Today’s November the 24th, the day of the first task. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.
After I told Harry about the dragons, he went to inform Cedric.
I gave Hermione a hint and she helped Harry prepare. I would have done it myself, especially because I promised him to help, but I couldn’t.
Fred avoided me, well, actually I avoided him, too. At this point I didn’t even know who avoided who. I opened up to Hermione about the whole thing with Fred and obviously she told me to talk to him.
I’m sure that Fred also talked to George, because every time we saw each other he looked at me pitiful, what doesn’t helped my situation.
I missed him terribly.
After I hugged the life out of Harry, I was currently standing by Cedric. He noticed that something wasn’t right and we began to spend more time together.
I liked his company. He’s kind and I can’t deny that he’s also quite handsome. And I had to move on from Fred.
„Be careful, okay?“ I was nervous.
„I am. I promise you I’m not going to die.“, he chuckled and kissed my cheek.
After I said goodbye to Cedric and wished him good luck, I made my way to the library to get Hermione.
I found her sitting in a corner, head buried deep in a book. Nobody else was there.
Apparently all of the other students were already on their way to the quidditch pitch where the first task took place.
„Hermione, are you ready to leave?“, at the sound of my voice she looked up and nodded. She bookmarked the page she was currently on and closed it. She then gathered her belongings and approached me.
„I’m worried about Harry.“, I said after we walked a bit in silence.
„Mhmm..“, she hummed.
„‘Mione? Mind telling me what’s on your mind?“. I kicked a little stone down the path.
We were some of the last students to went down to the pitch and I just hoped that Ron would have saved us a place.
„You and Cedric, huh?“, she stopped and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
„W-what?“, I laughed and stared at her in disbelief.
„Cedric is my friend, he’s nice, he treats me well and if you haven’t seen it before he is also extremely handsome, and yes, maybe at some point he will be more than a friend.“, I can’t believe she had to bring that up now.
Hermione glanced over my shoulder and her eyes went wide. I quickly spun around and my eyes landed on Fred. Shit.
He opened his mouth as if to say something but he just scoffed, shook his head and turned around.
That was the last straw for me and I ran after him. I heard Hermione and George calling my name but I didn’t care. If he doesn’t speak to me now, he will never have to do it again.
„FRED! Stop!“
He stopped and faced me. I saw George and Hermione still watching the scene. Probably to jump in if something happened.
Fred took long steps towards me, he watched me like I was his prey. My confidence vanished. He looked intimidating. He’s already much taller than I was and now he seemed even taller than before.
My heart began to pound. I heard my blood rushing in my ears. My hands began to sweat. I had no idea why my body was reacting that way. Nothing’s happened so far.
„What?“, he spoke, his voice deep. And in an different situation I definitely had found it sexy.
„Why are you ignoring me? We had fun and then you kissed me. And then you stormed off and avoided me.“
Fred ran a hand through his hair.
„It was a mistake, okay? I know you don’t want me, because you want that Diggory boy. So why are you making such a fuss now, huh?“
His words hit me hard. It felt as if someone squeezed my trachea shut and suddenly I felt unable to breathe. I felt a sting in my eyes and knew I was about to cry.
But under no circumstances I’ll gave him the satisfaction of seeing my cry.
„You know what? Fuck you, Fred! I thought you were my friend. And want to know something else? That Diggory boy is exactly who I need right now“. I yelled at him.
Why did I say that?
Fred looked like a lost puppy. Like a toddler who just dropped his ice cream. He looked hurt. And I was the one who caused that.
Without saying another word he turned around. I looked after him, unable to move. After a second George began to ran after Fred, calling his name.
And soon after Hermione stepped up beside me. When I looked at her, the tears that threatened to fall before, began to stream freely.
Hermione just hugged me without saying a word. A couple of minutes went by throughout I just sobbed into Hermione’s shoulder, when we heard Dumbledore’s voice.
I let go of Hermione and wiped my tears away. There’s no way I was going to miss the first task.
„I’m okay. Let’s go, yeah?“, I forced a smile and then we began to walk to the pitch.
We made our way up the stairs after we spotted Ron in the crowd. We made it just in time before a canon shot signaled the beginning.
I saw the twins sitting in the same row and unfortunately we had to pass them to get to our seats.
Fred was deep in conversation with Angelina who happened to sat beside him. I rolled my eyes at them and sat down between Hermione and George.
George nudged me with his shoulder and when I looked up at him he used his pointer finger and thumb to pull up the corners of my mouth. I forced him a fake smile that doesn’t reach my eyes whereupon he pouted.
I didn’t know how much time passed before Hermione snapped her fingers in front of my face.
„Mh?“, I looked at her and she pointed down the pitch were Harry could be seen.
Apparently I missed the performance of the other champions, including Cedric’s. Great, I’m a really good friend. I didn‘t even know if he managed to get the egg or not.
-----
Harry successfully completed the first task. And now we’re back in the common room where everybody celebrated his victory.
I sat alone in a corner, sipping on my pumpkin juice. I didn’t feel like celebrating. I was just glad that Harry had made it without any bad injuries. After the task, I hugged him for ages and told him how proud I was.
Currently my eyes were on a specific ginger. I observed him. How his soft hair moves when he repeatedly pushed a strand out of his eyes. The little dimples on his cheeks and the wrinkles in his eyes that formed when he laughed.
I felt terrible about what I had said to him. And I’m scared that I really had lost him forever. Just as I had gathered all my courage and wanted to approach him, Angelina came up to him. He leaned down to her and she whispered something in his ear. Then he nodded and followed her up the boys dormitories.
My heart shattered for the hundredth time.
I stood up and my made way out of the common room. After a little walk I stood in front of the Hufflepuff common room. I had my wand pulled out and stared at the entrance.
Was it the second barrel from the bottom, or the third, and was it in the middle of the second row or was it the first. I know I had to tap it in the rhythm of „Helga Hufflepuff“ but my stupid brain won’t remember the right barrel. And I didn’t fancy getting doused in vinegar.
„What’re you doing here?“
I jumped away from the entrance when I heard the voice behind me and turned around.
Cedric.
„Erm, actually, I wanted to see you but I couldn’t remember how to enter.“, I fiddled with my wand.
„Well, lucky for you that I’m here now. I just came back from the owlery.“, he smiled at me. „So how did I deserve the pleasure?“
„Oh, right. Congratulations, you survived the first task.“, I smiled back at him.
Eventually we sat down in a corner near the common room. We talked about everything under the sun. I felt good in his company.
Hours went by in a rush. Cedric took my hand at some point and drew figures in my palm with his pointer finger.
After the third time that I had yawned, Cedric decided it was time for me to go to bed. I was really knackered so I didn’t complain.
He helped me up and offered to walk me to my common room which I gladly accepted. When we arrived at the Gryffindor common room, he turned towards me.
„I had a great time. And I wish we can do this again.“, he said and before I knew it he pressed his lips against mine.
His lips were soft but nothing compared to a certain pair of lips. I felt bad for thinking of someone else while kissing Cedric, so I carefully pushed him away.
„I’m sorry. I should have asked beforehand. I didn’t mean to offend you.“, he scratched his neck while looking apologetically at me.
„No, it’s okay. I’m just.. To be honest you caught me off guard. But it’s fine. I also wish we could repeat that.“, I smiled at him before I whispered the password and disappeared through the portrait hole.
Fred
I’ve been watching Penny all night. She looked so lonely over in the corner while everyone was partying. I was about to go over to her when Angelina came to me.
She wanted to show me something in private . And I was naive enough to follow her. Well knowing that Penny saw us.
When Angelina tried to kiss me, I immediately pushed her away from me. And when I got back into the common room, Penny was gone.
I’ve waited a little longer before I decided to follow her. Hours passed and I didn’t find her. I cursed at myself that I didn’t have the map with me.
After a while I gave up and went back to our common room.
And then I saw her. I stopped and hid around a corner. Cedric was with her. And when he kissed her, my heart broke into a thousand pieces.
Penny
Today McGonagall informed as about the Yule Ball. We were all gathered in a classroom with a big gramophone in the middle. The girls were excited, as well as some boys. And even I was quite excited.
We partnered up to practice the dance. I danced with Harry and I already felt sorry for the feet of his future dance partner.
December arrived. One Saturday, Hermione and I sat in the library, studying and doing homework in silence, well, until Hermione broke those silence.
„You know you have to talk to Fred again at some point, right?“, she closed her book and watched me.
„Maybe. But he’s the one who have to apologize.“, I answered coldly. I knew it’s not Hermione’s fault, so it’s unfair to spoke to her like this. But the whole Fred thing just made me upset.
„I’m not so sure about that. I think you both do things that were wrong. Look, you two have always been close. You don’t really want to throw that away, don’t you?“
I took a deep breath and finally looked at Hermione. She watched me with kind eyes.
„I miss him, Hermione. I really thought that there could be more between us. But the way he acted after the kiss… that just.. It hurts… it still does. And now there is Cedric. I really hope I’m able to move on from Fred.“
„But you can’t use Cedric only for that. He didn’t deserve it.“.
I know that Hermione was right and I didn’t even wanted to use Cedric just as a rebound.
I enjoyed spending time with him and maybe my feelings would get stronger.
„I know.“, I huffed. „okay, I’m going to speak to Fred, maybe we can sort it out. And I really have feelings for Cedric. It’s just that Fred was my first crush, it’s not that easy to move on from that… you should know that, 'Mione.“.
I raised an eyebrow and Hermione blushed but nodded.
„One of them might ask you to be his date for the Yule Ball. So get your act together.“, she smiled.
„Speaking of that. I think someone wants to talk to you.“, I snickered when I saw Victor Krum enter the library, searching for someone and smiling when his eyes landed on Hermione.
I winked at her and packed my stuff and left the library.
-----
Today was a Sunday. The 18th to be specifically. It had begun to snow and currently I sat under a tree in the courtyard. The sun was shining but it was still freezing.
I wore a long coat, winter boots, a beanie, a thick scarf and gloves. Only my eyes were still visible.
Nobody had asked me to the Yule Ball yet. And I was getting nervous.
I heard someone come up to me. The snow crunched under the person’s shoes. And when I looked up I was met by a grinning Cedric.
„Hi.“, I smiled.
„Hi. Erm, listen, I have no idea how to do that and I’m shitting my pants right now so I’ll just ask you straight away.“ He took a deep breath.
„Willyougototheyuleballwithme.“, He spoke so quickly that I had a hard time understanding him. I stared at him with my mouth open.
Say yes, Penny.
The longer I stared at him, the more nervous he was getting.
Yes. Yes. Three letters. Yes. It’s not that difficult.
„Can I think about it?“, Those weren’t the words I wanted to say, but they just came out. I internally face palmed.
Cedric’s smile faltered.
„Um, sure.. Yeah, alright. Erm, just let me know if you have an answer.“ And with that he hurried away from me back into the castle.
I stayed for a little longer. Just staring at the black lake. I tried to comprehend what had happened. When I couldn’t feel my feet and fingers anymore, I went inside.
It was warm in the great hall. I sat between Hermione and Harry. A little further from us sat the twins, as well as Angelina and her group of friends.
Harry and Ron were arguing about them not having a date yet. When Fred chimed in. He made fun of Ron until Ron asked him, who his date was.
Fred looked around, his gaze met mine. He made a ball out of a piece of parchment and threw it on Angelina. My heart dropped to my feet when he asked her to the ball.
I excused myself and went over to the Hufflepuff table.
„Can we talk, Cedric?“, I asked him and mentioned to the door. He smiled and followed me.
„Do you still want to go to the ball with me? Because then my answer is yes.“
His smile only grew wider when he hugged me and kissed my cheek.
„I would love to. Let me know what color your dress will be.“, he winked when he went back to his table to finish his dinner.
I felt terrible. I really want to go to the ball with him. But something inside of me had hoped, that Fred would ask me.
I didn’t deserve Cedric. I’m acting like a fucking child.