C H A P T E R 110
"Wait, you did what?" Fred spoke as the group met up for dinner.
"Yeah, repeat that," George added, his eyes wide with shock. Lee, Angelina, and Alicia were too surprised to speak so they just sat there with gobsmacked expressions.
"I broke up with Marcus."
"Why?" Alicia asked very slowly.
Samantha told them about Marcus being a spy and then dove into a shortened version of what her and Harry spoke about this morning.
"Wow," Angelina breathed. "So he knew?"
Samantha nodded slowly. "Since Christmas break."
Fred clenched his teeth and curled his fists. "I knew it. That no good, rotten slimy snake--"
"Fred--" Samantha started. She knew this would be the reaction of Fred Weasley.
"Now I'm not going to say I told you so, Samantha, but this was coming. Just a matter of time before that filthy scum broke your heart," Fred spat. " we should've never trusted him. He's been phony since day one. I'm going to hex him into--"
George cut in. "Fred, stop. I understand your care for Samantha, we all do, but she can handle herself and do what she needs to do. She knows we'll support her if she wants it."
Samantha gave George a thank you look. "I very much appreciate all of your support and you better believe I will call on you all if I need some back up. It was something I didn't want to do but I had to."
"Right," Alicia replied. "Clearly the timing is not right and clearly your relationship could've caused problems for the future and what's to come."
"If anything, what Marcus said was that his being used as a pawn to get to me was inevitable, and he didn't want to but he had to. Maybe after the war is over...when this nonsense is done with and we don't have to pick sides," Samantha spoke with a sigh. She then added two more scoops of mac and cheese on her plate. Right now she needed some comfort food to heal her broken heart.
"Absolutely not," Fred quipped. "If he can't show his loyalty and where his true intentions lie now, then there's no way he can after all of this is over. I'm sorry, Samantha, I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I agree with Fred," Angelina added. "You can do way better than him. You DESERVE way better than him."
"At least pretty boy Diggory didn't keep secrets from you," Fred said, his eyes lingering to the Hufflepuff table.
Samantha rolled her eyes. "No need to remind me that my secret keeping ruined that relationship."
"I'm merely saying, I will support your decision in the end, but it's going to take a lot to convince me that you should go back with Marcus. I'll fight tooth and nail to show you that there's someone out there who's better for you that doesn't come with filthy baggage and toxicity."
"Same here, Samantha," Angelina continued. "You know you're my best friend, but leave Marcus behind. Time to move on. You're at the center of all of this and you're going to need someone you can rely on and trust. Definitely not always wondering what his real intentions are or what true motive he has."
Samantha nodded slowly at Fred and Angelina's words. She took in all of their opinions and rubbed her eyes in distress.
"So this means you're back on the market," Lee chimed in lightheartedly, wanting to change the subject. "Once all of Hogwarts catches wind, there will be a line of men wanting to crack on you."
Samantha rolled her eyes. "And I'll deny every one of them. I'm going to take the next coming weeks to focus on myself, my friends and family, Quidditch, and the tournament. If something like that wants to happen naturally then I won't be opposed...and unfortunately there isn't anyone else at Hogwarts that I would go for."
They spent the rest of dinner chatting about their group bonding the next day and Samantha was very excited. She was very much looking forward to quality time with her best friends and starting the breakup healing process. Even though she was the one who did the breaking up, it still hurt because nothing hurts more than something not working out when you want it to so badly.
"Time to go sit in and listen to more people talking to me," Samantha grumbled. "I'll see you guys after the meeting."
"Have fun!! Take lots of notes!" Fred commented with a wink.
Samantha shook her head in annoyed amusement as she got up to head towards the entrance hall and the nearby corridor where the room was.
"Hey," a voice called out as she neared the door. Samantha turned and saw Viktor walking up to her.
"Fancy meeting you here," Samantha commented with a grin.
Viktor laughed and the two walked up the door. Viktor held it open for her and upon walking inside, they were met with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Ludo Bagman, Cornelius Fudge, Madame Maxime, and Karkaroff.
"Two out of four already, splendid!" said Bagman upon seeing Samantha and Viktor step inside and approach them.
Samantha smiled politely at everyone and then her gaze lingered on Bagman for a few moments. They made eye contact and Samantha raised one of her eyebrows at him, almost as if they were speaking to each other nonverbally. Bagman bit his lip and then broke eye contact by clapping his hands together and looking towards the door. Fleur and Harry walked in and joined them.
Fudge looked around and nodded at everyone. "Now that we're all here, let's start. This meeting will be very brief but I just wanted to make sure we're all caught up to speed on recent events and make sure everyone is on the same page. From what we've gathered, Crouch Jr acting like Moody did in fact charm the Goblet but that's all of the actual tampering he was able to do. We found out that he did not provide direct help nor do any tampering during the actual tasks. He may have given Harry slight advice on playing to his strengths but was told that Harry came up with his idea on his own, as well as acquiring the Gillyweed. Mr. Potter, now where did you get it again?"
Harry looked up at him. "A house elf gave it to me. Not Crouch."
"See, there you all have it. I see no reason for the tournament to cancel or change the original plans. Does anyone else have any objections or anything else to add?"
Everyone looked around and no one spoke. Samantha suspected because no one really wanted to be there. Crouch Jr knew what he was doing and how to be crafty doing it. There was no way he would've left any trace he did any more helping and everyone there knew it.
Fudge nodded once and then spoke again. "It was revealed to Harry and Samantha from Crouch Jr what the third task is going to be so Ludo, if you could fill Mr. Krum and Ms. Delacour on the details."
Ludo smiled widely. "Gladly, Minister." He turned to the two of them. "So the third task is taking place on June 24th, one week before term ends. We were going to reveal the details a month before but obviously things have changed. The task will be a maze...but not just any old maze. It will have riddles, challenges, and other obstacles to overcome. The Cup will be placed in the middle and the one who touches it first will be named the winner. Now there are a few more details but those can wait until the actual day of the task. Are there any questions?"
Viktor and Fleur shook their heads. Fudge spoke again. "I know that this is a stressful time for everyone but try to push through it. We all have full faith in you four."
The four champions nodded in thanks. "Perfect, then I think that settles it then," Fudge commented and then turned to pack up his things. "You are all free to go."
Viktor and Fleur both went towards Samantha to try and talk with her before she left. Viktor noticed and then let Fleur go first. "We can chat afterwards, Samantha," he said as Fleur went up to her.
Samantha nodded at him and then greeted Fleur with a smile. "How are you, Fleur?"
"Very well, zank you very much. I wanted to chat with you for a moment, if zat eez ok."
She smiled. "Of course it is, what's going on?" The two sat down on the chairs in the room they were in as everyone else started to file out.
Fleur grimaced before speaking. "Forgive me for asking zis, but as a fellow woman, you'll understand. You hang out with zose red headed people, right? You know zem well?"
Samantha raised an eyebrow. Red headed people? What? The only people with red hair she knew of were the.... "You mean the Weasleys?"
"Oh eez zat their family name?" Fleur asked, blue eyes shining.
Samantha nodded. "Yes, what about them?"
"I am inquiring about ze tallest one, with ze longer hair. He has been to both of ze tasks but I got to see him up close during ze second task. I saw you talking with him so I zought you would know him," Fleur spoke with a friendly smile.
The tallest Weasley with the longer hair. That was definitely Bill. Samantha smiled. "Yes, I do. That's the oldest, Bill, short for William."
"Bill," Fleur repeated. "Do you happen to know if he eez with anyone?"
Samantha thought for a moment. "I actually am not one-hundred percent sure. I don't think so as I've never heard him talk about currently dating anyone."
"Splendid," Fleur spoke. "Could you introduce me at ze third task then?"
An incredulous look appeared on Samantha's face and then she laughed lightly. "Of course I can."
Fleur smiled brightly exposing her perfectly straight and white teeth. "Zank you so much!"
"You're welcome. Bill is great. Very funny and kind," Samantha said, loving that this could be the beginning of something.
"Wonderful."
Samantha admired Fleur very much in this moment. To see someone she found attractive and to inquire more about them. "I greatly admire you for this, Fleur. To just go right after what you want. You'd definitely get sorted into Gryffindor."
Fleur laughed airly. "Well if I won't go after what I want, zen someone else will and I could miss out. Live life boldly, Samantha. So if you see someone you want, go right after zem."
Right now, Fleur was giving Samantha proper life advice and she couldn't pass up the opportunity. "But what about waiting for the guy to pursue me?"
Fleur waved her hand dismissively. "Zat eez rubbish and old-fashioned. Women are strong and can make zings happen for zemselves. If a man wants to come to you, zen he will and allow him to pursue you. But if you see a man you like, zen go after him. I am not getting any younger."
Why Samantha has not had more conversations with Fleur, she'll never know. She made a mental note to try and converse with her more. "You're absolutely right. Thank you for this amazing advice."
"Absolutely. Anything I can do to help a fellow woman know how strong she eez," Fleur spoke and then stood up. "It was great chatting with you, Samantha."
Samantha stood up as well and they headed towards the door. "It was great chatting with you too. I'll keep you updated with information on Bill. We're going over to his family's house for Easter break in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to invite more people but if you and Gabrielle wanted to come."
Fleur nodded slowly. "Zank you. I will zink about it and let you know."
Outside the door, Samantha spotted Viktor leaning against the wall, waiting for her. She bid Fleur goodbye who left the entrance hall and probably back to the Beauxbatons carriage. "Finally," Viktor grumbled as he walked over to her. "What were you two talking about that took so long?"
Samantha grinned. "Very important things, you wouldn't understand....girl stuff."
Viktor furrowed his eyebrows. "Right, well anyways, I wanted to chat with you. It's been a few days."
"You're right, it has been a few days...stressful few days," Samantha said with a sigh.
"Marcus told me what happened," Viktor cut in, looking directly at her.
"Oh, I figured," Samantha bit her lip and continued. "How is he doing?"
Viktor shrugged slightly. "Alright, I suppose. He's not sobbing or raging or anything like that. He's continuing to go about his business."
She nodded while Viktor continued. "How are you doing then?"
"Fine, not too bad. Thankfully I have Quidditch to calm my nerves and settle my overactive mind a bit. Luckily we have a great team so Quidditch gets to be more of an escape rather than more stress."
"Who do you play next weekend again?"
"Slytherin. They beat Hufflepuff by actually not that many points and we beat Ravenclaw who lost to Slytherin by a huge amount. So if Hufflepuff beats Ravenclaw, then they'll have to beat Slytherin if they want to face us in the Championships. This is assuming we'll beat Slytherin, of course."
"So if you win, then you're in the Championships?" Viktor asked.
Samantha nodded. "Yes, since we'll have beaten everyone else."
"Good, I will be there to watch and support."
Samantha looked up at Viktor and raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok? You seem a bit...off."
Viktor shrugged slightly. "I'm fine."
"Right, well I should go--"
"Do you think you made the right decision?" Viktor instantly cut in.
Samantha thought for a moment. "With Marcus...I wouldn't say it was the right decision. It was more like the best decision. Why?"
"I just think it was pretty rash."
"Rash? Why would you think that?"
"From what Marcus said, you guys really didn't talk about things. You just made your decision," Viktor explained.
Samantha frowned. "So? Am I not allowed to make my own decision? For your information, we did talk about things. Then I made a decision. I allowed him to explain." Viktor made a poor decision to talk about this with Samantha after she just had an empowering conversation with Fleur.
"I thought it was rash. You guys have been through a lot and it seems silly to throw it all away over one conversation, don't you think?"
"Throw it all away? Viktor, why would you even think I would want to do that!? Did he also tell you what he did?" Samantha questioned, her tone becoming more and more irritated by the passing minute.
Viktor nodded. "Yes, he did. A bit of shock to me but I understood why he was put in the position he was. I'm merely saying that you're a little stubborn--"
Samantha scoffed. "You don't think I don't know that by now? Of course I know I'm stubborn. Of course I know I'm hard headed and do things irrationally yet I also overthink myself to death. You should know that I've thought about and have been thinking about this for a few weeks now. I'm sorry that I'm not updating you on every little detail and thought of my relationship," she spoke in a quick and sharp tone. Samantha usually wasn't the one to cause conflict, or at least she didn't try to. But right now, in this stressful time, any disagreeing comment was going to set her off. She was tired, annoyed, and wanted to go to bed.
Viktor bit his lip and stayed silent while he listened to her speak. He opened up his mouth but Samantha cut him off. "I don't need your approval on anything, Viktor. I'm sorry. I know you don't have ill intentions but what's done is done, no matter what you think. I'll see you in Potions on Monday," And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked up the stairs back to Gryffindor Common Room.
• • • • •
The next week flew by which Samantha was thankful for. She had a great time at Hogsmeade with her friends and she was able to take her mind off of things. Stocking up at Honeydukes was also always a way to put a smile on her face.
Monday at Potions was much more awkward because of the way Samantha and Viktor left things from their last conversation. They made their memory potion in silence and only speaking when necessary. Samantha was hoping Viktor would apologize or try and see where she was coming from but to no avail. It's not that she wasn't listening to what he was saying, she was more annoyed that Viktor wouldn't at least acknowledge why she did what she did. People can disagree and have their own opinions, but people also need to respect and understand opinions that differ from their own.
Maybe she overreacted.
She knew he cared for Marcus, he was one of his best friends, so she knew he would defend him and support him. Samantha just hoped that he would also defend her too. From that conversation her and Marcus had, it definitely was more mutual and amicable than it being one sided. It was not like Marcus was begging and pleading with her. From the look in his green eyes, it was almost as if he knew it was coming....and had already accepted it.
Her other classes throughout the week were also not that eventful. Each week Samantha had always looked forward to Astronomy Thursday night because that was the time for her to get lost in the stars and not feel so "important." There was a whole galaxy around them and Samantha didn't mind feeling so small, for a change.
Before she knew it, it was Friday evening and was currently setting up for Quidditch practice. They had practiced the whole week to ensure their victory over Slytherin. Two days they spent on game plan, two days for game play, which led to Friday being just for flying. Samantha liked to have the night before a match and a weekly practice be just for flying and working on technique. Oliver had done this and it really helped during matches because they could work together as a team.
It especially worked for the Chasers and Beaters. Samantha, Angelina, and Alicia had to be the most in sync and their flying sessions always helped them improve their in game chemistry. If the Chasers were flying their best and were sharp doing it, then it would make Fred and George's job easier because then they would know exactly where to hit the Bludgers and where not to hit them.
Oliver would also turn the pitch into a basic obstacle course. They would fly in a line and weave in and out of the hoops and through the stands to work on speed and swiftness. Better flyers always brought out the better Quidditch players and would always make up if their aim was a little off. Oliver made sure that if they weren't going to be the best that day, they still had to be the most athletic. Of course flying was the most important aspect of Quidditch so if they could master that, then they would be golden.
Samantha always loved flying so it was no problem to keep these practices alive. After a few laps and creating sharp turns around the stands, they would end practice doing high and low dives, and then take a victory lap around the castle for fun. The castle also had towers they could zoom around and practice as well.
As soon as Samantha saw the Irish play and how well they flew, she was determined to get her team as close to them as they could. She also wanted to master some of the flips Viktor performed when he was introduced.
Needless to say, after months of trying to do some cool flip in the air, she barely is able to do different ones. It was hard to balance not falling with the speed you're travelling at as well as having to land perfectly back on your broom. Even with Viktor coming to one of their practices last term to show her was not enough for her to completely master it. Samantha decided that she would just wing it and maybe try it during the Championship match.
It was easy to instruct her team what they were doing because everyone had done it countless times by then. Samantha led while Ron trailed. As keeper, he didn't need to do as much flying so he could trail and be as sharp as he wanted to be. Luckily, Ron loved flying and building his skills so he always kept up with them. Samantha and Harry would also give each person a chance to practice on their Firebolts so they could work on a faster broom. The twins would use Harry's while Angelina and Alicia would use Samantha's.
An hour passed and they were nearly finished. It was starting to rain a little towards the end so by the time they had finished their last few laps, they were nearly soaked. Paired with the dust that would come from flying in the wooden beams of the stands, they were all sweaty, slightly dirty, and in need of a shower. Samantha packed up the Bludgers they used for the last few laps to draw in some action and was ready to bring them back to the shed.
"Good job, guys!" she said with a wide smile. "We're going to smash it tomorrow! You all flew beautifully and I know we'll use our different game plans to ride to victory!!"
"Yeah," Fred chimed in. "We're going to destroy those slimy rotten snakes!"
"You guys better!!" a deep voice called out from the ground level entrance way. The figure stood there for a moment and when they all turned, they started to walk towards them. It was clear it was a man as soon as they started walking.
"Who is that?" Angelina asked, slight worry in her voice.
"I dunno," Samantha responded as she gripped her wand in her pocket, just in case.
The man came closer and closer and when they were only about twenty yards away, Samantha heard Fred, George, and Ron all gasp in excitement and then rush towards him.
Samantha, Harry, Angelina and Alicia all looked at each other oddly before watching the three Weasleys greet the person with a hug. The man then joined them and was walking towards the rest of the lot.
As he got closer and closer Samantha could make out some physical features better. He was a little bit taller than Fred and George and had a very muscular build. Samantha could tell from the black t-shirt and dark wash jeans he was wearing.
Finally he was ten feet away and Samantha's jaw almost dropped. She knew who he was but she was surprised that it wasn't instant recognition because she had seen him only two weeks prior. But this time, his shoulder length wavy mane was chopped off to a nice pile of windswept curls that lay perfectly on his head. His beard was cleaned up to a rough stubble which accentuated his sharp jawline.
Samantha could feel her cheeks start to heat up, because here she was checking out Charlie Weasley. And here she was looking and smelling like a wet dog.
I just thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter :)
Thoughts? ;)
Comment your predictions and what you guys think!! Please vote and follow if you want!!
Fleur is a queen, I love her so much!
Oh and here's how I've always pictured Charlie looking because the books nor the movies give an accurate description. What do you guys think? Can I call a swoon alert?!?
Charlie Weasley // 22 yrs old
(Richard Madden)
Until next time!
<3 Samantha