Victorie finds herself friendless, but the new and popular student decides to help her improve her social status.
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Whenever Teddy used to visit the Weasley's he would listen to Victorie's midnight chats with her cousin from the room next door, an...
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Darkness enclosed Victorie as she sat cross-legged in front of the softly clicking fireplace. Everyone had gone to bed long ago, leaving the Gryffindor common room desolate and undisturbed.
A tired old vinyl record was playing in the background, albeit she was currently questioning why she had even bothered putting it on. It was one of those out of date records Hogwarts supplied their common rooms with. It had been a feeble attempt at creating some kind of mood, but she might as well have put on Witching Hour, given how stale the music was. She decided to leave the music on however, as her task at hand could have no interruptions.
She focused all her thoughts on her past as she shuffled the deck in her hand, feeling every individual card that graced her fingertips.
When the moment felt right, she flipped the topmost card over, placed it on the floor in front of her with conviction and read in a whisper, "The Lovers, reversed."
Her voice faltered at the end, and she pushed away the well of thoughts of Jamie that came over her. She pushed them out of her mind, closed her eyes and felt the deck once again, but this time focused her thoughts on her present and flipped the next card.
"The Devil, reversed." The flames from the fireplace reflected on the glossy card, making the figure on it appear to be moving.
She turned her attention back to the deck and focused finally on her future. She flipped the next card and placed it too on the floor in front of her. It was difficult to read and she had to squint with her eyes to fight the darkness. "The Fool, upright."
In that moment, a stern voice came from behind her. "What's this?"
Victorie swivelled around in a flurry to meet her intruder. It was McGonagall, of course, looking at her critically with her head tilted forwards, peering over her glasses. "You're supposed to be asleep in your dorm. Is this how you suspect to succeed in your studies, by staying up late and partaking in inane leisurely pastimes?"
If the Professor's intent is to make sure students remain in bed, perhaps she should keep her voice down, Victorie wanted to reply. But she supposed it was not the time for talking back to McGonagall. That inane leisurely pastime of hers was to be reserved for class.
So she scrambled for her tarot cards and stood up. With a wave of her wand she had the fire put out, causing a reluctant second of unease at being in total darkness along with McGonagall, before she illuminated her wand, giving herself enough vision to finally notice that, to her surprise, Professor McGonagall was not alone.
Next to her stood a young boy who looked like he could be a seventh-year student, like her. Upon noticing him, the boy looked taken aback. He used one of his hands, previously nonchalantly placed in his pocket, to discreetly fix his hair and sweep his long dark fringe out of his eyes.
So she isn't here to keep me in check after all, Victorie thought to herself.
She returned her gaze confidently back to McGonagall, refusing to seem crestfallen at being caught up at night.
