"I-"
How did they get here on time?
"Almost got hit there, Rosemund," George said walking up to her while Fred and Cedric shared glances and then turned back to the girl waiting to hear from her.
"Nina, I'm sorry," said Harry with a quiet voice. "I-I didn't react on time. You could've been hurt if it weren't for..."
Now Helena, George and Harry turned to look at Fred and Cedric, both sharing a serious expression.
"Weasley! Diggory! Rosemund!" yelled a deep voice with fury close to them.
Professor Snape was walking towards them, his long robe swinging in the air as the Slytherin Head of House had a menacing glance lingering on the three of them. He stood right in front of them, arms crossed as he raised an eyebrow.
"Can one of you care to explain why you attacked a fellow student?" Snaped pointed at Marcus Flint who had gotten himself up with the help of fourth year Slytherin Blaise Zabini.
"Fellow?!" Fred exclaimed in mockery, rolling his eyes.
"He attacked Helena, sir!" Cedric answered a bit too upset for the professor's liking.
"It's true," said Helena bluntly, still processing the situation she was in. She was also upset that she herself was not prepared for the attack. She knew she could have easily defended herself against Flint's spell.
Snape stayed silent as he stared at the three of them and then turning to see Marcus Flint. For a split-second Nina thought he would believe them and take actions accordingly.
"Let's see," began Professor Snape. "50 points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and a detention each for Weasley and Diggory. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."
"That's not fair!" Helena said without thinking, angry that they would be punished because they only defended her. "Flint is the one who attacked, sir!"
"Not a single word, Ms. Rosemund!" Snape snarled, looking down at the girl. "Or I'll add you to the punishment."
Helena was fuming on the inside because of the injustice. She was ready to respond when she caught Fred looking at her with a "it's not worth it" look on his eyes, telling her to let the matter go as he put his hands in his pockets. Helena sighed with defeat while Fred shared a small smile in return.
"Now," began Snape in his low voice. "All of you, off to your next class!"
And with that, the Potions teacher left to head back inside the castle as the rest of the group of Slytherins went behind him. Harry also followed since he knew they were heading to the dungeons to share a class with Slytherin.
Only the sixth years were left behind.
"Erm... I'll go save us seats," George said breaking the silence, slowly walking away from the small group. "I'll just go."
Now it was just Helena, Fred, and Cedric.
"Nina, what were you—"
"You okay there, Hell?" Fred asked interrupting the Hufflepuff.
"Yes, I'm fine," she sighed, shifting her feet feeling aware of the obvious tension between the two boys in front of her. It was a situation she hadn't experienced before and for that reason, it made her feel uncomfortable because she did not know how to react. "Thanks for earlier," she said to both boys.
"Why did Flint attack you?" Cedric asked concerned to the girl.
"I just stood up for myself after he called me... things." Helena was not all that too comfortable using the word mudblood still.
"Funny," said Fred jumping on the conversation looking straight in the eyes at Cedric. "It's as you're implying that Nina is the one responsible for getting attacked by a spell."
"That's not what I'm saying, Weasley." Cedric's words came out cold and blunt. "Could you give us a minute... alone?"
Fred turned to look at Helena.
"I'll be right behind you, Freddie," the girl said softly, giving the boy a reassuring smile.
And with that, the redhead left to head inside the castle.
Helena felt a sudden sting in her chest right when Fred was out of sight. She did not think anything of it when it happened.
She turned back to the brunette with a frown.
"Who made the badges?" she asked trying to hide her annoyance towards them. "They're not okay."
"Oh... that," Cedric reached for his head to scratch the back of it. "Logan thought it would be a good idea."
"To bother Harry? To divide this school?" Helena snapped, remembering the sulky look on Harry's face when he saw those badges on the Slytherins and how every other Hogwarts house was avoiding contact with any Gryffindor student.
"I told them not to wear them," Cedric said apologetically, hoping that would be a right enough answer for the girl.
Was that really all you did?
Was the hype of becoming Hogwarts Champion already changed Cedric in some way?
"He didn't enter his name, you know," Helena informed to clean out her friend's name. She was desperate to know if her boyfriend did not blame Harry for stealing some of the spotlight that came with this tournament.
"I know, he told me," Cedric replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"But do you believe him?"
"DO YOU?!"
Silence.
That was the first time he had ever raised his voice at her.
Helena had been startled. She did not expect him to react this way, to yell at her. She thought that maybe she had pushed the boy too far with the conversation which made him upset. It was a contrast to what Cedric normally was and he immediately noticed the mistake he had done.
"S-Sorry," the boy started nervously, looking down at the ground. "I just want to be okay with you. No, I don't believe that story that Harry didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire. But I don't hate him like you probably think I do."
"He's just a kid, Ced," said Helena empathetically. "He's going up against three seventeen-year old's who are more advanced in magic than he is. He needs support right now and I'm sure he will feel less alone if one of the people that will go through this tournament with him shows him that."
The Hufflepuff took the girl's hand in his, stroking it softly.
"I'll tell them to throw away the badges and I'll talk with Harry." Cedric said, determined to fulfill his statement. "Hey, Nina... Maybe we can-"
"Umm... Cedric Diggory?"
A short timid first year boy had showed up next to them, sporting Hufflepuff's uniform. He had big green eyes, like a doe and blonde almost white hair, just like Draco Malfoy but this boy seemed to be far from having the Slytherin's personality.
He was facing Cedric but avoiding eye contact with the sixth year.
"Erm, yeah?" Cedric asked awkwardly, showing the boy a big friendly smile.
"They, umm... sent me to, umm, take you upstairs for photographs. Erm... the rest of the Champions are being called too!" the boy said nervously, giving a thumbs up for some reason.
Cute.
"Well, then... Erm, I guess I should go then," said Cedric to the boy, chuckling in response to the hand gesture the first year had randomly made. "I'll see you soon, right Nina?"
His eyes were hopeful and begging the girl to forget about him yelling at her before.
"I... umm... of course," she replied thoughtlessly.
And with that, Cedric left following the first year inside the castle to reunite with the rest of the Triwizard Tournament Champions.
Helena was now alone in the middle of the courtyard.
She gasped with a sudden realization.
"I'm late for Defense!"
After classes were done for the day, Helena was feeling upset because Professor Moody used her as a volunteer to evaluate if her skills to confront the Imperius Curse had improved as a punishment for arriving late to class. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had made her sing the alphabet at the top of her lungs in front of the class.
"It wasn't that bad, Hell," said Fred to comfort her.
"Moody could've made you do something worse!" George added, patting her back as the three of them were having dinner at the Great Hall.
The worst thing about that happening was that she was conscious the whole time, but she could not stop herself from singing. She took a bite out of her chicken in spite.
Professor Snape then appeared next to them telling Fred that his detention would be that same night after dinner in the dungeons. The redhead had no choice but to accept. Minutes later, he finished the last of what was left on his plate and stood up, getting ready to leave.
"It's weird," said George, staring at his brother with curiosity.
"What?" asked Fred and Helena at the same time, intrigued by what George had to say.
"I think this is the first time only one of us will be in detention without the other," he stated with a hint of sadness.
Fred frowned at the fact.
"Sorry you got detention because of me, Freddie," Helena said looking up at the boy from her seat. "I can't believe Flint got free from it."
"Don't beat yourself up for it there, Hell," Fred smiled at her, touching her shoulder before walking through the big wooden doors.
The redhead rubbed his arms for warmth, the cold air hitting him as he made his way to the dungeons through the corridors. Winter was getting closer, and he knew he would have to soon throw on one of the jumpers his mother had knitted him for Christmas. He saw a group of second year Hufflepuffs running past him, wearing badges that supported Cedric Diggory as school champion.
"Tssk," Fred snickered to himself.
He found himself in front of the dungeons, dreading having to go through detention without his twin, who made the punishment easier. He sighed, entering the room to face the inevitable.
"Sit," ordered Professor Snape when he saw the Gryffindor.
Cedric Diggory was already there and had taken a seat at the front on the right side.
Fred took a seat on the opposite side.
"I want a three-parchment essay about Amortentia and a detailed explanation on how to make it. You should know it by heart by now since we studied it for the last two months," indicated Snape from in front of the classroom. "Spare any personal experiences with the potion."
Fred and Cedric began to write with their quills.
It was late at night when the two sixth years had finished their detention with Professor Snape. It would have taken them less time if they hadn't kept glancing at each other with stern looks every once in a while.
The two of them were walking side by side along the hallway, each eager to part ways with the other. And just when that was about to happen as they drew nearer to the end of the corridor, one of them stopped abruptly.
"Why do you have a problem with me?" asked Cedric going straight to the point.
"What d'you mean?" Fred questioned as he stared at the brunette, tired and wanting to go straight to bed.
"You know what I mean," said Cedric in a serious tone. "Ever since this school year started, you've been acting like you don't like me. Yet you talk to me when you have to. You think I haven't noticed?"
Fred was taken aback by the comment but it was not a false statement.
He had been aware that his attitude towards the Hufflepuff had changed over the summer but never wanted to accept the reason for it. Fred knew Cedric wasn't a bad guy but lately he didn't want anything to do with him.
But that was hard to do since his best friend was dating the boy.
"Come off it!" Fred said with a chuckle to convince Cedric there was no problem between them. "You're imagining things that aren't there, mate."
"Oh, really?" the Hufflepuff asked sarcastically, taking a step back. "Why are you always upset when I come up to Nina?"
"Because she's my friend!" Fred snapped.
"She's my girlfriend!"
Both boys stood quiet for what seemed like a long time, especially when they were the only ones around while everyone else was in their respective Common Rooms.
"And besides," began Cedric. "She was my friend before you were hers. I remember how you and your brother used to prank her and piss her off. I honestly don't know how you three became friends."
"Wouldn't you want to know," sniggered Fred, crossing his arms and resting them over his chest. "Look, Diggory... As much as I want to keep talking with you and freeze on this hallway, I think I better go. Say... Want to continue this chat tomorrow. Does 9 sound good to you?" the redhead asked cynically and made his way to go up the moving stairs to head to Gryffindor Tower, not waiting for an answer.
But Cedric moved fast enough to catch up to him before the stairs shifted into place, pulling his arm to get his attention.
"Just tell me something," Cedric said panting from the light sprint he did, staring serious at Fred straight at his eyes while the redhead had no idea why he would want to keep this conversatiom going tonight.
"Does Nina know you like her?"
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Whaaaaaat?? Long chapter (i think), hope you like it :)
What will Fred say after this?? Ahhh the drama haha update coming next week hopefully!