Cindy Potter: Book Four (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter Eleven

"No, he must have known you would always want to come back." - Harry Potter

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Two weeks had passed since the first task. Ron had stopped being a prat after Harry nearly got killed, but that didn't mean that I was ready to let him forget. I was frustrated at the fact that Harry was still competing after the Horntail broke loose. Lately, Professor Dumbledore was frequently not in his office and neither was father.

Right after the first task, Harry had opened the golden egg only to have it shriek monstrously in a tone that nearly damaged my eardrums. Neville had suggested in horror that the champion may need to fight the cruciatus curse.

Following this, Harry had tried tapping on the egg, shaking the egg, and even talking to it, but could not get any closer to finding the answer. Cedric appeared to be having the same luck, or lack of it. After the first week, the both of them seemed to be frustrated enough to take a break from their clue.

The very next day after the first task, Rita Skeeter had published an absolutely vile article in the Daily Prophet about Harry, Hermione and I. The article depicted him as a twelve year old child who entered the triwizard tournament for fame and constantly cried over the death of our parents. Rita had also snapped a photograph of Hermione and Harry hugging, and went into great detail about how Hermione was playing with both Harry and Viktor Krum's feelings. My favourite part, of course, was about myself.

"Cindy Potter, sister of twelve year old champion, Harry Potter currently sees a boy whom is not only 5 years her senior, but is the rival of her brother in this tournament. Miss Potter has allegedly encouraged her famous brother to enter the triwizard tournament as a test for her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory. She proves to be a very sly young girl as she has also been known to shamelessly flirt with Draco Malfoy-"

I had gotten this far before Cedric had ripped the newspaper from my grasp and angrily tossed it into the fire, all the while threatening to skin Rita Skeeter. Some of the students had actually believed the words written about us in the Daily Prophet, and whispers of rumours surrounded us until father had begun ruthlessly taking points from anyone reading the Daily Prophet article or discussing it in his sight.

The rumours had just begun to die down in the last two days but I could still feel the stares as I walked with Luna to through the corridors. Classes had just ended for today, and Luna and I were about to go to dinner in the Great Hall. "Cindy Potter!" Recognizing the voice, I turned around and crossed my arms.

"What?!"

Draco Malfoy stood in front of me with a look of exasperation. "I need to speak with you for a moment."

"And I have somewhere to be."

"It's just for a minute!" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Please." Cue the whispering again. I could see a slight blush tinge his face.

"Fine." I groaned. "I'll see you later." Luna nodded and began to walk off. "What?"

"Shut up!" Draco hissed at the terrified Hufflepuffs who were whispering a second ago. Before I could protest, I was dragged off into an empty corridor. "Stop ignoring me!" I opened my mouth to retort. "I swear I didn't speak to that Skeeter woman about you, Cindy! Maybe about your brother, but..." he mumbled.

"Then why did she write that I'd been "flirting" with you?!" I hissed. "Do you know what trouble that's caused for me?! The Hufflepuffs think I'm cheating on Cedric and everyone else thinks I told Harry to enter!"

"You're too smart for that."

"What is your point!" I growled in frustration, ignoring his comment.