The Fool, Upright - Teddy Lupin/Victorie Weasley

Chapter 10: An Eye For An Eye

It was the last week of October, the day of Halloween. Victorie was walking along the first floor corridor, although with some difficulty. She was trying to get past the flurry of excited students, some wearing spooky masks.

She had her hand in her pocket, with a firm grip around her wand. With every Zonko's product known to man having been unleashed, causing a thick shimmery fog to have encompassed the hallway, she found that it was best to keep her wits about her. She even caught sight of some of her uncles' products, the effects of which she knew all too well. Safe to say — she thought it best to blend into the crowd.

Normally Victorie would jump at an opportunity to join in the mischief, but this year she felt somewhat displaced from the whole ordeal. Besides, mischief was a joy best shared with someone, and right now she wasn't entirely sure with whom to share it.

So far two of the teachers' offices had been jinxed. Or so the rumours said. But the school day had only just finished, and they still had a couple of hours before the big Halloween feast was to take place in the Great Hall, an activity that usually sufficed to distract the more mischievous students for at least a few hours, before the real night of horrors began.

Although Victorie's night of horrors was scheduled for the coming day, when the students' Halloween party was going to take place.

See, the feast was more of a show for the teachers rather than an exciting event. What everyone really looked forward to was having an opportunity to properly fraternise with the other houses at the party. Which usually resulted in watching a few Ravenclaws get way too excited and go really crazy; some meaningless dispute to erupt between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin; and every once in a while a Hufflepuff student might end up snogging someone you wouldn't think.

But not all Hogwarts parties were the same, and the roles could just as easily switch, it all depended on the forecast on that particular day.

Up until yesterday, Victorie didn't even believe herself to be going this year. In fact, the party had somehow escaped her considerations up until that point.

Now that she found herself having agreed to attend however, she was determined to make the best of it. What she hoped to avoid was a repetition of what had happened the last time she had been in a social setting.

But her shoes had now dried, and when she arrived at the doorstep of the library, having successfully dodged every Dungbomb and Whiz-bang she'd encountered on her way, she flattened her skirt and defiantly pushed the heavy door open.

It was like stepping into a ghost town. When the door closed behind her, she wondered for a second if she had gone deaf. It wasn't that the library was empty, more so that it was successfully shielded off from the antics outside. She suspected that it had something to do with the fierce Madam Pince, who just then greeted her as she walked in, sitting serenely at her desk as though this was any other day of the school year.

Victorie began to search the aisles for any sign of Teddy, but found only groups of scared looking students hiding out in between the bookshelves.

It was only when she made it all the way into the back of the hall, passing some particularly frightened looking boys who must have been only in their first year, that she saw him sitting at a table opposite them. She felt sorry for the young boys, but knew from personal experience that they would get used to it.

She pushed the thought aside and approached Teddy, who smiled warmly at her upon her arrival.

"Is it bad out there?" He asked, looking her up and down.

A hand of hers self-consciously went for her hair, which she suspected was probably looking more voluminous than usual.

His hair was still black to match his Hogwarts robes, which he had yet to change out of, an unusual occurrence on his part. Hidden behind the warmth he exuded was a slight apprehensiveness, also untypical for the boy in question.