warmth - cedric diggory

chapter nineteen

on usual years, the students go home for winter break a few days before christmas and return a few days into january. this year, the students could travel home if they pleased but had to return to hogwarts on christmas day or evening.

a tradition that happened during every triwizard tournament era was the yule ball. the yule ball was a fun excuse to get dressed up, dance the night away, and forget about school. it was always held on christmas evening and created tons of excitement within hogwarts.

every student was rushing to get a date, especially if you were younger than year 4. the yule ball consisted of year 4 and older, but if you could get a date, you could just go.

edmund ended up asking cho chang, and she said no. someone else had already asked her and claimed to be terribly sorry, edmund was slightly upset. belle ended up asking luna, had to cancel her pact with neville, and said yes.

draco asked ivy a few days after the yule ball was announced. he had suddenly begun to be around more, trying to form a connection with the group, laughing more, and was more laid back. athena had not been asked, and neither had cedric. neither really speaking of it when their friends announced their dates, cheering in different ways. athena didn't want to bring it up but also wanted to make sure they were going together.

"you sound mad, you know that?" ivy sat on a hufflepuffs bed, her legs crossed with an angry expression. the hufflepuff shared bedrooms seemed to be the comfortable of them all.

"she definitely knows." belle sat beside her on the bed, her legs hanging off the bed, a soft smile across her face. athena had been pacing back and forth for 10 minutes, debating on whenever or not to ask cedric about it.

"you would just think he'd say something, right?" athena had her arms crossed while standing in her room, her cheeks stained red from being upset. boyfriends should be thinking about this stuff, right?

"he's probably not thinking about it, honestly. he assumes you're going together because you are together. it's simple thinking really." edmund was slouched on the side of the bed, scuffing his shoes against the floor.

"i mean he's definitely not going with anyone else-."

"i know he's not going with anyone else, he would never do that. but don't you'd think he'd know to ask?" athena cut off belle sharply and plopped herself onto the bed. she released a loud sigh from her chest, closed her eyes softly, and thought about it the situation over and over.

ivy brought her painted fingernails to athena's face, brushing a few of the pieces of hair off. "men know nothing." she smiled softly to her friend, who begun to giggle.

athena, belle, and ivy walked through the hallways of hogwarts together later on that day. it was the day before the students could leave for holiday, students were arranging plans and packing small bags to take on the train tomorrow.

they decided to walk to the quidditch field and watch the team captain's practice. all the captains and a few other star players from each team all decided to play around since they won't be playing until february. when they finally reached the field, they could see other students standing around and watching the game as well.

edmund, cedric, draco, and a few other familiar faces were all shouting and laughing commonly while flying around. a grin was on every player's face, which would never happen in a real game.