Misunderstood | Cedric Diggory

iv

"I mean Cedric would not kiss someone like her, surely."

"Like she obviously sneaked him a love potion of some sort."

"No, Elise would never do that." I hear, contradicting the arguments. Does Harriet Rosetta appear to be standing up for me? "We've never really spoken, but I think she's a nice girl, and besides, Cedric can kiss who he wants to kiss."

"You actually believe that Cedric would kiss her?"

"Are you sure Harriet? I mean Cedric is like one of the most popular guys in our year and Elise? Not really the girl you'd think he'd go for."

"Well, maybe we don't know enough about the two of them."

After this, I heard the other girls leave, and I sneak into the Common Room after they have gone. I spot Harriet in the room alone, sitting on her bed.

"Thanks for that." I smile, making Harriet turn around, meeting me back with a wide grin and supportive eyes.

"Don't worry about it, those girls need some serious sense pushed into them." Harriet chuckled, patting the side of her bed, inviting me to sit down with her.

I sit down, awkwardly smiling. Despite this being my sixth year, I had barely struck up any proper conversations with the girls in my dorm room. "Where's Macie?" I question, noticing an empty bed right opposite.

"She had a family issue, and she's had to miss the first week." Harriet smiles, I sense how lonely she seems without her best friend. I suppose she's feeling a bit like me now, especially after sticking up to the girls. "Have you ever been to the first night back party?"

Harriet is referring to the scene me and Cedric walked into earlier, a Hufflepuff upper years tradition. I can faintly hear the music boom in the background.

"No, not really," I answer, scratching my head awkwardly. "I mean, people don't like me that much."

"That's not true!" Harriet exclaims, "People like you a lot more than you think, Elise."

I smile at her attempt to comfort, but I still feel like joining the party would be a big mistake. "I don't know-"

"Come on! Don't make me miss out!" Harriet crosses her arms, almost forcing me to come.

And it is this one act of friendship, of Harriet suggesting she wasn't going to go without me, that convinced me of the very act of going.

As we walk out, Harriet questions me. "What is going on with you and Cedric now?"

"Us? Well, we only just kissed. But I don't know." I chuckle, exhibiting awkwardness yet again.

Harriet nudged me, "Go on, Elise!"

I roll my eyes, giving a soft laugh as we walk into the filled room of partying hufflepuffs. As soon as we arrive, Harriet goes to get some drinks, and straight away Cedric approaches me.

He's tipsy, and he grabs straight onto my waist, slurring his words. "heya Elise."

"Hey, Cedric!" I call, feeling incredibly close to him already.

"Do you need a drink babe?" he slurred his words, he seemed to be already quite intoxicated.

I chuckle, "It's alright, Harriet's just gone to get me one."

"Harriet? I didn't know you were friends." Cedric's eyes light up, almost as if he was proud I had gained myself a friend. I was too.

I grin, "Well, we are now." Cedric strokes my face, smiling at me dearly, he must be tipsy, I can smell the alcohol in his breath.

Harriet comes over, shoving Cedric slightly and yelling "get a room!" before passing me my drink. As I sip what I think is just lemonade, the vodka makes me wince. However, I was reluctant to admit I never had drunk alcohol before.

Just as Harriet comes over the song changes, I notice it is 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', a muggle song. Harriet squeals, "This is my jam!" and she pulls Cedric and me into the centre, all of us dancing insanely to the record.

'Take My Breath Away' follows, and the room falls into each other, couples beginning to sway away in time. Cedric's bright, gleaming grey eyes grin into mine, capturing eye contact as he leads me. For someone so drunk he's still a good dancer, and it feels like this could be one of the moments where the whole world stops, where everyone else becomes irrelevant, and my entire life begins orbiting around the very human in front of me.

Except it didn't.

-

The night ends, and the Common Room is left deserted, leaving in it me and my two friends - Cedric and Harriet. Harriet and I were gossiping on one of the sofas, whereas Cedric is doing something over at the food table. After a while, I wander over to question him when a chocolate frog hops onto my lap, and then another.

"Cedric, what are you doing?"

"Wizard cards," he answers promptly, and I see around him millions of chocolate frogs as he holds a handful of cards.

I roll my eyes and chuckle, coming to stand next to him and taking handfuls of sweets. He notices this, giggling to himself at how many sweets I'm trying to shove in my pockets.

"Got enough there, Griffin?"

"I could say the same for you, Diggory." I chuckle back, and all of a sudden, he places his arm around me and squeezes me into him.

"Now come on, stop now love before you get diabetes from all that sugar." I try to break free, but his grasp is firm and comfortable.

I giggle as he pulls me even closer and away from the table, eventually picking me up and bringing me over his shoulder. I cry, yell, "Cedric! Let me down." as I laugh into him.

"No, missy, you're going to bed before you can eat any more." he protests, carrying me towards my dorm. When I realise what him going into the dorm will cause, I stop laughing and speak to him seriously.

"Cedric you can't walk in with me like this, let me down."

He slowly lets me down, staring at me, almost offended. "Why not Elise? It's jokes."

"Yeah," I sigh, "it is to you, but that's not what they'll think." and with that, I storm into my room. I don't know why I was so moody, but I was. And I fell into my bed, both relieved and upset at the same time.