The absent one... [Vicky]

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

Life for Victoria Potter had certainly changed within the last few months. After all the stupid decisions she had made no one could have predicted that she would have found happiness, with of all people another Hubbles. Vicky had been down a really bad road before now, drinking like crazy to the point where she would be considered by most a total drunk. Added to that she was also having an affair with a married colleague. Vicky didn't even know who she was anymore and it oftentimes scared her silly. Then something happened that caused her life to turn around she met someone a truly genuine someone who showed her that love was actually possible. Meeting Warren had changed things around for the better. Vicky was happier than anyone should have any right to be.

The fact that she said she wanted to g to Tahiti and he said they could go showed how much he cared for her. He could have easily said no but instead he agreed and this caused her to grin biting her bottom lip to keep from squeeing in glee. This is the way things should be between a man and a woman.

His kiss caused her to shiver in delight as her hand came to rest on his knee. "I think that going to Tahiti sounds like a pretty good idea the weather would be a lot nicer and I would certainly love to see you in your new bathing suit or perhaps out of it" she teased. "Plus I have a bikini you might like" winking at him she kissed his cheek.

As Warren popped up and got out his suitcase Vicky giggled at him "Excited aren't you?" she teased "fill it with warm weather attire then my love because the beach in Tahiti it is."

[Warren Hubbles]

There was not much that Warren could say to describe how he was feeling at that very moment in time. He merely stood there with his suitcase in his left hand staring at the beautiful creature that was sitting on his little tatty sofa. He listened closely to every single word that past through those perfect lips, those lips that he just wanted to kiss…but that urge had to be pushed aside as he had more important things to take into account, he had a holiday to plan! It seemed that Tahiti was on the cards and he could not help but grin and the glee that Vicky had at this news was just too much and Warren could not help but chuckle. However as the Charms Professor mentioned the possibility of wearing a bikini it would have been a lit to say that Mr Hubbles did not go a little weak in the knees.

“T-that sounds p-perfect.” He stuttered as he started to get a little hot under the collar. “Wh-what colour is it?” Maybe this was not the best question to ask at the present moment in time, but he needed to get the image just right in his head and the colour of the bikini was an important part of it all. As his beautiful girlfriend continued to talk the smile just got wider on his face and Warren could not help but chuckle at her reference at being ‘excited’ … that really was one way of putting it.

But in all honesty he was excited; it had been too long since Warren had had a holiday, and one in the sunshine of foreign shores at that! The thought of lying down on golden sands with Victoria Potter sounded like a dream, and a dam good dream at that. “Of course I am excited.” Warren answered her softly; dropping the empty suitcase on the floor and making his way back over to the sofa and his love. “I will get to spend glorious days with you.” His hand gently swept Vicky’s hair away and lightly pressed his lips against hers.

As he pulled back his hand gently caressed the side of her cheek as Warren looked Vicky right in the eyes. His heart was still pounding in his chest at the prospect of the holiday and Vicky in a bikini but he would not let his emotions overcome him and instead he tried to keep the moment as romantic as possible. “I think you had best head to the castle and get yourself some clothing Miss Potter.” He teased her before glancing at the silver watch on his left wrist. “I think we should meet back here in 1 hour, give you time to pack, get ready and sort out your affairs at the castle.” He gave her a found smile. “Then we shall chase the sunshine and get out of this rainy town. What say you angel?”

[Heather Mason]

She hadn't thought about anything else for weeks. Her friends kept telling her she was crazy, but that made little to no difference to her because once Heather made up her mind to do something she was going to do it no matter what. So when she decided that she wanted the father of her children back in her life she was not about to let anything stop her. The two of them had been apart for quite some time, but Heather could not forget Warren, he was the only man that made her feel as if she was the most important woman in the world. At least that's how it used to be before things went sour between them. Heather had let it go figuring that Warren would come to his senses and return to her at some point, but so far that wish wasn't coming true for her. So the only thing left to do was make a move.

Putting some stuff in a bag Heather left the kids with her mother and headed off to Hogsmeade where she would do whatever it took to get Warren to come home with her. The rumblings she heard about another woman didn't matter to her because she knew she had the goods Warren truly needed. Plus, what man could resist her, truth be told Heather Mason was one desirable woman men hit on her all the time and she turned them down because she could only think of one man and that was Warren Hubbles.

Leaving her home after saying a long goodbye to the kids Heather headed off to Hogsmeade to the pub he owned the Hogshead a pretty dingy place but one that seemed lucrative since he managed to provide for his kids. When she arrived outside the place she couldn't help but look at it in pure disgust. The place might make money but it looked like a hole in the wall that was about to fall down. Warren could do so much better than this. When she got him back she would most certainly be having him make some changes to the place or she would find him something else to do that was more befitting a man Heather Mason was going to be with. First things first though Warren had to come to his senses.

Entering the pub Heather simply made a face and went straight to the bar asking the barkeep where Warren was. The individual behind the counter gave her a weird look and didn't want to answer her. Heather wondered what was up with that. Then a man sitting behind the bar gave Heather an appraising look before saying something like that Hubbles is one lucky bloke Heather looked at him her eyes shrewd the man gave her a withering look and pointed to the staircase leading to the rooms upstairs. Not bothering to thank him Heather turned and walked upstairs but she could feel all eyes on her and wondered what was going on.

She knew where she was going now so she walked toward Warren's room ready to surprise him. Not bothering to knock she used her wand to open the door. When she walked in it was to find Warren in the room alone with a dark haired bombshell the same one he had been with the last time she was there. Walking in as if she owned the room Heather looked from one to the other then to the suitcase on the floor. Her anger started to rise as she threw her own bags down onto the floor.

"I come here to see the father of my children only to find him holed up in some dingy motel room with some whore" she said viciously wanting to smack the both of them silly. "What the hell Warren?" she asked.

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

It was still hard for her to believe she had finally crawled out of the mess she made for herself. Here she was with a man who adored her, a man who actually knew how to treat her, and a man so dead sexy she often had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming all of this. Now they were about to embark on their first ever getaway together and Vicky was so excited about it that it was taking all of her self control not to jump up out of her chair and start dancing around happily. Her and Warren in Tahiti was more than a dream come true it was a miracle because she never thought they would get there. Their relationship had been plagued with problems even before they had gotten together, but things had gotten better. He was everything she had ever wanted and it was hard to believe her luck.

Vicky looked at him with adoring eyes as he asked her what color her bikini would be. She was glad that the thought of her scantily clad had such an impact, grinning at him she said "It's pink baby a nice shade of pink, that barely covers my bits" and she winked at him after saying it. He was turned on by her and that simply seemed to turn her on even more. Suddenly leaving the comfort of his room wasn't so important anymore. The idea of the two of them alone and horizontal suddenly had her feeling very hot. Damn Warren was very good at turning her on too bad he didn't even know it.

When he made his way toward her Vicky's breath stopped for a moment as she watched his approach because he was simply the sexiest thing ever. His lips dipped low to touch hers and she almost melted right there on the couch. Heart racing Vicky had to force herself not to grab onto him and pull him down on top of her. Instead she replied to his remark "Yes glorious days and even better nights" she whispered to him wishing they could simply leave right then.

But soon enough the idea of her going back to the school and packing her bags was suggested. Leaving didn't sound all that great, but packing was a necessity. Looking up at him she grinned "I hate to leave but I'll be quick..."

Before anymore could be said the door flew open and in walked in a woman. Vicky just seemed to know right off the bat who she was and immediately her hackles went up. Warren's former signifiant other had seen fit to burst in here and ruin what had been up until that point a very romantic moment. Vicky's eyes bored into the other woman with dislike etched all over her face. She breezed in as if she owned the place looking like she just stepped off the runway. Too bad opening her mouth caused that image to fade away only to be replaced by an image of Vicky getting up and beating the blonde into a bloody pulp. "Who the hell are you calling a whore" said Vicky rising from her seat, eyes blazing with fury as she looked at Warren wondering if he had known about this visit.

[Warren Hubbles]

Everything about this moment had been perfect for Warren, there was only one thing that could have brought him down from such a high and that one thing had just happened to barge through the door of his flat! This was the moment when two worlds that should never have met came crashing together like waves upon the shore. Warren was left a little stunned by all of this going on, it was like he had been in a dream and he was about to eat the largest pile of chocolate ever only to be cruelly awoken by a Heather shaped alarm clock, although on this situation he was not waking up with drool on his face! However there was the same look of confusion as his head flicked from one person to another as he noticed the two women standing off against one another, like two lioness fighting over the alpha lion. (Not that Warren thought that highly of himself, he was not Dan!)

The problem was that unlike his quick thinking, get out of almost any situation cousin Warren had no practise in being caught in between two women and he really could not think under pressure with their eyes blazing into him. “I…erm…” He did not know what to say or even who to address. Should he talk to the mother of his children, and answer the first question that was fired at him or should he address Vicky, the person that out of the two of the he cared about the most. It had to be Vicky, she deserved the explanation more then Heather, what did she expect anyway? To turn up and to find Warren living like a monk waiting for the moment she arrived back into his life. Anger and annoyance started to take over and it now seemed obvious to Warren who he should address first.

Turning to Vicky, Warren did not even attempt to pull off a sheepish smile, his face still showed signs of his slight confusion about Heathers appearance but he knew he had to comfort his girlfriend first. He could tell that those violet eyes were trying to see into his soul and find out if he knew anything about this appearance of the ex and if she found the answer he knew it would satisfy her as he had no idea this was going to happen. “Vicky, I knew nothing about this. Heather...” He shot the blond haired women a scornful look. “...just turned up, she has a bad habit of turning up at places she is not wanted.”

He thought his point was clear enough, he would not address Heather fully (although a part of him worried that she had come to tell him something about the kids) and focus fully on Vicky, and she might then get the idea that she is not wanted. “Now angel, you go and get your stuff from the castle and we will still go on our holiday…if that is alright with you?”

Talk about having to patch up a bad situation! He just hoped that Vicky would play along and Heather would not kick up too much of a fuss. Somehow, judging on her entrance Warren had a sinking feeling that was not going to happen.

[Heather Mason]

Heather was pissed off to say the least. The last thing she had expected was to find him in his room with that tramp the same tramp as last time. It had to be some kind of joke right because between the two of them Heather was obviously better looking then the other woman. After all blondes were all the rage not brunettes. Of course she could see why a man might fancy this particular brunette Heather had never seen a woman with violet eyes before, and it annoyed her a bit because it was a rare thing which almost made the other woman a commodity. That was probably what drew Warren to her, that and the fact that this woman looked like she enjoyed laying on her back. She had come there expecting to get her man back and hadn't even thought that there might be someone else in his life. She suspected that he might be having some sort of fling, but when she burst into the room a few moments ago it seemed a lot more than that. Heather got a vibe and that vibe didn't seem to bode well for her.

Wanting answers she expected Warren to turn to her first to make her understand what was going on here since after all she was the mother of his children but instead his words were to the other woman. Heather's temper flared this had to be some kind of joke right because Warren knew what Heather had to offer him, the kind of woman she was, how much better for him she would be. Heather could take him to great heights, that woman would simply drag him down.

Maybe he was realizing that too, maybe that's why he decided to talk to the other one first. Those hopes were soon dashed the moment the man opened his mouth. Heather's eyes widened in shock at the look that he had just given her. But then it occurred to Heather, Warren was just making it seem as if he was pissed at her. Of course how could she have been so silly. The other woman wouldn't want to leave if she thought that Warren was actually happy to see Heather. They would discuss his behavior after she left.

Heather was starting to feel better, and she started to let her guard down, but the thing about letting one's guard down was that it allowed you to get sucker punched more easily which is what happened when Warren told his angel to go and get her things so they could leave on holiday. Was he freaking kidding, had the man lost his damn mind. There was...What the...OH HELL NO. "Yeah right you two think you're going away together. Get real Warren you should know that's not going to happen" she said her hands on hips, left foot tapping noisily on the floor, nostrils flared, and eyes blazing with fury. "I have no intentions of being shooed off so you can go off with this" she gave the other woman the nastiest look she could muster "bitch" she finished nastily.

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

A joke, yes that is what this was a very cruel joke on the part of a woman who apparently had no shame. Pretty sure Warren and Heather were over Vicky wondered what the hell she was doing there and why she thought it was OK for her to burst in as if she owned the place. Vicky was still standing with her chest rising and falling anger was coursing through her veins so much so that she was pretty sure a shot of whiskey wouldn't have even calmed her down. Her eyes turned from the blond to the man standing before her, Warren it seemed had a lot of explaining to do. If the two of them were really over then why the hell was she here acting like queen of the pub. Ah, Vicky should have known better despite all of his talk about being different Warren was simply another Hubbles. Only difference was that Dan didn't make any bones about being a womanizing git Warren however seemed a lot craftier. He could make you think you were the only girl in the world for him while behind you back he plays house with his ex. Vicky should have known and once again she would wind up with egg on her face. This couldn't be happening to her not again after all she had gone through with the whole Dan fiasco she certainly didn't need Warren doing this to her too.

Vicky's heart started to race looking from Warren to Heather. Of course Victoria knew all about the other woman despite the fact that the two were supposedly Warren stayed cordial with her of course because she was the mother of his kids if Vicky had ever gotten wind that there was more to it then that well then she never would have pursued anything with Warren. Obviously picking men was certainly something Vicky sucked at one Hubble male wasn't enough going after the other would complete her quest for stupidest female in the world. Perhaps she should have her head examined because there was obviously something wrong with her there had to be.

When Warren looked at her Vicky searched his eyes trying to see something in them that would let her know that this whole thing was some sort of joke. Once he spoke Vicky couldn't say she felt comforted perhaps it was because of the past, or perhaps it was because no matter what Warren said he had a history with this woman they were bound together forever because of their kids. The only comfort she could take was that Warren made sure to speak to her first, did that mean something? Vicky wasn't sure. Closing her eyes she tried to listen as best she could but there were tears threatening to fall from her eyes and she wasn't going to give the other woman the satisfaction of seeing the pain she was causing.

The least feat was proving to be a challenge once Warren told her to leave and go pack for their trip. Fine he still wanted to go away with her but he was also sending her off when he should be asking her to stay. Victoria was prepared to remind him of this when the opportunity was snatched away from her by Heather who until that moment had managed to stay quiet. Again she took a dig at Vicky and that was it, "Are you serious, you waltz in her as if you own the place, insult me, and now you want to give orders. No I don't think so you want to give orders then you go through me I have no qualms about ruining that pretty face of yours." Vicky grabbed her wand and held it up pointing it at the other woman. "Warren I hope you don't mind if I i disfigure the face of your kids mother right I mean..." she looked at him wondering if he would care if Vicky did something to Heather, if there was nothing going on then it shouldn't matter especially if Vicky wasn't trying to kill her or anything. Not thinking she wanted him to answer Vicky simply focused her attention on Heather throwing a bat bogey hex her way. "Take that wench, you don't get to come in her and mess with what's mine" Vicky shouted hoping against hope that the hex hit her.

[Warren Hubbles]

Oh my god! This had to be his worst nightmare being played out right here and now in front of him. It was the situation when two worlds collide, two worlds that he really, really, REALLY did not want to met! And the problem was Warren felt powerless to deal with it all. He could only stand there staring at the two women who were ripping into one another. Nothing he seemed to be able to say made the situation any better, in fact it had the opposite affect as it just seemed to give them, well Heather, more ammunition to fire at Vicky. It was only when Heather screamed ‘bitch’ at Vicky did Warren really snapped. He would not stand idly by as the women that he loved…yeah he loved her, was being insulated in such a way.

“Now you hold on right there Heather…” However his voice was drowned out by Vicky arguing back against Heather. She had a valid point to everything so was saying and was hitting all the points Warren would have shouted back at the blond haired witch so as a result Warren just stood next to Vicky, arms crossed glaring daggers at Heather for ruining this moment. It seemed however Vicky was not just happy with verbally insulting Heather (and lord did she need it to try and reduce that ego of hers) but out of the corner of his eye Warren saw Vicky pull out her wand and point it right at Heather.

Warren could not help but hesitate for the moment, his imagination flashed up to headlines I the Daily Prophet of ‘Hogwarts Professor kill’s mother of barman’s children’. Not that Warren thought Vicky was capable of such things but he had never seen her so angry before in his life! However when Vicky mentioned she was only going to disfigure her face the colour came back to his face a little bit and with a small shrug Warren went “Fire away sweetheart. I don’t care.”

Maybe it was a little harsh, he did not want to get Heather into too fowl a mood as surprising or not he did want to see his kids again at some point, however he had to think about his future with Vicky. This was the women that he loved and he did not want to lose her over something so silly and as a result he had to take her side no matter how ludicrous the situation was. However as the bat bogey hex hit her straight in the face Warren could not help but chuckle as her super model features morphed into a female version of the elephant man.

He dreaded to think what he reaction would be like now…

[Heather Mason]

Heather was getting madder and madder at Warren and especially his little prickly brunette. Who the hell was she to interfere with Heather and Warren's affairs. She was just a piece of tail to Warren that could be all there was between them because Warren had always been in love with her even while at school Warren chased after her. The two of them also had a family together there were kids between them and that had to count for something. Heather had to believe that this girl was nothing more than a pathetic little distraction since he and Heather were separated from one another. Heather wanted no more than to believe this because believing that she had actually been replaced by that witch made her stomach hurt.

This was why Heather was off her guard had she been she would have noticed that this girl wanted to play dirty. She lifted her wand toward the blond and Heather heard the words she spoke to Warren as well. Disfigure who the hell was that she witch going to disfigure. Heather Mason was one of the most beautiful women around and most people with common sense knew it, and here this chickie was standing there threatening to take that away from her was she out of her mind. Heather hadn't been paying attention before but she most certainly was now.

Her wand was out in an instant, her nostrils started to flare, if this is what she wanted then Heather would only be too happy to oblige her. Heather figured that at this point Warren would finally be a man and step in, but once more he took the brunette's side. Heather was furious. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME" she cried looking at Warren as if seeing him for the very first time. They had once been in love, they had kids together, they had shared a life together and now Heather meant so little to him that he was willing to allow that woman to attack her.

"Hmm disfigure me huh well how about some disfiguring of my own" she said throwing the first spell that came to mind, she sent a dozen long beaked birds straight at the brunette and Warren, hell disfiguring the both of them would give her some sort of pleasure.

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

Vicky heard the spell Heather uttered and knew exactly what it would do so she was good and ready holding up her wand and yelling finite incantatem, the birds disintegrated and the dust they created fell silently to the floor. Vicky's eyes burning with fire looked toward Heather she couldn't understand what the hell Warren had ever seen in her. Granted the woman was pretty but sheesh she was a freaking nutter. Warren screwed himself up by having kids with her too now he was bound to her for years to come. That hit Vicky hard, of course she had known about the kids but she was able to keep that part of his life separate. Unfortunately, Vicky couldn't separate him from Heather.

She looked over at Warren glad that he was willing to stick up for her it meant a lot because she was seeing the way Heather acted and knew it couldn't be easy to put up with that. Vicky was set to love Warren though she was not sure she wanted to have to deal with Heather who apparently still thought she had rights to her ex. Was this something she wanted to deal with in her life? Her eyes were still on Warren and she knew she did still want to be with him no matter what. The no matter what though was staring daggers at her.

Vicky should just launch herself at the witch, she would launch herself at the witch if something nagging at her hadn't stopped her. That was Warren and his kids, the issue at hand here was that Heather had the power when it came to Warren's children and the way she seemed to be responding to things right now Vicky didn't have to be a mind reader in order to realize that she would probably use that against him make it all about her and keep the man from his kids. Warren loved them to death and she knew it would kill him if that happened so no matter how she felt about this witch in front of her she had to control herself.

Taking a deep breath she did the hardest thing she ever had to do and forced herself to suck it up. "Okay we need to call a truce here, we are all adults and this isn't how adults should be acting. Heather I apologize I was sort of caught off guard by your presence, but please let us make one thing very clear Warren and I are together as in we are a couple so please respect that." Vicky grabbed Warren's hand for good measure so that his ex would get the point.

[Warren Hubbles]

For most men this might have been their ultimate dream, having 2 women fighting over you would defiantly be his cousin’s dream anyway…not his however. Warren was a more 1 women kind of guy and he wanted to give that woman all the love and affection he could and Heather was no longer that woman! In fact as he watched her stand before him having a mini bitchy match with his current girlfriend, he could not even remember what he saw in her.

He let the girls scrap it out through, Heather firing birds at Vicky but then the Charms professor knowing right away how to fight it off. It seemed like a pointless fight and it seemed Vicky had the same thought too. ‘Well at least she has common sense’ Warren thought as he listen to the rational words from his girlfriend. As Vicky snatched hold of his hand however Warren shot Heather a small awkward smile and looked over his shoulder at the empty living room behind him.

“Heather, please come in for a minute. We shouldn’t be having this discussion on the doorstep.” Warren pulled Vicky to one side as he let room for Heather to move into the small flat. Once the blonde had made her way into the flat Warren closed the door quickly behind him, in fear that the sound of the argument had already drift down the halls…no doubt they will be gossip of the village by the evening. Breathing in deeply Warren headed over towards Heather, giving Vicky’s hand a small squeeze in comfort, trying in vain to let her know that everything will be alright soon.

“Maybe you can tell me why you are here Heather? I wouldn’t mind the interruption if the kids were with you. What’s going on?”