterday," he rolled his eyes as he threw his bag down on the ground and crouched to grab a brush from the bucket next to her. "What'd you do?"

"Out past curfew," she grunted, working her brush against a stubborn spot of mud on the stone.

Cedric gave a loud gasp, letting his expression fall into one of pure horror, though Vivian could see him working to keep the grin off his face.

"Shameful! I don't know how you can live with yourself!" he scolded, his voice playful.

She let out a sharp laugh, not expecting this response from him. Dropping her brush to the floor, she clasped her hands under her chin, widening her eyes into a look of penance.

"One day at a time, it's all I can do," she wailed, putting a dramatic amount of sorrow into her voice, grinning at Cedric's laugh.

"I'm Cedric by the way. Cedric Diggory," he said, holding his hand out to her.

She returned his shake, hoping he wasn't too grossed out by her hand, which was already shriveled from the laborious scrubbing she had done before his fashionably late arrival.

"I'm Vivian. Vivian Mento," she replied, mimicking his introduction. To her surprise he gave a disbelieving laugh.

"I know who you are," he said as if this fact should have been obvious to her. "Everyone does," he continued, when she only gave him a confused look. "Hogwarts doesn't get a lot of transfers. You were the talk of the whole school after the sorting ceremony."

She felt her face redden, unaware of the attention that had apparently been on her. Truth be told, she had not expected Cedric to recognize her. They had Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures together, but despite the fact that they saw each other multiple times a week, she had never even seen the Hufflepuff glance in her direction, let alone show any interest in her. She'd be lying if she said it didn't make her feel just a little giddy to know that one of the most sought after guys in the school had spent even a second thinking about her.

"Well," she breathed with a small laugh, trying to quell the butterflies she suddenly felt fluttering through her core. "Is meeting me all you dreamed it would be?" she willed her voice not to shake despite the lame half joke that passed through her lips.

Much to her surprise, Cedric threw his head back and laughed, like it was the funniest thing he'd heard all day.

"So far it's exceeded expectations actually," he smiled at her with a wink.

Feeling herself redden again, she let out a nervous giggle as she pretended to be very focused on scrubbing the brick in front of her.

"So quidditch practice you said? What position do you play then?" she asked, quickly changing the subject, well aware that Cedric was the seeker for his house's team.

"I am," he nodded with his full body as he scrubbed. "I play seeker. Do you play?"

"God no," she scoffed as he raised his eyebrow at her. "Sports are not my thing. I am not coordinated to say the least."

He laughed again, as if what she said was hilarious. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. Was he flattering her?

"Oh come on, I think you'd be good at it!" he was definitely flattering her. Her embarrassingly weak overhand throw would beg to differ.

"I can promise you I'm not," she laughed, feeling a bewildered smile crawl onto her face.

"How'd you end up friends with the entire Gryffindor quidditch team then?" he asked, an amused expression on his own face.

Vivian opened her mouth to respond but shut it quickly. That was a very good question.

"I actually have no idea," she answered honestly, feeling a bit stumped as she shared another laugh with Cedric.

By the time they had scrubbed the last of the mud from the entry hall, it was nearing curfew and Vivian's shoulders ached as if she had been trampled while her hands were raw and bleeding from the hours of scrubbing. But somehow, she found herself not wanting detention to end, or rather, not wanting her conversation with Cedric to end.

Even beyond his looks, the guy was charming. He knew exactly when to ask questions, when to listen, when to crack a joke. Talking to Cedric was easy. He only asked her easy things - how she was liking Hogwarts so far (Not so bad, I could do with less detentions), what kind of books she read (Exclusively trashy romance novels and nothing else), what kind of music she liked (My favorite band is called the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I guess you would call them a muggle band). No questions that would leave her floundering for a palatable answer or cause any painfully awkward silences. It was a breath of fresh air.

Chucking her brush into the bucket of soiled water, she wracked her brain for something else to say that would extend their talk as the two stood to make their way back to their dormitories. Drawing a complete blank, she groaned internally, cursing the cruel god that seemed to love torturing her so, insisting on making her so awkward. Why did all her social skills immediately go out the window when she needed them most? Cedric probably-

"This might be a bit forward, but would you want to go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?" he said suddenly after they had been walking for several minutes, interrupting another one of her embarrassingly long silences.

"Oh," Vivian gasped, hating how high her voice sounded. Why the hell was Cedric Diggory asking her out? "Yes, I would like that."

"Great," he sighed, reaching up to pull her into a gentle hug as he fixed her with another one of his dazzling smiles. "Meet here Saturday at 9?"

"Great," she smiled back at him as they parted ways towards their respective common rooms. What the hell just happened? She felt like she blacked out. There is no way she was actually going on a date with Cedric Diggory, he could have anyone he wanted. Why would he want her? Did he have any interest in her, or was he simply interested in her because she was new? Or was there something seriously psychologically wrong with him?

That must be it, she decided. It just didn't make sense that he would even give her a second glance when he had half the school practically throwing themselves at him at all times. Cedric must be under some kind of severe stress and his judgment is being affected. Certainly by Saturday he'll have lost interest. She'd prepare herself to be cancelled on, no big deal.

But then again, he had seemed so genuine. And from all the gossip she had heard about his reputation with women, she had never heard a peep about him being anything less than a gentleman. And what the hell, one date couldn't hurt right? They'd had a good time talking during detention; it was easy to believe that an actual date would go just as well, probably even better.

Racking her brain, the cruel, unfriendly part of her mind tried to come up with something, anything that could justify not going on this date, perhaps trying to save herself from some heartbreak that hadn't even happened yet. There was no doubt she was attracted to him so she couldn't talk herself out of that angle. And he was not one of her closest friends. Truthfully he was ticking all her boxes so far. It was settled then. She was going on a date with Cedric Diggory this Saturday.

A horrifying thought entered her mind. One that she despised to even acknowledge so soon, for fear it would do nothing but plague her mind the rest of the week: what was she going to wear?

She had been so lost in thought that she didn't see George walking towards her until she was colliding face first into his chest and stumbling clumsily backwards.

"Woah," he laughed, grabbing her shoulders to steady her. "Why don't you watch where you're goin' Mento."

"God, I'm sorry George, I was totally spacing out," she laughed sheepishly up to the ceiling, hoping the blush from her interaction with Cedric was no longer visible on her cheeks.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," she rolled her eyes as she passed him, continuing her walk to the Gryffindor common room.

"What'd Diggory want?"

"Huh?" she furrowed her brow looking at him, not following his line of questioning at all.

"Before you plowed into me I saw you guys talking," he had a hint of…something in his eye but for the life of her she couldn't verbalize what that something was.

"I didn't plow into you," she grumbled, ignoring his unreadable smirk. "And we served time together," she grinned softly to herself at her and Cedric's inside joke.

"I-what?" Vivian wished she had a camera to capture the look of absolute confusion on George's face.

"Nevermind. We scrubbed the floor together in detention," she said, unable to stifle the quiet giggle that escaped her. She couldn't help it. She was going on a date with a nice, normal guy, who had no blood vows tying him for life to a vicious magical family - well as far as she knew. It's only expected for a girl to be giddy under the circumstances.

"Don't tell me you fancy Pretty Boy Diggory," George posed the question in a joking tone but the smile on his face didn't quite touch his darkening eyes.

She grimaced, guilt suddenly flooding her veins. They had almost kissed, would have kissed if it hadn't been for Filch intruding. Was it wrong of her to agree to a date with another wizard less than a week later?

They had still not talked about the Astronomy Tower, and while that may have been Vivian's plan all along, she wasn't sure why George hadn't brought it up to her. She had prepared an entire speech for him in case he broached the subject. Speaking points for why they should stay just friends included valuing their friendship too much, not wanting to make things awkward for the rest of the group, and not wanting to jump into a relationship so soon after arriving at a new school among others. Although that last one was probably moot considering she had just agreed to a date with another guy, so she'd scratch that one off her mental list for now.

But, much to her chagrin after hours of thinking up reasons they shouldn't be together, George hadn't even brought it up. In fact, he had been acting as if nothing had happened at all, which was a far cry from what she had expected, considering how much he loved emotional conversations. The guy was a sap for god's sake! As the week went on, she was beginning to wonder if he also wished that nothing had happened (or almost happened) that night. A thought that, admittedly unfairly, stung a bit. He missed out if that was the case, she'd been told she was an excellent kisser.

"I don't even know him, how could I fancy him?" she countered, accenting the word with a posh British dialect.

He scowled at her, not amused by her attempt to lighten the suddenly tense mood.

"There's nothing to know. He doesn't have much going on other than his looks if you know what I mean," he sent her a small glare, shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked.

"I dunno, I thought he was nice," she shrugged. She didn't know what George's problem was. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he almost seemed jealous, which didn't make any sense to her. If he liked her enough to be jealous of her talking to Cedric, then why hadn't he said anything about their near kiss all week? Or why hadn't he made any moves to kiss her again?

It was certainly not for a lack of opportunities. They had found themselves alone together quite a few times throughout the week. A suspicious amount of times. Almost as though a certain few roommates had teamed up in some sort of sadistic plan to give the two of them alone time.

But despite their meddling, George hadn't given any indication that he saw her as anything more than a friend. Other than almost kissing her in the Astronomy Tower nearly a week ago of course. And now this.

"Yeah whatever. Luminous Falcon," he barked at the Fat Lady, who glared at him for his tone but swung open.

"Hey you two," Alicia smirked from her place on the couch when she saw them walk into the common room together.

"How was detention?" Fred asked, shooting a confused glance to George who wordlessly stomped over to the group and threw himself down into the armchair across from him.

"Soul crushing. But at least we only have one more day left," she said as she slid onto the cushion next to Alicia, shooting George her own apprehensive look.

"What did they make you do tonight?" Angelina asked from where she sat in front of the coffee table with Lee as the two looked over the latest issue of Seeker Weekly.

"I had to scrub the entrance hall," Vivian offered, looking over at George expectantly, unsure what his detention had consisted of.

"Polished the silverware," George grunted, not fully looking at her.

"What? I already did that this week! Twice!" she squawked, feeling very affronted. Were her polishing skills really that terrible?

"Yeah well I guess we couldn't all cozy up with Diggory," he finally looked her in the eye only to glare at her. Her jaw dropped slightly as a quiet scoff escaped her. She had never been on the receiving end of a look like this from George. She did not like the feeling at all.

"I wasn't cozying up with him George, we were in detention together," she held his stare, fighting to keep her voice level. The tone of his words had irritated her. Who was he to talk to her that way just for speaking to another wizard? They weren't dating, hell, they hadn't even kissed. There was nothing that said she couldn't talk to Cedric and she didn't appreciate the jealous boyfriend routine from George.

He continued to glare at her for several endless seconds before jumping up from his seat and storming up the stairs to the boys dorms, leaving the rest of the group to stare at each other in a stunned silence at the very un-George-like behavior.

"Uh, right I guess I should go see what that's about then," Fred slapped his thighs as he stood up, following his twin up the stairs to their dorm as the remaining three pairs of eyes turned back towards Vivian.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Lee asked quietly, as if he were worried George would come storming back in any second.

"I don't know," she quickly lied. She may have had her theories, but she had no right telling George's business to other people, despite not being totally sure she was right. He was still her friend after all, even if he was being a dick.

She ignored the continued stares from her friends, opting to focus on retrieving a book from her bag and reading the same paragraph over and over. She couldn't take her mind off the way George had glared at her before leaving the common room, as if he didn't even recognize her.

While she didn't think it was fair for George to be angry at her just for talking to someone else, the guilt of going on a date with Cedric suddenly weighed heavily on her chest, worried that George would be furious with her when he found out, or worse - hurt. He had been an amazing friend to her over the past few months. It pained her to think that she would be repaying him for his kindness with the slap on the face that was going on a date with someone he clearly disliked.

She groaned quietly, earning a questioning look from Alicia. This is exactly what she had been wanting to avoid and exactly why she had been so upset after the near-kiss. The stupid drama of it all was already affecting their friendship and she feared that it was only a matter of time before the entire group dynamic was altered.

She sighed again, feeling the beginnings of a migraine pulse against her temples. She did not have it in her to deal with this right now. With the stress of classes and the ever looming O.W.L exams constantly boring down on her shoulders alongside the exertion she had been putting forth to appear her normal self despite the hollow feeling that had been quietly lingering in her chest since Harry's fall, she had been feeling a level of emotional exhaustion she had never thought possible. Some days it took all her efforts not to crawl back into bed and lay there until the next morning.

She was all but depending on the normalcy of her friends and her routine to keep her sane, with the twins' jokes and Alicia's theatrical complaining sometimes being the only thing to get her to smile all day.

She needed George to be normal with her or she might actually break down. She could only hope she hadn't ruined that by her own impulsiveness and her stupid girlish desire to kiss the cute redhead. She was smarter than that - she knew she was smarter than that. She had just gotten so caught up in the stars, and the dancing, and the way his amber colored eyes twinkled in the moonlight when he gazed down at her.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memory. The last thing she needed to be thinking of right now was why she had almost kissed him. That would only lead to more trouble and more drama that she didn't have the energy to deal with at the moment.

Turning back to her book, she resigned herself to rereading the same page for the rest of the night while she struggled not to think about George, and the fire she had seen in his eyes before storming off.

0-0

George was laying on his bed, staring up at the canopy above him when Fred opened the door with a quizzical expression as he tentatively stepped into the room.

"So that was something," he commented casually as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring at his brother, who did not respond to the unspoken inquiry. "Almost seemed like you were angry at Vivian there."

George scoffed, finally sitting up to glare at his twin.

"Why would I be angry? I don't care what she does," aware that the bitterness in his voice didn't do much for his defense.

"Really?" Fred asked in a tone that made it clear he did not believe him in the slightest. "So you storming away had nothing to do with her and Diggory being in detention together?"

George rolled his eyes, throwing his head back down onto his comforter.

"Bugger off Fred."

He wished his brother would leave him alone. Obviously it had everything to do with her and Diggory being in detention together. He knew it, Fred knew it, Merlin even Vivian probably knew it. It was bad enough that he had allowed himself to think he might stand a chance with her without Fred making him say it out loud.

Fred sighed, coming over to stand next to George's bed.

"Alright, out with it, what's the problem? You talked to her like you said, right?" he demanded, fixing George with a blank expression.

George winced. After a few too many shots of firewhiskey earlier that week, he may or may not have told Fred and Lee that he would talk to Vivian about almost kissing her in the Astronomy Tower. A declaration he had yet to follow through with, mostly due to uncertainty on his part.

For one thing he had no idea where her feelings lay and he loathed the idea of having an awkward and unwanted talk with her, especially considering the fact that she had been acting shockingly blasé about the incident. As though their lips hadn't been centimeters from pressing together, as if her eyes didn't flutter shut when she realized he was going to kiss her.

She frustrated him to no end. He liked to consider himself great, even all knowing when it came to people, but she was unreadable to him. A locked book in a foreign language, written in a code that he had little hope of ever fully deciphering. The inner workings of her feelings for him seemed unattainable now, despite it having been so close to his grasp just days earlier under the stars.

And though he was well versed in improvising and coming up with a plan as he went along, the idea of going into a conversation with Vivian without a course of action worried him. She was fickle, every time he thought she was going to go left, she went right. He feared that even if he went through every possible scenario and outcome, her reaction to him confessing his feelings for her was too uncertain for him to feel his usual confidence.

But he also didn't bring it up because he wasn't entirely certain that his feelings for her were even worth acting on. Despite falling hard for other witches in the past, his infatuations always faded quickly, leaving him bored and, more often than not, hurting an innocent witch's feelings - certainly not something he wanted to do to her. He had grown to value their friendship and her company, and he worried that mentioning the incident at all would make things irreparably awkward. And what if he acted on his feelings, she reciprocated, and he lost interest? That would make him the world's biggest arsehole for sure.

Logical thoughts aside, he had been unable to stop the sharp stab of jealousy that ran through him when he saw her talking to Diggory or when the rotten git put his greedy hands on her. He couldn't shake the desire to ring his neck, long after the Hufflepuff had departed to his dormitory.

"I did not talk to her, no," he said, half annoyed with himself for being too much of a coward to face his affections for her, and half annoyed with Fred for bringing it up again when part of him wanted to forget the entire thing had happened.

Now it was Fred's turn to wince.

"Mate, it's been a week. You gotta do something quick else she'll think you're not interested."

George turned away from him, focusing on changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants. Even if he wanted to do something he had missed his chance.

"It's only been six days," Fred simply frowned at him, not letting his brother escape via joke. "Besides, I think it's for the best if I don't mention it. I don't want to see her get hurt when she falls in love with me," he turned around and flopped back onto his bed with his hands behind his head, working to put a cocky grin on his face and an air of casualty in his voice.

Fred wasn't buying it though. He had seen George pine before but he had never seen him pine. Not like this. Oh Fred, Vivian wasn't at breakfast today I should get her a bagel; Oh Fred, Vivian said the funniest thing about Snape in potions earlier I couldn't stop laughing. Truthfully it was making him sick to see his twin so enamored, but hey, he had a heart - he endured the never ending Vivian talk because he saw that his brother's feelings for the girl went beyond his usual crush. But now George wanted to act like she was the only one at risk of a heartbreak? Not on his watch.

"That's bollocks and you know it. You're just scared."

"Scared? I'm not scared of women, Fred," George scowled at his twin. "I just don't think it would work out between us," he finished with a shrug, trying to ignore the fact that even saying the words out loud made his heart sink.

Fred only stared at him with his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised, his facial expression saying I am going to stand here until you decide to tell me the truth. George could see that he had not convinced him of a single thing. He sighed. It just wasn't fair that he was tied to someone who could read him so easily. He deserved to be able to lie to himself every once in a while, surely. But noooo Fred just had to walk him through his total and utter humiliation at the hands of a tiny blonde witch.

"Besides, she's going on a date with Diggory this Saturday," he mumbled under his breath, almost hoping Fred wouldn't hear.

Fred's eyebrows shot up, as his jaw dropped briefly before he recovered into a wince and his attempt at a placating smile.

"A date doesn't mean anything! She could end up hating him. Once she realizes what an uninteresting dunce he is she'll probably get bored with him."

"I dunno, she seemed pretty ecstatic about him on the way back to the common room," he grumbled bitterly, brooding over the memory of her flushed face giggling when she finally stepped out of Cedric's arms and walked towards him - not that she saw him of course, seeing as she had been so caught up in Diggoryland that she hadn't even noticed his presence until she was walking into him. Her laugh that had always sounded magical to him had been torturous knowing it was another wizard that had incited it.

A cold, possessive thought had consumed his brain as he watched their interaction from under the archway leading towards the kitchens: Mine. She is mine. And despite the reality being that she was not, in fact his, he was angry: at Diggory for asking her out and putting his hands on her and at her for accepting his advances. And while he knew that he was going to have to apologize for snapping at her eventually, he didn't have it in him to stare at her for the rest of the night, knowing that that empty-headed, pretty boy dickhead would be who she thought of before she went to sleep that night and not him.

"She was ecstatic about Pretty Boy because he actually asked her out," Fred replied, clapping his brother on the shoulder with an assessing look. "How's she supposed to know you're an option unless you show her you're an option?" with that he turned towards the bathroom and shut the door behind him. George heard the sound of the shower turning on, ending the conversation.

He groaned, running his hands through his hair. He knew the right answer was just to talk to Vivian and have an honest conversation about what they were both feeling, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do it, no matter how hard he tried. Throughout the past week there had been plenty of opportunities for him to bring it up. Thanks to both of their roommates, they'd had ample one on one time with each other, but no matter how many times George told himself that that would be the time he started the conversation, the words would get caught in his throat, leaving him uncharacteristically mute until he veered back to lighter topics. By the fourth or fifth failed attempt at a heart to heart, George had decided that maybe he wasn't really all that interested in her anyway.

It was beyond frustrating. He was many things, but he was not shy, especially not when it came to women. Rejection had never scared him before, rare in itself, he knew that even if it were to happen, he could easily play it off with a confident smile and shrug; no big deal. He didn't know why the idea of Vivian rejecting him made him so queasy. He had never been scared to be vulnerable before, but the thought of Vivian's kaleidoscope blue eyes boring into him while he bared his heart to her made him want to crawl under a rock and stay there until the end of time.

He sighed, falling back onto his bed. What would showing her he's an option even look like? He was always so awkward around her, all the charisma he normally possessed vanished the second she gave him that look, the deeper look that made him want to squirm, as if she was rooting through his mind and soul.

Fred was definitely right about one thing: he had to do something soon or he was going to blow it permanently. He had to do something soon because Diggory didn't deserve to even look into the ocean that was her eyes, let alone take her on a date to Hogsmeade, and though George wasn't sure if he did either, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't at least try.