PARALLEL {Cedric Diggory | Harry Potter}

Twenty Eight

Neville stood at the front of the line, casting a spell to disarm the target dummy, accidentally disarming himself. His wand flew behind him, narrowly missing Nigel's face as it clattered to the floor, "I'm hopeless."

Lori looked at Harry at the front of the queue as he corrected him, "You're just flourishing your wand too much. Try it like this. Expelliarmus."

The dummy was disarmed, everyone looked at him with open mouths. Before they all gradually followed on, the sound of the fake wand hitting the floor stamped on their ears.

*

"Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal," Harry explained at the next meeting, "it's sort of a wizard's bread and butter, really. So, come on then, Nigel. Give us your best shot."

The terrified Gryffindor stood at the opposite end of the room to Harry, the rest of the group watching from both sides, "Stupefy."

Everyone winced as both of them shot backwards, landing with low groans and rubbing their heads in pain.

"Lori, Cedric, how about you show them?" Harry asked, though both of them could detect the slight begging in his tone as they took their places, both with wands in their hands.

The Hufflepuff sent his girlfriend a small look of apology before starting to mutter the incantation.

"Stupefy." Lori got there first, Cedric flying through the air and landing painfully on his back, "Sorry, babe."

"It's alright." he winced, climbing to his feet and looking at everyone, "Well, that's how it's done."

Ron and Hermione were next, Lori's brother started to speak to his partner, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

"Thanks, Ronald." she smiled as he trudged to the other end of the room.

Lori looked up at Cedric who was beside her, still rubbing his back slightly, "One sickle on Hermione."

"You're on."

Ron flourished his wand, the spell on his lips as he shot backwards with a slightly surprised gasp. Hermione smiled proudly as a sickle fell into Lori's hands, and all the other girls went over to congratulate her.

Her brother stumbled over, looking at Lori, Cedric and the twins, "I let her do that. It's good manners, isn't it?"

The four of them nodded, amused as all of the girls giggled around Hermione, who had done exactly the same as Lori. She sent her a quick smile before the meeting ended and all the students rushed out in a line, with Cedric waving them past when the coast was clear.

The four prefects then set about patrolling the corridors for the night, discreetly chivvying group members back to their beds.

*

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was on the pitch at the crack of dawn the next morning, rubbing their eyes and some still eating toast they had snuck from early breakfast.

Several of their friends had come out to watch, including Ellie and Cedric who had turned up, wrapped in their Hufflepuff scarves, and cheering on the team.

With the absence of Harry, Lori had kept the same team as last year, inviting Ginny back as a Chaser and abandoning the idea of holding tryouts, as Alicia and Angelina had settled into their new positions perfectly.

Ellie clapped eagerly as Lori flew past her and Cedric, sprinting after the Snitch that flew in line with the stands. The two of then cheered as she caught it, flying back to the ground and releasing it again.

The team was on the pitch for an hour before Lori congratulated them for their hard work and they hit the changing rooms.

Ellie and Cedric were waiting for her when she came out, her hair slightly damp and smelling of roses from having a shower, the three of them walking back up to the castle together.

It felt weird when the pair of them steered her towards the Hufflepuff table at breakfast, the three of them sinking into a bench at the table and eating some well earned porridge.

"You free later, Ced?" Lori turned to her boyfriend.

He smirked at her, "Why?"

"Because I want to take you into Hogsmeade before your birthday on Monday."

Ellie smiled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, loving the fact that her best friend since she was eleven had found someone so perfect for him, he was like an older brother to her. It felt so amazing to her to watch the girl he had been raving about for over four years reciprocate his feelings, almost like the sweet ending to a bitter story.

*

Hand in hand, Lori and Cedric trailed through Hogsmeade, stopping to chat to some of their friends occasionally, before entering into the inviting warmth of The Three Broomsticks.

"Ever the gentleman." Lori mused as he smiled down at her, holding the door to the inn open for her.

They quickly found a booth near the corner, Madam Rosmerta smiling as she laid two butterbeers on the table, Lori slipping her a few coins.

Cedric's hand shot out to stop her, his girlfriend turning to him, "No, Ced, it's my treat."

Rosmerta smiled at the young couple, thanking Lori for the coins before helping out another table.

"Do you remember when we first came here?" Cedric asked her opposite him.

She laughed, "How could I forget?"

Their hands laced between their drinks, "Ellie was talking about you all evening in the Common Room. She said she couldn't believe that you would help her study for Potions."

"And you had a froth moustache over your lip." she chuckled.

"I was so surprised you plucked up the courage to wipe it away. You are a Gryffindor, I suppose."

Lori smiled, squeezing his hands, "One of us had to make the first move."

Cedric gasped, mocking offence, "I so made the first move."

"Did not."

"Did to."

They fell about laughing, before finishing their drinks, wrapping their house scarves around themselves and battling the Scottish winds back up to the school.

Cedric's hand was rested over her shoulder the entire walk, pulling her in to press delicate kisses to the top of her head every so often.

Once they were out of earshot of the village, and any students making the descent into it, Lori turned to look up at him, "Meeting has been moved to the third. Padfoot told me."

Following the procedure, he simply nodded in acknowledgement, before they finally reached the grounds of the castle and the matter was dropped.