"What, scared of a little challenge, Maxwell?"
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We eventually arrive to the quidditch pitch, where George finally sets me down on my feet.
"Hey George, you see these?" I point to my legs, "they're called legs. I have them for a reason. I don't need to be carried around like a rag doll." I scoff.
He smirks then picks me up, spinning me around.
"Put me down!" I whine.
He continues to spin me around for a minute, before setting me down on my feet again.
"Haven't you realized yet, Max? You're like our little sister-"
"Therefore it's our job to push you around and annoy you." The twins laugh, finishing each other's sentences.
I roll my eyes as we head through the entrance, stepping onto the field which is dimly lit from only one stadium light being on.
In the center of the pitch are two brooms laying down next to each other.
"Where are the other brooms? Aren't there supposed to be four?" I question, turning around and looking up at the twins who have mischievous grins on their faces.
"Nope, it was only our job to bring you here. Diggory's handling the rest." Fred smiles, wrapping his arm around George's shoulder, and leading them away.
"Wait! Where are you guys going?!" I call after them, but they soon disappear in the darkness without a word.
I groan and turn back around, looking across the empty field.
It really is quite beautiful at night.
"Damnit." I mutter to myself, remembering I forgot a jacket as I start to shiver.
A moment later, I hear footsteps a ways away, causing my head to snap up.
Across the field, I see Cedric running towards me, a shiny object in one hand, and a hoodie in the other.
He eventually reaches me, picking me up and swinging me around, causing me to laugh hysterically.
He eventually sets me on my feet, looking at me amused.
"I knew you'd forget your jacket, so I brought you one." He smiles, handing the hoodie he's holding to me.
I take the hoodie graciously, pulling it over my head, and I'm instantly drowned in his intoxicating scent.
"So, are you going to tell me why on earth you dragged me out to the quidditch field at 11 at night?" I ask, folding my arms across my chest.
He laughs and snakes his arm around my waist, leading us over to the two brooms in the center of the field.
"You're gonna see if you can beat me to the snitch." He shrugs.
I laugh.
"Cedric, I'm a beater, there's no way I'd be able to catch it in the first place, let alone competing against you."
He raises his eyebrows.
"What, scared of a little challenge, Maxwell?"
I furrow my eyebrows, my eyes squinting. He knows how competitive I can get, so he also knows going into a challenge I know I'm bound to lose isn't exactly something I enjoy.
He rolls his eyes at my reaction, putting his hand to the side of my face.
He puts his lips down to my jawline, his tongue slightly grazing across it before he makes his way up to my ear.
"I'll go easy on you." He whispers, his cool breath tickling my neck.
I know he's referring to quidditch, but the way he says it insinuates something else.
"You are such a tease, Diggory." I groan, causing him to laugh.
"Hey, you were the one who wouldn't even let me kiss you until we had been talking for three weeks." He retorts, picking up the broom closest to him.
I roll my eyes and pick up mine, mounting it.
He sticks his hand out, opening his palm slowly.
The snitch immediately lifts off his hand and into the air, it's wings expanding.
"3,2,1"
Before he can say go, I shoot up in the air towards the snitch, chasing it as fast as I can.
Within moments, it's changed its course and is now out of sight.
I stop in place abruptly, not wanting to fly in the opposite direction of it.
"You are such a cheater." Cedric laughs as he pulls up beside me.
I stick my tongue out and whip around, heading towards where I see the shiny object a ways away.
My hands stretched out just inches away from the snitch, when Cedric cuts me off abruptly, almost causing me to crash into him.
"What the hell Ced, I almost had it!" I yell, kicking him away by his broom.
"I said I'd go easy on you, but not that easy. You gotta work for it." He smirks.
I groan.
"Why are we even doing this? Couldn't this wait until morning?"
His mouth purses into a hard line.
"Nope. You'll see why once you catch it."
Weirdo.
This goes on for about another thirty minutes. Me getting within centimeters of catching it, then Cedric stopping me.
"Cedric, I'm tired of this, please just let me catch it." I groan.
He laughs and a devious smirk appears on his face.
"I love it when you beg for me." He whispers seductively.
I smack his arm, but I'm unable to suppress the smile making its way on my face.
"Fine, go catch it, I won't stop you." He smiles.
I look at him unconvinced, causing him to roll his eyes.
"I promise."
I laugh and dart in the opposite direction, flying as fast as I can, eager to have this over with.
I eventually catch up to it, my arm stretched out as far as it will go.
My finger tips graze the very end of the snitch, before I'm finally able to wrap my hand around it, clutching it in my palm.
"I got it!" I shout out excitedly.
I hear him laugh a ways away.
"Press the button on the very side of it, and toss it in the air!" He shouts back.
I turn it over in my palm, noticing a small silver button that I've never seen on a snitch before.
I press the button in, then toss the it upwards.
It flies slowly a little ways ahead, ascending up in the air a bit.
Before I can even process it, the snitch has exploded in the air, creating nine words spelled out in fireworks.
Will you go to the yule ball with me?
I look at Cedric awestruck, and see his eyes are trained on the words in the sky, admiring it proudly.
I fly over to him as fast as I can, stopping just within inches of his face.
I pull him in, connecting our lips softly, fireworks exploding in my stomach and in the air where the words previously were.
"Of course I will Ced. This is incredible! How on earth did you do it?" I ask after I finally pull away, motioning towards the fireworks which are still going off.
"Had a lot of help from Fred and George. Don't worry though, there's a silencing charm around the field so we're the only ones who can hear this." He smiles.
We descend towards the ground, landing softly on our feet.
I wrap my arms around his torso, burying my head in his chest, wondering for the millionth time how on earth I got so lucky.
-
It's Christmas eve, meaning the day before the Yule Ball, and to say I'm excited would be an understatement.
Lots of us are just chilling in Fred and George's dorm, discussing plans and ideas for the party tomorrow.
"No Ronald, I am not showing up to the ball with you wearing that God awful dress robe." Hermione scoffs.
Ron holds the robes up to himself in the mirror, trying his best to not look horribly disgusted.
"Bloody hell woman, whatever you plan on wearing can't be much better." He retorts, facing Hermione with his face beat red.
She rolls her eyes and stands up, walking over to him.
"For your information, what I am wearing is a million times better than that thing, so how about you stop being so prideful and allow Harry and I to buy you a suitable tux for tomorrow." She huffs.
They've been arguing over this for the past week. Ron being stubborn as always, he doesn't want Harry and Hermione to spend any money on him, but Hermione doesn't want to show up with him dressed in his Great Aunt Tessy's dress robes.
I chuckle to myself, leaning my head on Cedrics chest as we sit comfortably together on the floor against Fred's bed.
"She's right Ron. Those are awful. Just let her buy a tux for you, it's not a big deal." Ginny shrugs, flipping through another magazine while laying across Harry's lap on George's bed.
"I think they look nice." Luna says softly from the other side of the room, admiring some plants on the window seal, along with Neville who's been engaging her in endless facts about them for the past hour.
George laughs.
"Don't bother humoring him, Lovegood. He knows they're bloody awful."
"Yeah, poor Charlie, Bill, and Percy all had to wear them when they went to Hogwarts. Since Georgie and I are twins though, we can't both wear it of course, so we were skipped. Now lucky Ronald here gets to carry on the tradition." Fred explains, trying his best not to laugh as he continues working on whatever thing him and George are making for their shop.
Suddenly, the door bursts wide open, Dean and Seamus sprinting through and practically falling to the floor out of breath.
"Cancel whatever plans you've made for tomorrow after the ball-"
"Because we're going to a Ski Lodge that Lee Jordan's family owns." They gasp, finishing each other's sentences.
Everyone around the room starts clapping and cheering out of excitement.
"Wait, not that I'm mad you guys told us or anything, but where's Lee, and why didn't he deliver the news?" George asks.
"Reckon right now he's telling the Slytherin folks who were invited." Seamus shrugs.
My head snaps up.
"Who from Slytherin's invited? I thought you guys hated most Slytherins. Especially Lee."
Seamus and Dean share a look.
"Well, it's not necessarily any of our preference.." Seamus starts.
"But since Eleanor and Lee are cousins, he's technically obligated to invite her, and therefore the rest of her friends." Dean finishes, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
I had completely forgotten about them being related. I'm actually quite happy about this, considering half of my friends are in Slytherin, though I know it's bound to cause some tension during the trip.
"Do you know who all's invited?" Ginny asks, now distracted from the magazine she was previously flipping through.
Dean frowns.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe he's inviting all of Eleanor's friends, which include Malfoy, Zabini, Kira, Crabbe, Goyle, Theo, Sabrina, Alya, and Pucey."
Everyone around the room besides Cedric and I groan in annoyance, but don't protest, knowing it's definitely worth it if we get to stay at a ski lodge for Christmas break.
"Though I'm not particularly excited to see Malfoy or Pucey, knowing your history with them, it's definitely worth it to spend a whole two weeks away from the school with you." Cedric whispers just low enough so no one else can hear.
I smirk and turn my head towards him.
"Yeah? And why is that?" I ask, my eyebrows raised.
He chuckles and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I don't know love, a cabin in the middle of the mountains seems like a very special place to do certain things." He says lowly.
I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, heating up my face at what he's insinuating.
He laughs at my reaction, before our attention is redirected towards a small explosion the twins have set off on Fred's bed behind us.
"Well, that's our cue to leave!" Hermione says quickly, grabbing Ginny's hand and pulling her off the bed, then grabbing mine, then Ginny grabbing Luna's, and leading us out the door.
Before Hermione shuts it, she calls over her shoulder:
"Remember boys, you won't be able to see your dates until the ball tomorrow night! That's the rules!"
We all laugh as we descend the stairs, hearing their protests through the shut doors, and adrenaline pumping through our veins for the ball tomorrow.
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A/N: Heavy inspo from Golden boy for the Ski Lodge.
Thank you guys so much for 71k reads!