100Thank you guys so much for the positive reviews! You will find out more about the characters, their history and such as the story goes on, but to answer a lot of your questions: Teddy and Vic go at eachother because, well frankly, they can. It's fun for them to get under eachother's skin and since they've known eachother so long they know exactly which buttons to push!
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day at Hogwarts was always interesting for me. Things almost always remained the same, like Peeves drawing inappropriate parts on the decorative cherubs, or Professor McGonagall wearing her red witch hat. You could always count on those little things. You could also always count on Daniella Magnolie's jealous rage.
There were five Gryffindor girls in my year, including myself. My closest mate is Shannon Shears. Shannon is really smart, but she's also daring in the face of danger which made her career choice of becoming an Auror fit her perfectly. Shannon is one of the few girls outside of my family that I felt like I could actually trust and I was grateful to have her.
Then there is Alyssa Canta whose aunt was actually Head Girl when my father was Head Boy at Hogwarts. Small world? Yeah, welcome to the wizarding world in Britain. Everyone is connected. Alyssa has been dating Shawn Meadows, a Hufflepuff in our year, since fourth year and is also prefect so she was never really around.
Dee Listlee is the shortest of all of us with mousey brown hair to match her mousey personality. She's the biggest gossip in the tower—once she finds something out, everyone finds it out. She calls people out on their personal matters on a weekly basis, but Merlin forbid anyone ask her something about her life. Come to think of it, she barely has a life of her own, she's so wrapped up in other people's lives while trying to be the next Daniella.
Ugh. Daniella Magnolie. We got on well right until Valentine's Day of our third year when I was sent multiple bouquets of flowers and she was sent a measly carnation from a nerdy second year Ravenclaw. She went mental, calling me a show off and swore that the only reason I got so many flowers was because I was a tramp who used my 'average' looks to get ahead.
She really should have known better than to mess with a Weasley.
I got a weeks worth detention, but the image of the thorns from all of my roses speeding towards her like the Knight Bus was enough to get me through it. Since then, we have practically loathed each other and each Valentine's Day is a little tougher for her and a little sweeter for me.
"You got so many this year!" Shannon jumped on my bed and motioned to the bouquets of flowers that surrounded my bed (the house elves delivered them in the night). "Oh, come on Vic, let's read them!" She plucked a card from the nearest one. "Dearest Victoire, this bouquet of roses is almost a beautiful as you. Will you accompany me to Hogsmeade? Fondly, Miles Guard, Hufflepuff, Fourth Year."
"Aw, that was sweet, in a way!" I laughed, taking the card and putting it on the desk. I scanned the flowers, there were seven bouquets of red roses, one bunch of daisies and one of lillies. I smiled as I put the vases on top of my dresser and tried to nicely arrange them while still being able to access my makeup.
"Honestly Victoire, what if I had a flower allergy?" Daniella asked, not even trying to cover up the nasty tone of her voice.
"It's a good thing you don't." I simply replied and she scoffed before motioning to Dee to leave the room. I rolled my eyes and dug in my first drawer for the perfect bow to celebrate the holiday. I found a pale pink one and, paired with my pink flats and pink lipstick, I knew it would give my uniform a bit of spirit. I usually didn't wear pink, as it clashed with the scarlet and gold lining on my uniform and crest on my robes, but today was a special day so I made the exception.
"Do you ever get tired of always looking perfect?" Shannon asked, throwing her hair in a messy bun while I neatly pinned mine halfway off my face. I stuck my tongue out at her, something I had picked up from little Lily Potter that my mother highly disapproved of.
"Come on, let's just head down to breakfast." I said and the two of us grabbed our books and headed down the dormitory staircase.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Victoire!" Lyle Nelnick, the chaser for the house team called out from across the common room. I flashed him a smile and thanked him and continued down to the Great Hall.
"How many flowers did you get this year?" Julianne Lockhart asked when Shannon and I sat down. Julianne was niece to the extremely handsome Gilderoy Lockhart and she had inherited his winning smile. She was a seventh year and had quite a reputation, but her sweet personality made sure no one could really hate her.
"Nine bouquets," Shannon answered for me. "It's nauseatingly cute." I laughed it off, just like I always did with Shannon. I didn't want people to think I was stuck up or a snob, but I also didn't want people to think I had self-issues. I was a sixteen year old girl, of course I had self issues, but I wasn't about to let anyone in Hogwarts know about them.
"Beat me again, I only got six this year." Julianne said as she buttered her toast.
"It's cause the boys you leave broken-hearted outnumber the boys you still haven't got to yet." I joked and Julianne laughed good-naturally.
"Hey, at least I give them a decent chance! S'not my fault if they mess it up. Or if I move on. There's no use getting tied down at this young age, you know." She said wisely, biting into her toast. She did have a point there and it's not like any of the guys at Hogwarts were really worth being tied down to. We finished our breakfast and when I stood up, I noticed that Teddy hadn't been sitting with his friends (how they stood him I would never know). Against my own will, I looked around but found him nowhere. Shrugging, I picked up my books, fastened my cloak and headed down to the Herbology greenhouses.
There were only six students in my year that chose to continue with Herbology for the N.E.W.T. level. Samantha Stiles and Kiely Nickel were both Ravenclaws and inseparable, Jackson Cook was a funny Hufflepuff and chaser for their team, Tamara Kendall was another Hufflepuff who had glasses nearly as big as her face and Reid Vipere, a Slytherin who (if you can believe it) was actually one of my close friends. Reid and I loved the subject of Herbology more than anyone else in our year, and the fascination with it had led to our formed friendship this year. He was a typical Slytherin in the sense that he was cunning and kind of a git, but he was also fun to talk to and we enjoyed easy conversation.
"Anyone send you anything good this year?" Reid asked as I sat down on the stool next to him. I rolled my eyes and swung my knapsack onto the table.
"Roses, daisies and lilies. Nice, but not-"
"A bouquet of white peonies?" Reid asked, this time rolling his eyes. We had a two week unit on flowers in the fall and I fell in love with the white peonies. They were simple, but also unique and romantic.
"Alright, well what would you have wanted?"
"Blokes don't get flowers." Reid reminded. "Besides, I'm not in to flowers, remember?"
"Right, it's the dangerous and terrifying plants that interest you." I said, raising my eyebrows. Reid wanted to work with dangerous plants in either extermination or in healing after Hogwarts. I wanted to own a flower shop, though no one except Reid and Shannon knew. I know it doesn't sound brave or heroic, but it's what I want to do. The real trick is figuring out how exactly to do it. I was taking Herbology, Charms and Defense Against Dark Arts as my N.E.W.T. classes, the last two only because I like them a hell of a lot more than Potions or Transfiguration.
"Victorie?" My head snapped up in attention to Professor Longbottom. "Can you describe the pod in a Snargaluff?"
"It is green and about the size of a grapefruit." I answered and, because I knew he knew I wasn't paying attention, flashed him a smile that sealed I would gain points for my house.
"Correct, five points to Gryiffindor! Next week we will be working with Snargaluff's and they are very dangerous so I want you all to read up on them this weekend and write eight inches of parchment about safely using them." He went on into lecture but the class was ended early and Reid and I walked up from the greenhouses back to the castle.
"So did you find out when this ball is taking place?" I asked him. Reid was the prefect for Slytherin and the sixth year prefects had been discussing the possibility of having a ball before the year was over.
"You aren't even supposed to know about that," Reid said and I shrugged. Truth was, I had gotten the information out of the Ravenclaw prefect John Dennison when he and I were on a Hogsmeade date in the beginning of term. The date was nice but nothing special and he and I had only kissed a few times before deciding we were just going to be friends. Well, I guess I was the one who actually made the decision but I wasn't going to lead the poor bloke on! I may be flirty but I'm not a tease.
Or at least I don't think I am.
This would be something I'd have to discuss with Shannon later.
"…so we're thinking about having it in the beginning of April. Kind of like a reward for getting through the winter season." I snapped back to listen to what Reid was saying (what was up with my daydreaming today?)
"It sounds lovely, when will the announcement be made?" As in when can I start shopping for my gown?
"McGonagall just has to approve it, then she'll announce it at dinner I suppose." He shrugged and pushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes. "The real question is how to smuggle adult beverages into the party. Firewhiskey, charmed champagne, elf wine"
"Aren't you a prefect?" I asked with a laugh.
"You're telling me there won't be an after party in Gryffindor Tower after the ball?" He asked sarcastically.
"I don't doubt there will be." Teddy and his other seventh year friends threw parties for everything. "Will the Slytherins be throwing one in the dungeons as well?"
"Of course. And we'll have much higher quality alcohol too." I didn't doubt that either. There was a lot of old wizarding money in that house. We walked for a bit more before parting to go to separate classes. As I walked down the hall to go to Charms, I heard an all-too-familiar voice behind me.
"Alright mate, I'll see you later…oh, look who it is." Against my will I turned around and saw Teddy standing there about to turn down the other corridor but stopping so he could annoy me.
"And it was almost the perfect holiday." I said. Teddy gave me an obnoxiously fake smile.
"Sorry to disappoint."
"You weren't at breakfast." I simply stated. I didn't particularly care about where he was, but it would be interesting to see if he told me.
"Didn't feel well. Full moon last night." Of course. Teddy always got sick around the full moon. Even though he wasn't a werewolf by any means, some of his father's lycanthropy still ran through his veins. I usually made a remark about it being his time of the month. "Such a shame too, I didn't get to send you the bouquet of Devil's Snare I had been longing to send. You could have gotten your admirer number to double digits."
"Pity." I said dryly. "And how did you know how many bouquets of flowers I got this morning?" Teddy shrugged and started to walk backwards.
"I won't reveal my sources."
"Stalker."
"You just never know, Vicky" he said and with a wink, he turned on his heel and headed towards the library. Ugh. What a frustrating piece of dung that boy was.
And what was with the stupid wink?