Plans
The pale blue light of pre-dawn greeted Victoire as she stirred within her four-poster bed. She stretched taut, the smoothness of her silken blue sheets gliding against her bare legs beneath her nightgown. She bit down on her lip remembering last night's events.
Her and Link's charged encounter last night had made her feel so alive. She could already tell that their sexual chemistry was unlike anything she'd ever experienced, and she desperately wanted to explore their potential more.
At breakfast, Victoire made herself a bacon sandwich and sipped on her coffee as she listened to Jade recount everything that happened at the party after she left. Vic's attention immediately shifted as Link sat across from her. He grinned wickedly as he saw the remembrance of what he'd done to her last night in her eyes. She found that she loved being at his mercy - even if he was cruel to deny her her orgasm. She held back a laugh as she remembered assuming he would be as gentle and sweet as his demeanor in the sack; if last night was anything to go by, he held a darker side to him that she found she liked very much. His green eyes seemed to sparkle with the promise of making her come for him at a later date - on his terms.
She bit her lip, completely tapped out of Jade's story as she stared at Link. By Merlin, he was stupidly, classically handsome. She sipped her coffee to give her mouth something to do as Jade finished wrapped up her story.
"So me and my new hunky himbo are going to Hogsmeade together next weekend," Jade squealed.
Victoire's heart dropped as she remembered the first Hogsmeade weekend coming up. She immediately thought of Teddy and her heart felt as though it were being squeezed. He hadn't asked her to meet with him, and she couldn't decide if that hurt more than it would to hang out with him knowing he didn't feel the same way about her.
Vic slapped on a fake smile, wanting to appear pleased for her friend. "That's great, Jade! I'm so glad you met someone you like."
"How about you and Kit, though, hmm? You two seemed to be getting on well yesterday," she said, her brows wiggling suggestively.
"He's surprisingly funny, once you get past his general...Kit-ness. I didn't mind his company."
"He must be into you. Why else would he invite us?"
Vic shrugged. "Even if he is into me, I don't think he's the type to be taken seriously. I doubt he stays interested in anything long enough for his attentions to be taken with more than a grain of salt. He probably just wants me to be his new flavor of the week, considering he's tasted almost every other girl in this school. I can't say I care to be in his collection."
Link made a noise of approval as he stabbed his eggs.
Vic skimmed through the Daily Prophet, a gasp escaping her as she read the headline Missing Muggleborn from Dufftown Attack Found.
"They've found the muggleborn from one of the recent attacks," she murmured, reading part of the article aloud. "Muggleborn Kieran Dillon, 45, was reported found yesterday in a stable state in a cave outside of Hogsmeade. He is expected to make a full recovery despite evidence of his recent memories being tampered with. Dillon, a prosecutor responsible for placing multiple death eaters in jail, was attacked by a group of masked individuals outside his home in Dufftown. The last event that Dillon remembers before his disappearance was being disarmed while the group of disguised wizards took turns abusing him with various dark spells. Aurors are investigating the case further, and anyone with information is invited to share what they know."
Link and Jade frowned. "Has Teddy mentioned any updates on the situation to you?" Jade asked gently.
Vic's stomach sank at the sound of his name spoken aloud. She felt so pathetic - just his name being said was enough to make her body respond. She prayed that her friends couldn't tell just how much it devastated her to say, "No. I haven't heard from him at all."
She chanced a glance at Link who looked at her sadly. She knew that Link could tell she always had an unrequited love for Teddy. They'd never spoken about it, but they shared many knowing looks and subtleties. There was no jealousy in his expression as there was whenever Kit was mentioned. He seemed to intuitively grasp the delicacy of the situation and Vic appreciated that so much. Getting over a life-long crush on Teddy Lupin wasn't going to be an overnight process; and she didn't want to be exclusive to anyone until she was completely over Teddy. It wouldn't be fair to a potential partner; nor to herself to be in an exclusive relationship while part of her mind and heart belonged to an impossible fantasy of Teddy still. If things continued the way she'd like them to with Link, she'd make sure to communicate these things to make sure they were on the same page. But for now, his understanding look seemed to communicate it all as he asked, "Since Jade is going with her, er, "hunky himbo," to Hogsmeade...would you like to go with me?"
Victoire smiled widely, genuinely - she enjoyed Link's company as a friend and more would be happy to pass the day with him. A day with him would certainly soften the blow of being snubbed by Teddy. "I'd love that."
Jade appeared to catch on to something more brewing between them and couldn't help herself. She whispered to Vic, "Link's wit is a little too keen for my taste, but our friend is certainly a tasty little morsel, isn't he?"
Vic snorted, wrinkling her nose. "Please don't ever say that again."
"Fine, fine. All I meant to say was that I'm happy to see you get back out there and forget about Teddy a bit. You deserve to have some fun, Vic."
Vic smiled at her friend, grateful for her encouragement. The three of them reached Divination class, and Jade gasped as she noticed she forgot to complete the last part of her star chart.
"Can I copy off of one of you? Did you finish?"
"Yeah, did you finish, Victoire?" Link asked innocently, though his wide green eyes twinkled with mischief at his implied innuendo.
"The star chart, yes," Victoire emphasized, heat coloring her cheeks as she pouted at Link. He really was cruel, taking his hand away from her when she needed him so much. Next time, he'd give her what she wanted - good girls are given rewards, but bad girls just take what they want. And she was looking forward to the next power play between them.
***
Potions class had become Vic's least favorite recently due to the frigid silence between her and Salvatore. They hadn't spoken a word to one another since they last bickered, and Victoire was far too stubborn to break the silence between them. Usually thing rolled off her, so she wasn't sure why she was so effected by Salvatore's rejection of her. It wasn't like she put herself out there for him, but she had found him interesting, stimulating, and smolderingly attractive. She supposed she had one too many bad boy fantasies about him that upset her to let go of. But whatever - he was weird anyway. Who pushes people out like that? People with things to hide. And Vic really didn't need anything complicated right now.
The evening before the first Hogsmeade day of the year, Vic made her way towards the Great Hall alone. She strolled past the one-eyed witch statue on the third floor and was thinking about Salvatore just as she spotted him ahead of her in the corridor. She stayed quiet, watching his next move as he turned up instead of down. Why wasn't he heading to dinner? Whatever. Not her problem.
During dinner, owls flew overhead delivering the evening post. A small brown owl delivered an envelope to Vic, who was surprised to be receiving mail this soon into the year. As she read the note inside, her heart dropped into her chest. In Teddy's small, neat scrawl, he wrote, "Meet me tomorrow at the three broomsticks at three. Can't wait to see you."
Her heart thundered in her chest as she reread the last line over and over again. He wanted to meet her after all. He seemed to be demanding it, actually. He didn't ask her to meet - he told her to.
Link cocked his head to the side as he glanced at her holding to letter. She gave it to him to see and he looked disappointed.
"Will you come with me?"
He looked confused. "You mean, be there with you when it's time to meet with him?
"Yeah, since we'll be together all day, I won't be ditching you just because he's summoning me. We have a date, after all."
Link beamed at her reassurance. "We sure do, beautiful. I'll be there. Much to his annoyance, I'm sure."