⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
it was a gloomy day, the weather wasn't great, but everyone was excited for the Triwizard Tournament. It's basically the only thing everyone's talking about, aside from the Yule ball that followed up.
You we're hanging out with Penny, Cedric, and other Hufflepuffs in the courtyard.
"Have you seen the fanbase Victor Krum picked up ever since he got here?" Penny laid her head on your lap comfortably. "Haven't been paying much attention to him really."
"Well that's because the only guy she's been paying attention to is Mr. Riddle over there," Cedric butt in from the side, earning an in sync of "Oooooohh~" s from his friend group.
You were visibly embarrassed by this and swatted Cedric on the arm, but this only caused him to cackle even more.
Suddenly you felt a drip of water on top of your head. You looked up at the gray sky and held out your hand to confirm.
It had started to rain. It didn't take long for it to completely pour over you guys. By seconds, each and every one of you were drenched.
That didn't stop any of you from having a bit of fun though. All 7 of you were just messing around in the rain, having the time of your lives.
"Penny..! you did that on purpose!" Penny flashed you a wicked grin. "Oh I am so going to get you back!" you chased after her around the courtyard.
"Have you entered your name in yet mate?" An upperclassmen yelled out to Cedric from under the shades.
You all came to the realization that Cedric hasn't entered his name into the goblet of fire, as he did wanted to join and was as of age.
Cedric's friends burst the door open as you all ran to the center of the room where the blue fire was lit.
"C'mon Cedric!" "put your name in!" everyone cheered as he stepped up and tossed his name in the goblet.
once the piece of paper was burned in the flames, all the Hufflepuffs wanted to go back to the common room to dry off before the announcement.
As you were about to come along, you saw the trio along side Mattheo sitting, and decided you wanted to talk with them.
"y/n are you not coming?" Cedric asked as he watch you make your way to them.
"I think I'll let this dry naturally," you jokingly said.
"Alright, I'll get you back a towel so you won't catch a cold." He nodded and turn to his friends.
he was a good prefect and a good friend.
You yelled out a thank you as you walked towards your 4 friends.
"heyyyy, what are you guys up to?" you took a seat next to Hermione.
They had seen you run in with the other Hufflepuffs so they didn't asked why you were drenched.
"not much, we're just here to see who's putting their names in the goblet." Hermione peaked up from her book.
"Are you cold? " Mattheo asked as he saw all the water that was dripping from you. "Don't worry, It's actually quite warm here."
Harry looked like he had lost something, "I think I left my notebook in the potion classroom, I'll be back," he said in realization. "I'll come with, I need to grab something from the common room anyways," Mattheo followed.
"Since when does he take notes..?!" Ron's eyebrows furrowed. "Probably his diary or some sort." You three shrugged it off.
You, Hermione, and Ron chatted about the students from the other wizarding schools; like the manly, heavy looking Durmstrang and the prim and perfect Beauxbatons. "Victor krum is quite all it, if I'm being honest, " You teased Hermione. You saw him earlier, giving Hermione those looks. On the other hand, Ron didn't look too happy about him.
About 10 minutes into the conversation, you felt a tap on your back. "Sorry I took so long, are you cold?" Cedric tossed you a towel and his sweater.
"Don't worry, It's washed, ... I think," he chuckled.
"Thanks Cedric," you rolled your eyes at him while drying your hair with the towel.
he flashed you a warm smile before heading back to his friends. "Make sure to come back later for announcements!"
Cedric felt like an older brother to most of the students in Hufflepuff. It's very nice having someone like him around to keep everyone in line.
Putting on the sweater, Hermione and Ron send you a smirk and you knew exactly what they meant.
"Don't even start, he's like a brother to a bunch of us; and besides, he's dating Cho Chang, didn't you know?" you dried your hair some more.
"Cho Chang? as in the "two pumpkin pasties please" Cho Chang?" Ron asked.
What a weird way to refer her.. but you nodded, then Hermione and Ron looked at each other then back to you. Hermione sat down her book next to her, "Harry fancies her," she said in a low voice.
You felt bad, especially saying it out so bluntly. "Yeah, whenever she's around, he gets all.. weird, " Ron scrunched his nose at the thought of it.
"better to let him find out himself." she added. you nodded as Harry and Mattheo came back laughing. "seems like they had a fun time, " you said raising your eyebrows. Honestly, it's quite odd seeing them all close. But it isn't bad.
Harry took his seat next to Ron, and Mattheo came up to you. He looked at you up and down and his smile faded just a little. He took a seat next to you, but he started to act a bit odd.. perhaps he felt under the weather?
he didn't even let out a small chuckle when Fred and George failed to put their names in as they weren't of the age yet and tried to use an aging potion that led to them being old. Honestly it was very entertaining.
everyone burst out laughing, even Hermione. Whilst Mattheo just stayed in a small sad looking smile. you didn't want to assume but you did try and cheer him up, by making small talk or making jokes. Though nothing worked, he seemed, bothered by something.
Only then did you realize the sweater in his hands as he tightened his grip on them. Maybe he really was feeling ill.
a long time passed and Penny called you over to the Hufflepuff's table as the announcement was going to happen in a few minutes.
Mattheo was first to leave and sat with his other Slytherin friends.
you said goodbye before heading to the Hufflepuff's table and you sat in between Cedric and Penny. waiting for the announcement of the Hogwarts champion quite anxiously.
The Durmstrang campion was chosen, as expected it was Viktor Krum that was chosen by the goblet. soon enough The Beauxbatons champion was chosen, a very pretty girl with long blonde hair named Fleur Delacour. The Hogwarts champion was seconds from being announced, nervous gasps were shared across the room as the flame turned red and the piece of paper flew out. "The Hogwarts champion.., Cedric Diggory!" everyone was excited, some even got on their feet, cheering Cedric on. "Go on Cedric!" Penny nudge his back signaling him to step forward and stood where other champions stood.
as Headmaster Dumbledore silenced everyone about to give his speech, but as he did the flame glowed red again, that never happened before. a paper flew out as confusion filled the room, Dumbledore slowly opened the paper,
"H-Harry potter.." what..???
"HARRY POTTER!" he shouted once more.
Everyone stood silently.
you looked across the room as everyone did. Hermione pushed him slightly as he slowly stood up and walked still in disbelieve on what's happening. whispers filled the room in the matter of seconds.
you saw the fear and confusion in Harrys eyes, he never wanted this. right after, they took harry to Dumbledore's office.
Out of curiosity, you followed them and Mattheo noticed. He made the decision to follow you so he could reassure your safety.
"HARRY DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE?!" Dumbledore asked "calmly". you were hiding behind a tall wooden wardrobe, watching and listening carefully.
not even knowing Mattheo had followed, you were shocked when a voice close to you said in a steady voice "He's telling the truth, professor."
Mattheo stood still, looking relaxed and calm.
"Mr. Riddle you have no business being here!" one of the Professors shouted. "He's telling the truth." he took a few steps forward.
"How do you know if he's telling the truth or not?!" a question was thrown at him.
"He was with me the entire day. During the time of name entry, we both were in the dungeons," he said leaving the whole room quiet. "And what business did you have down there when everyone was up here?"
Mattheo sighed, "Harry had left his notebook in the classroom, whilst I was getting my sweater for.. a friend.." He hesitated on that last part.
before any response, Professor Snape stood forward casting a spell on him. Reaching in his mind to see if what he said was true. And indeed, it was the truth.
This was a magnificent sight. A Potter and a Riddle, who would've thought?
not that long after, the floating bright line connecting Professor Snape's wand and Mattheo had been disconnected.
"He isn't telling lies," Snape said stepping back. The teachers dismissed the two students as they bickered among themselves if Harry would actually be joining the tournament.
they both left, and right before the door closed you followed out happily knowing Harry was never in the wrong.
As you walked out, Mattheo was leaning on a near wall waiting for you.
"thought you weren't gonna make it out alive."
"That was nice of you, Riddle," you said smiling.
Harry of course approached you both to say thank you to Mattheo. this really shows that Mattheo was infact different from his father.
Harry then left you both alone once again.
You suddenly catch Mattheo eyeing you up and down. "Take that off."
"Pardon?" You were taken aback
"Gray looks better on you," he grinned as he threw the sweater he was holding right on to your head.
wait.. was he.. jealous? You blushed at the thought of it but didn't say anything as you complied to his request with a wide smile.
-
The next day you realized that almost the whole school despised Harry for the incident. No matter how hard Harry tried to convince everyone that he really didn't put his name in, no one believed him.
Everyone would throw angry stares at him and snarky remarks. Whispers everywhere he went. Soon enough you found out that even Ron was angry because he believed Harry had gone behind his back to put his name in the Goblet.
He felt Harry should have told him and taken him along so he could have put his name in too. Ron was upset that it was always Harry in the spotlight, never him. you thought that that was very immature of him yet you still did understand how he thought Harry always had the spotlight.
This of course made Harry annoyed. Which resulted in the two ignoring each other.
Hermione didn't want anything to do with the whole situation, but still avoided Harry so she doesn't get involved.
you actually didn't really want to be a part of this as well but you did reassure Harry that you believe him, and you'd still cheer him on through out all of his tasks.
to avoid any conflict, you mostly hung around Mattheo as you both would often be together whether it was fooling around with each other, flirting, or making fun of how Hagrid has the hots for the Beauxbatons Headmaster.
on a random night while you were chilling in your common room having a snack on your favorite chips, you heard a knock and you rolled your eyes as you were too lazy to get up, but you did anyways. "Harry? Mattheo? what are you-" you were about to ask "shushhh" harry cut you off and tried to explain quietly. he said he had gotten an information from Hagrid about the first task and he wanted the only 2 people that stood by him to come with.
you were complaining but you went anyways. you three hid behind a bush close to Hagrid that looked put together for the very first time. "is he taking us to be his wing man on his date?!" you asked a little grossed out while eating chips.
"did you seriously bring that with you?" Harry asked. before you could answer, Mattheo grabbed your bag of chips and threw it far. "HEY! you owe me," you say glaring at him. Harry shushed you both as they saw something in the distance. fire.. and a voice of a creature..
"DRAGONS?! THAT'S THE FIRST TASK?!" Harry shouted in shock. after realizing someone might of had heard you, you three ran out and started rambling to each other about it. you were so worried for him you barely slept.
The day after didn't get any better.
A lot of people were wearing "potter stinks" badges, most of them who wore it were Hufflepuffs as they felt Harry was trying to take this away from Cedric.
You felt bad for your friend, especially knowing that Harry told Cedric about the first task at the courtyard and left right after. But what annoyed you the most was that Cedric didn't seem to care as he sat there with his friends laughing about.
you approach him before he went back to his group, you pulled him by his sleeve and gave him a sharp stare, "was the badges your doing?" you asked angrily.
"Oh they're harmless!" Cedric shurgged.
"Aren't you supposed to be a prefect?! Honestly Cedric I looked up to you as a role model. I don't think I can do that anymore." You shock off his sleeve from your grasp harshly.
You left to console Harry and help him train for the first task with Mattheo and you convinced Penny to help, as he still hadn't made up with his friends yet.
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇