Charm | Cedric Diggory

06.

"I couldn't think properly when he was talking to me Fleming, I stood there like an absolute nutter, agreeing to everything he asked!" Alexandrina stuffed her face into her pillow, and Darcy got up from her own bed and sat next to her, patting her comfortably. "He was so nice I just..."

"B-but he's such a toerag!" Fleming exclaimed. "Not really. but you know!"

"He's also incredibly charming Flems, you can't blame Alexandrina for acting like a dummy in front of him" Darcy reasoned, "They also have history, one day's worth of history, but it's enough to spark something"

"Nothing was 'sparked' Darcy! I was just shocked he talked to me that's all" Alexandrina defended, "Honestly, I felt pity for him, he looked so unsure about this tournament...I just had to agree"

"I sometimes wonder why that stupid hat never put you in Hufflepuff" Fleming muttered, "You're a terrible sob sometimes, agreeing to do stupid things for stupid people" Darcy giggled at Fleming's words.

"What Flems is trying to say is that we just don't want to see you hurt Alex" Darcy hugged Alexandrina from the side, who was now smiling at her friend.

"It may not seem like it, but you're very bloody important to us, you get that right?" Fleming finished for Darcy. "Dumb tosser"

"Girls, I'm gonna get emotional from all this talk" Alexandrina felt herself sniff, as she pretended to wipe a tear, emotional at how amazing her friends were in their own way.

"Wait don't cry!" Fleming shot out from her bed, "I forgot the bloody spell on how to make tissues!"

"I'm not actually going to cry you git! Just come here and hug me!"

/

Cedric did in fact meet her in front of the Slytherin common room, ten minutes early.

They walked in silence, and there was an awkward tension in the air making Alexandrina terribly uncomfortable.

He trailed behind her slightly, following her until she approached an empty white wall.

Alexandrina stood there for a second, eyes closed facing the wall, and just as Cedric was about to open his mouth to ask what she was doing, a large door appeared right in front of them.

Alexandrina turned around and laughed at Cedric's astonished expression, before she opened the door, letting Cedric enter before her.

He hesitated and Alexandrina rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to kill you if that's what you're worried about, I'm not that stupid"

Cedric immediately walked into the room after that, laughing as she made a face at him. He looked around, amazed at the room in front of him, "How'd you make it appear?"

Alexandrina had thought about a room, maybe the size of a normal common room, full of books about spells and other random things. She grinned as she realized the room had granted her wishes, and there were in fact stacks upon stacks of books littering the shelves and floors.

"Well Diggory, that's a tale for another time"

"Tell me what you know about the first task" Alexandrina sat in front of Cedric, hands crossed and leaned forward.

"Harry only told me it had something to do with dragons" Cedric replied, watched as Alexandrina raised her eyebrows in doubt. "He seemed rather rushed, I didn't want to pry, I was just honestly glad he told me in the first place"

"He's a good kid, even with the bullying" Alexandrina smiled sadly, shaking her head before slapping the table slightly to change the topic, "Anyways! How about we first brainstorm some ideas of what the first task might be"

"Well I think-"

"Maybe you have to fight the dragon" Alexandrina interrupted as the thought came into her mind, "But you'll probably die so that doesn't make sense"

"Wait a minute Alex, you might be on to something" Cedric got up from his seat and walked over to a stack of books in a corner.

"It's going to take you ages to find any book" Alexandrina slumped in her seat, sighing as Cedric lifted the dusty cover of a book at the top of a stack.

She heard Cedric whisper a spell and from the piles of books around the room fifteen appeared in front of him, floating.

"All you had to say was a simple Accio spell Alex" Cedric walked back towards the table, the books following behind him, "Easy as that"

"You are such a show off Diggory" Alexandrina rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the books, "Merlin this is a book about goblins!"

Cedric quickly grabbed the book from her hands and replaced it with another, and smiled, "Now it's about dragons"

"Well I know a lot about dragons, so how about we look at stuff from past tournaments, there must be something we can use" Alexandrina closed the book, and got up from her own seat. She casted a quick spell, and a ratty old book appeared from the farthest corner of the room. "Well would you look at that, a book we can actually use"

History of The Triwizard Tournament

She flipped through it and found a page that listed the past tasks, she found a strange variety of them, ranging from swimming competitions to what resembled triathlons in the muggle world. But as she continued to flip, she stumbled upon a tournament that had to do with dragons. As she read through it, she noticed how unbelievably dangerous it was, and felt herself become alarmed andworried about Cedric's safety.

"I found something" Alexandrina started to walk over towards Cedric who was browsing through books, "A tournament that involved slaying a dragon"

"Slaying a dragon?" Alex looked up from the book and saw a panicked look cross Cedric's face.

"But I highly doubt the Ministry is crazy enough to do something so dangerous again" Alexandrina quickly reassured Cedric, before closing the book and looking through another next to her, "But knowing you will face a dragon face to face is a great start for figuring out how to prepare you"

"You're right, but it's getting rather late, so how about we continue tomorrow night?" Cedric looked at Alexandrina with a tired smile, "I don't want to keep you up too late"

"Its quarter past eleven Cedric, it's late" Alexandrina joked, smiling as she set the book in her hand down, "But we can end this session early if you'd like"

"Maybe we should, I still have to patrol the corridors one last time" Cedric shut his own book and stood up. "Let me walk you to your common room"

"No thank you, I don't mind walking myself" Alexandrina quickly replied.

"Are you sure Alex?" he frowned slightly, thinking the two had made progress in their relationship.

"I'm sure, see you tomorrow night"

Tonight was the most they've spoken in years, and while it was completely professional, she promised herself, she wouldn't open herself fully to Cedric Diggory again.

Not yet at least.

//