Princess; George Weasley

nine

The first week at Hogwarts has been rather interesting. Between the twins giving me constant heart attacks, the Slytherins giving me weird looks, and the struggles of introducing herbology, I'm ready for a break. Fresh out of muggle studies, I grab my herbology binder and just roam around, trying to find a quiet space to study. 

The first floor corridor still has a reasonable amount of students leaving their last class. The stone walls have a yellow tint, and the ceiling has details such as exposed beams and arches. The right wall is full of cathedral like windows that are arched and spotless in every pane. Architecture at Hogwarts seems to change throughout the castle. Compared to Ilvermorny, the colors are warmer and it feels more rustic overall. 

The noise seems to die down as more and more students get out of their last class. A voice behind me gets my attention. "Hey, Prince! Wait up!"

I turn around and see a boy standing there. Caramel-brown hair, Hufflepuff robes, rosy cheeks, and warm gray eyes look back at me. I've seen him at the sorting ceremony and in the hallways but I've never considered introducing myself. He always seem to be surrounded by a large group of people who are all trying to get into the conversation. Frankly, part of me thinks he might be self absorbed with his prefect title. He just seems so perfect, he has to have some kind of flaw.

He runs to catch up to me, "Where are you heading?"

I look at him, narrowing my eyebrows. "Nowhere in particular. Why do you need to know?"

His smile turns into a confused frown. He opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. He looks at my binder, and a soft smile remerges. "Is this herbology?"

I look at the label then back up at him. "No..." I say, sarcastically, "It's ancient history of trolls."

He laughs, almost nervously. "Herbology is my best subject. I could help you..."

"Really?" I ask, suddenly surprised. "I've really been struggling. Ilvermorny didn't require herbology until fifth year, and--"

He cuts me off, still smiling. "Honestly, I would love to. I've been meaning to talk to you since the sorting ceremony. I'm trying to assemble a new quidditch team since it's my first year as captain and I was wondering if you played."

I nod. I wasn't on the team at Ilvermorny but I always used to play with Opal's brother, August. My grandmother would grin every time she saw me play as chaser. She would say I would get the nimble movements from her and her gobstone days. "I wasn't on the team, but--"

"We can talk about it once we find a place to study." He grins, "School first. I know a courtyard that tends to be pretty quiet"

He turns around, and I run to walk besides him. "So," I say, "What year are you going into again?"

"Oh!" He exclaims, "Cedric Diggory, Fifth year."

I smile, "Claudia Prince."

"Claudia..." he nods. "I've always found the name rather pretty."

I laugh politely, looking the other way to hide any flattered expressions. This is exactly the opposite of what I thought I was dealing with. Instead of a popular, self absorbed, perfect, pretty boy, Cedric is a selfless, still pretty, charming, potential friend. 

We find ourselves in an open air hallway with a small courtyard on the right. A few students are in the corner just chatting. Common areas seem to be pretty busy as people are waiting for the impending weekend. We have one more day of class before a hopefully relaxing weekend.  

We sit on a little concrete bench, and I open up my binder. Cedric smiles as he looks over my notes on the Herbviscus charm. "We've been doing advanced stuff for a first year herbology student. You should give yourself some credit for getting this down."