A Year in the Life

"Back to school," Dominique grumbled as she and her siblings all boarded the Hogwarts Express for their trip back to school. "I swear, Christmas holidays are getting shorter and shorter every year."

"I sometimes do think that they are," Victoire said as she lugged her trunk down the train's corridor in search of a compartment.

"Here's an empty one," Louis said before he slid open the door to a compartment and went inside. Victoire followed him, but Dominique said she'd see them both later and continued down the corridor to find some friends.

"Is Whit coming?" he asked once he had made himself comfortable by window.

"Where else would she go?" Victoire asked. She pulled out a magazine from her trunk before stowing it away. "This is the train to school."

"You know what I meant," he mumbled, glancing out the window. He suddenly started tapping on it obnoxiously.

Victoire watched him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get Jack's attention," he said before he stood and walked towards the door. "I don't think he saw me. I'll be back."

She watched him go before she kicked her feet up on the seats across from her and stretched out. She knew she wouldn't have the compartment to herself for very long, so she'd better to take advantage of the space now. Feeling slightly restless, she flipped open her magazine and started flicking through page after page in search of something interesting to read. She was excited to going back, but at the same time, she was completely dreading everything that she knew to be waiting for her. She wished it could be seventh-year already. Sixth-year could not end fast enough.

The sound of the compartment door opening again made her look up. Jack and Louis were making their way inside, lugging Jack's trunk behind them.

"Hi, Jack," Victoire said as she pulled her feet from the seat she had propped them on.

"Hi," he said with a grunt, and he and Louis pushed his trunk onto the luggage railings. They both laughed once they managed the task, and then they plopped down on the opposite sides of the compartment from each other.

Seeing Jack made Victoire suddenly wonder what was keeping Whit. Whit had kept relatively quiet on the subject of Jack and herself since the night of Victoire's birthday--Louis and Dominique never did get their answers out of her. In fact, if the topic did happen to come up, she'd often change it abruptly to something else. The only information Victoire had managed to get out of her was that that the pair of them had hugged goodnight and said they'd see each other at school.

"Just hugged?" Victoire had asked.

"Just hugged," Whit said in a disconnected tone. "What exactly did you expect?"

"Not really sure," she said as she thought over what she had heard about Jack's dating past. He had briefly dated another girl in his year during their fourth year, but that was the extent of it. She knew nothing of how he usually went about this sort of thing, or of how interested he really was.

"I'm nowhere near as aggressive as you can be," said Whit. "I'm just taking things day by day."

"I'm not aggressive," Victoire said as she thought about the boys she had pursued over the years. There was Malcolm Abernathy, her first boyfriend during her fourth year, but that didn't last very long, and she distinctly remembered him taking the initiative. Then there was David Thorpe at the beginning of her fifth year. In this case, she remembered being far less shy and more confident around him, so perhaps she approached it more actively. Still, she wouldn't consider herself aggressive, per se.

"Is the snack trolley open before we take off?" asked Jack, his voice interrupting Victoire's thoughts.

Louis shrugged. "I'm sure you could find something. Or you could just wait it out until it comes along."

"Want to go and see?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you."

"No, I mean do you want to go and look for me?" Jack joked. They both laughed before they stood.

"You want anything, Vic?" Louis asked.

She shook her head, and the two of them left in search of the trolley. She turned back to her magazine and began to take a quiz that determined "What Kind of Witch Are You?" when she heard the compartment door open once again.

"Hi Vicki," said Natalie once she poked her head inside. "Have you seen your brother?"

"He and Jack went to find the snack trolley," Victoire said, only half paying attention to her. She was trying to determine what her idea of the perfect date was given in the choices in the quiz. Did she prefer a long walk down the beach or a picnic on the mountain side?

"Oh," Natalie said as she entered the compartment and took a seat. Victoire glanced at her quickly. Apparently, she was going to wait here for Louis.

"Is that the newest Young Witches magazine?" Natalie asked after a long silence.

Victoire nodded as she checked off an answer with her quill.

"I read that from cover to cover yesterday," she said, still talking. "I was so bored after I finished packing my trunk."

Victoire smiled politely at her before returning to her quiz.

"I took that quiz," she added. "I got 'Sweetest Witch.'"

Victoire looked up again. Natalie obviously wanted to talk. It wasn't even that Victoire really had anything against Natalie; it was just that she constantly wanted to talk. There was no such thing as a quiet moment when Natalie Young was in a room. The only problem was that, besides Louis, the two had very little in common, and often had very little to talk about. She tended to remind Victoire of a kinder and more thoughtful version of Penelope Shears. Boy crazy, very girlie, slightly dim, and easily influenced by stronger personalities.

"By the looks of things," Victoire said once she flipped to the last page of the quiz, "I'm an 'Independent Witch.'" She paused. "I suppose 'Opinionated Witch' isn't an option?"

Natalie laughed loudly. Victoire wasn't really sure why.

"Hello," said a familiar voice as the compartment door slide open again and Whit stepped inside. "I knew you'd be here first."

"I was wondering what was keeping you," Victoire said.

"You know me," she said as the train's whistle blew loudly to signify its departure. She suddenly screwed her face up and, in a very Colleen Lynch like tone, exclaimed, "I just couldn't be one of the first people here, Vicki. That would have just been pathetic."

Victoire made a horrified face. "That was almost eerily accurate!"

"Who was that supposed to be?" Natalie asked. "I think I know, but..."

"Take a guess," said Victoire as the train lurched forward and began its long trip back to school.

She hesitated. "Colleen Lynch?"

"Ding, ding." Whit smiled. "Glad to see I can do her justice."

"I thought you and Colleen were friends?" Natalie asked Victoire.

She let out a short laugh. "We are--" she took her fingers and made air quotes, "friends."

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked. Just then, the compartment door slide open again, and Louis and Jack reentered. Their hands were empty, which indicated that they clearly hadn't found the snack trolley.

"Hey!" Louis said as he went and sat down next to Natalie. "How are you?"

"Good," she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Victoire smirked. "Aw, how cute."

"Bugger off," he mumbled.

"Louis William Weasley," she said in a very sisterly tone. "That's no way to talk to a lady."

"Good thing you're my sister, then," he said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cards. "Now, who wants to play?"

"I will," Jack said. He casually sat down next to Whit and across from Louis. He turned towards Whit. "Do you want to play?"

"Sure," she said as Louis started dealing between the three of them. Victoire grinned, but said nothing.

"So, wait," Natalie said to Victoire, "you didn't finish telling me why you're not friends with Colleen Lynch anymore?"

Louis snorted.

"It was a long time coming," Victoire said. "I'm tired of the way she treats people." She sighed. "Tired of the way she treated me."

Natalie nodded, but she still looked rather surprised. "I just thought you were rather close."

"We were never really close. We may have seemed that way at times, but trust me, I never trusted her as far as I could hex her."

"Really?" she asked. She sounded genuinely surprised.

"I mean we had some fun times," she said as she stared out the window. "When I was younger and didn't know any better. Funnily enough, hanging around her made me more confident. You'd think it'd be the opposite, what with how she hurts everyone in order to keep herself on top--"

"Rumor has it she likes being on top," Louis joked. Natalie swatted him.

"Anyway," Victoire continued after rolling her eyes at her brother. "One day, I just realized what she was doing, and I got sick of it all. She and I started arguing, and then once I started challenging her more, she got annoyed. It all came to a head last year when she went all out to get back at me."

"What happened?" she asked with extreme interest.

"She started a rumor about Tom Haines and me."

"You mean that's not true?!" Louis joked as he blatantly faked being shocked. Victoire grinned.

"I remember hearing that," Natalie said slowly. "I didn't think it sounded right."

"It never happened," Victoire said. "But Colleen will do whatever it takes to knock down anyone who she thinks is in her way."

"Which means shit is going to hit the fan once this whole Stuart Reynolds thing gets played out," Louis added, throwing several cards onto the ground.

"I'm bracing myself already," Victoire said heavily. "But I just don't care anymore."

"When I was in my third and fourth years, I used to want to be friends with your group so badly," Natalie said with a small smile. "I just thought you were all so fun and popular."

"You're better off," Victoire said honestly.

"How did you all become friends to begin with?"

She sighed. "It's a long story."

"We've got loads of time," Natalie encouraged. Louis groaned.

"Well, in that case," Victoire said as she looked at her brother. She knew it was probably the last thing he wanted to hear recounted, but he was being a smartarse more than usual today. "It all began about three years ago..."

A thirteen-year-old Victoire sat up straighter as she watched three boys enter the library and make their way over to a nearby table. Two of the boys were older, probably fifth-years. The other boy, the one with the dark blonde hair that she'd been noticing all over school lately, she knew he was only a fourth-year. She also knew he was in Ravenclaw, and that he played Keeper for their Quidditch team. She'd seen him last week when they played Slytherin. That was all she really knew about him. She didn't even know his name, although she'd like to.

She smiled a little as she watched them grab a table by the window and laugh about something that was probably very funny. The librarian, Madame Pince, shot them a dirty look from nearby, but they didn't even seem to notice.

"Hi, Victoire," said a girl as she walked by her table and waved.

"Hi," she said brightly. It was funny, really. Ever since her third-year had started, people seemed more and more interested in talking to her. People she didn't even know were greeting her in the halls and at meals. She had wondered if it was because of her haircut--she grabbed the ends of her hair and examined it--but that couldn't have been it. She hadn't really cut that much off over the summer.

The boys over at the far table laughed again. It was an infectious sort of laugh that made her want to laugh, too, even though she had no idea what the joke was. She watched as Madam Pince scolded them for being disruptive. They certainly took notice this time. as they all opened their books and rolled their eyes.

She frowned slightly. She wished the boy with the dark blonde hair would randomly start talking to her in the halls. She slowly began to smile as she pictured how it would go. She would learn his name, and he hers, and then she was sure she would be able to interest him with her witty jokes and comments. She was sure it would be that easy. At least, it was that easy in her head.

"Hey, Vic," said Ted Lupin as he startled her out of her daydream. He plopped down in the chair across from her and grinned. She had to blink a few times to adjust her eyes to him. His hair was an obnoxious shade of bright green today. "What are you doing?"

"Um," she stammered as she glanced down at her open book on the table trying to remember what she had been doing. "Oh, I have to write a ten inch essay on the Goblin Rebellion of 1612."

He made a face. "Fun."

"What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "I have to grab a book for a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay I have to do later. Then I've got Gobstones Club."

"Fun," she said sarcastically.

He shook his head. "You used to love playing Gobstones."

"I still like playing," she said. "Just..." she hesitated, "not enough to join the club."

"Why not?"

"Because it's practically like asking people to laugh at you."

"Nobody laughs at me," he said.

"Not to your face," she said with a smile. "But I'll have you know that behind your back, I'm laughing at you."

"You don't count," he said. "And why do you care what other people think?"

"I'd like people to like me."

"People aren't going to not like you just because you're in a club."

"That's not true," she said, picking up her History of Magic textbook. "Clubs and organizations can often grow larger and more powerful, and if set upon the wrong pretences, terrible things can happen." She flipped to the end of the book and pointed to a specific page. "Look at the Death Eaters."

"I don't think they were a club," Ted said. "And you're really stretching--"

"A group of people with common goals and interests who meet to share and partake in said interests is a club," she interrupted in her best instructional tone. "Just because they didn't call themselves 'The Death Eaters Club' doesn't mean that they weren't, in fact, held to the same standards that clubs are."

He stared at her.

"It's all right here," she said with a playful smile as she held up her book to him.

He shook his head. "Somehow, I don't think that the Gobstones Club is going to grow to try to destroy all of magical society."

"You never know," she joked just as Ted's friend, Simon, came hustling over to the table.

"Hey," he said as he struggled to catch his breath. "You find the book yet?"

"I haven't even looked," Ted said, standing up. "I've been having it out with the queen of debate here."

Victoire laughed.

"Hi Victoire," Simon said with a silly sort of smile. "You look really nice."

"Thanks," she said politely.

Ted stared at Simon before rolling his eyes. "Come on," he said. "Let's go find it already so we can get downstairs." He glanced back at Victoire. "There's still time to change your mind."

She smiled and shook her head slowly. He sighed and followed Simon off into the large shelves of books as she picked up her quill and started scribbling some random facts down about goblins. Ted and his Gobstones...One of these days, he would stop asking her if she was ever going join the Gobstones Club, and that would definitely be the day that--

"You're Victoire Weasley," said a voice as she slowly looked up. Standing in front of her was Colleen Lynch, a pretty and popular fourth-year girl, who, along with her friends, was the group that everyone always talked about. She was Muggleborn and her parents were apparently very wealthy. Her family had a huge mansion house where they threw elaborate parties and--rumor had it--kept a panther as a pet.

"Yes?" Victoire asked, wondering if she was asking her or telling her this.

"I'm Colleen Lynch," she said as she took a seat across from her. "We're in the same house."

She nodded. "I know."

"Of course you do," she said sweetly as two more girls approached the table giggling about something. "Oh, and these are my friends." She pointed to the taller girl with curly hair. "I'm sure you've seen Penelope around the common room as well. And," she pointed the shorter one with dark hair, "this is Aspeth. She's in Slytherin."

"Hi," Victoire said to the pair of them. They both retuned the smile and pulled out the remaining two chairs.

"You don't mind if we join you, do you?" Colleen asked.

She shook her head as Aspeth picked up the front of Victoire's book to see what it was. She made a face as she dropped it back on the table. "Ugg, I hate History of Magic. Binns is such a bore."

"I wish they'd toss him already," Penelope added.

"Can you even toss a ghost?" Colleen asked with a derisive laugh. "They probably don't, because if they hired someone new, they'd have to pay him."

All three girls laughed as Victoire smiled a little. She was still very curious as to why they were sitting with her when there were plenty of open tables. Even stranger still was the fact that they hadn't at all made an attempt to take out any books or parchment from their bags.

"So, Victoire," Colleen said with a smile, "what do you like to do for fun?"

She blinked. She suddenly felt as if she was being interviewed. "The usual stuff, really. Hang out with friends and..." She paused, trying to think of something interesting to say. "Whatever."

Colleen smiled and nodded her head. "That's what we like to do as well."

She forced a smile too, unsure why she should care about that. However, Colleen was one of the most popular girls in school, so she felt almost obligated to listen.

"You seem like a really fun girl," Aspeth added from beside her. "And we're looking for more fun friends."

"You are?" she asked.

"Of course we are," Colleen said. "Who wouldn't want more fun people around?" She looked Victoire up and down. "Plus, you're pretty."

"Thank you," she said slowly.

"You probably are already well aware of that, though," Colleen continued. "We've heard boys talking about you."

"You have?" she asked, intrigued by this comment.

The girls giggled. "You can't blame them, really."

Victoire didn't know what to say to this. She smiled.

"So," she said, "with that being said, we wanted to know if perhaps you'd like to start hanging out with us?"

"Me?" she said. "You barely even know me."

"Which is why we want you to hang around," Colleen said obviously. "So we can get to know you."

Victoire didn't know what to say to this either. Here were some of the most popular girls in school, and they wanted her as a friend? Why her? What had she done that was so special?

"Before you agree to this though," Colleen continued in an almost business like tone, "there are a few things you have to know."

"What do you mean?"

"Guidelines," Aspeth quipped.

"First," Colleen said, "if you are going to start hanging out with us, you've got to always look your best. No jumping out of bed to go to class without fixing your hair and make sure your clothes are always neat and pressed."

"Okay," Victoire said with a nod. That was easy, since she already did that.

"Secondly," she said, "you can't invite anyone to join us unless it's a group decision."

"How do you mean?" Victoire asked.

"What we're doing right now to you," Colleen said, gesturing between her and Victoire, "all three of us agreed to. You can't just suddenly bring someone in without the others' approval."

She thought this was strange. Wasn't friendship something that just happened, and not something that needed to be planned out like a battle?

"Third," Aspeth said, "you can only date boys that are of a certain caliber."

"Caliber?" Victoire asked.

Colleen laughed. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Of course, there are the popular boys who are always acceptable, and after hanging out with us for a bit you'll realize exactly who they are. Then there are the boys with potential, who you can date but you should check with us first."

Victoire arched her eyebrow skeptically.

"Then," Colleen said with a heavy breath, "there are the boys who are completely unacceptable and..." She paused and laughed. "If you don't know who they are already, then we've got loads of work to do with you."

"So, I can't just go out with whom ever I want?" she asked.

"Trust us," Penelope said. "Once you start hanging out with us, the only boys you'll want to date are the ones that are acceptable."

"Exactly," Colleen said before she turned and looked around the library. "Do you see that table of boys over there?" She pointed to the table where the Ravenclaw boy with the dark blonde hair sat.

"Yes," Victoire said, staring straight into the back of his head.

"Those are the acceptable kinds of boys," she said with a smile. "And..." She turned around and started scanning the library. At that very moment, Simon appeared from the shelves with a book in his hand.

"That one," Colleen said pointing directly at him. "The pudgy Hufflepuff one? He's the unacceptable kind."

Victoire didn't know what to say to that. Simon had always been very sweet to her, but she couldn't stop thinking about the boy with the dark blonde hair. Could being friends with these girls get him to notice her?

"Why is the kid with the funny hair staring at us?" Aspeth asked.

Victoire turned away from the Ravenclaw boy to where Aspeth was looking. Ted was looking directly at her with a look of utter surprise and confusion on his face. It almost looked as if someone had hit him upside the head with a Bludger. She knew it was because of her current company.

"Everyone stares at us, Aspeth," Colleen said without turning around.

"Yes, but it's an odd look," Aspeth said. Colleen turned to see for herself.

"Oh, he's my friend," Victoire said. "He's probably just surprised to see me..." She stopped short of saying, 'with you girls.'

"You're friends with the funny-haired kid?" Colleen asked.

"His name is Ted."

"Right," said Colleen in an uninterested tone.

"Isn't he Harry Potter's godson or something?" Penelope asked. "I thought I heard that somewhere."

"Is he really?" Colleen asked, turning around to look at him once more. By now, he had turned away and followed Simon to check their book out.

"Yeah, he is," Victoire said. "I've known him my entire life through Harry Potter. He's my uncle."

"That kid is your uncle?" Penelope asked.

Colleen's eyes rolled heavily into her head. "I think she meant Harry Potter was her uncle."

"Is he really?" asked Aspeth.

"I thought Harry Potter was an orphan?" Penelope said. "How do you have nieces and nephews if you're an orphan?"

"He married my dad's sister," Victoire said obviously.

"Ohhhh," Penelope said, nodding thoughtfully.

"Well, I guess the kid with the weird hair has something going for him, then," Colleen said with a quick laugh.

"His name is Ted," Victoire corrected once more.

Colleen stared at her, apparently amused by her spunk. "At dinner tonight, come and sit with us."

She stared at her. She was weighing the pros and cons in her head of becoming friends with these girls. On one hand, they didn't seem to be able to see past people's appearances, and they often judged them based on their looks alone. On the other hand, they were popular and commanded a lot of respect around the school.

At that moment, the boys from the far table stood up and started gathering their things. As they started to walk out, one of them detoured and made his way over to their table. The other two followed.

"Hey, girls," said the one with dark hair as he passed by and smiled.

"Hi, Tobias," Colleen said, smiling. "Hi, David. Hi, Stuart."

"Hey," said the other two boys, including the dark blonde one. The one standing next to him stopped and pointed straight at Victoire.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Oh, this is Victoire," Colleen said with a glance from him to her. "She's a third-year and our new friend."

"A third-year?" he asked with a laugh. "I would have at least pegged you for a fourth-year."

Victoire blushed.

"That's David," Colleen said as she watched Victoire's face with amusement. "The taller one is Tobias, and this one," she playfully grabbed and the dark blonde one's arm, "is Stuart."

"Hi," Stuart said with a friendly smile. Victoire was suddenly very happy she was sitting down.

"So, dinner then?" Colleen asked Victoire once more.

Victoire managed to tear her eyes away from Stuart to Colleen again. She stared at her blankly for just one moment. "I'll be there."