An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Forty-Five

"Besides, it's not eight yet. None of us can go into the Great Hall until then," Myrah added. Jackson groaned and rolled his eyes, and I was about to glare at him for being dramatic when Professor McGonagall came over and interrupted us.

"Mr. Diggory! Ms. Stark! Come along, all the champions and their partners are to gather over here..."

Cedric and I waved hasty 'see you later's to our friends as McGonagall ushered us to one side of the doors to the Great Hall. Apparently we were going to enter last, for full dramatic effect once everyone else had gone inside.

Fleur and Marc and their dates, Roger Davies and Cho Chang, were chatting happily with Milena and Andrei when Cedric and I came over. Hermione and Viktor were right behind of us, both of them looking like they were on top of the world.

"Hermione, you look wonderful," Cedric said, giving her a bright smile as the pair joined us.

"Thank you Cedric," she beamed back. She was positively glowing, and her happiness and excitement were quite literally infectious. "You look handsome as well."

Cedric bobbed his head in thanks, then turned to address Viktor as well as Hermione.

"So, are the two of you ready for the part of this whole thing where we have to dance in front of the whole school?"

"I am glad I get to dance vith Hermy-own, but I vish it did not haff to be in front of the whole school," Viktor said.

"Honestly, same." I laughed. The four of us chatted for a few more moments, until Hermione caught sight of Harry and his partner, Parvati Patil, heading towards us.

"Hi Harry!" she said, waving happily. "Hi, Parvati!"

Harry looked stunned, but he managed to wave back. Parvati was staring at Hermione in her dress and makeup in complete disbelief, and Cedric's arm around my waist was the only thing stopping me from taking a step forward to get between Parvati's judgey look and Hermione's perfect night. All the girls who'd been chasing Viktor around the lake gave her similar glares as they walked past us into the Great Hall, and I gave them all threatening glares right back. If any of them said a single mean word to Hermione, Cedric wouldn't be able to hold me back from getting in their faces, at the very least.

Ron, the complete dumbass, didn't even notice Hermione as he walked through the doors with Padma Patil.

Fortunately, my friends and Ginny all gave her thumbs up and encouraging looks (both of the twins and Lee did exaggerated jaw-drops, whistles, and winks) to counteract any and all negativity. Hermione was positively glowing.

Once everybody else was through the doors and in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall organized the twelve champions and partners into a line to go in. Fleur was in front, with Marc right behind her, followed by Hermione and Viktor, then finally me and Cedric. I got to watch everyone's faces as they saw Hermione, and some of them made me smile while others made me want to hop out of line to go yell at somebody. Ron, for his part, looked like he was just realizing that Viktor's date was Hermione.

We walked in pairs towards a big table with all the Triwizard judges sitting happily. Percy looked more arrogant than I'd ever seen, back straight and nose in the air as he deigned to observe the rest of the Hall. I'd have to stage an intervention for him at some point.

When we reached the head table, I sat next to Percy with Cedric on my other side. Harry sat on Percy's other side, which was the best possible setup to potentially check his ego just a little bit.

I ignored Percy as he explained his "promotion" to Harry, instead talking to Cedric and Hermione, who was on his other side with Viktor. Despite some of the unflattering looks, she still beamed like the sun.