Baby, You look happier, you do.
I knew one day you'd fall for someone new,
But if he breaks your heart like lovers do,
Just know that I'll be waiting here for you.
I felt Cedric shift beside me in the bed and wrap his arm around my waist. He scooted closer and pressed his chest against my back, causing me to move a little as I woke. In a failed attempt to fall right back to sleep, I tucked my hands underneath the pillows, trying to get comfy again.
Cedric propped himself up on his elbow before speaking softly in my ear, "Good morning," His raspy voice caused the hair on my neck to stand up as it stirred something inside me.
When he brought his lips up to kiss my temple, I felt a smile slowly creep across my face, "Good morning," I told him and turned onto my back to look at him. His arm remained around me, and I lightly trailed my fingertips along it.
"How'd you sleep?" He asked, smiling down at me.
"Like a baby," I replied blissfully.
"So staying the night with me helped?"
"Did you really think it wouldn't?"
Cedric chuckled, "You know you don't always have to be a smart-arse?"
I fake a wry expression, "I don't? I could have sworn it was in the life contract I signed right after God made me."
This made Cedric laugh, "Cute, Hodges. Real cute."
"I'm pretty sure being cute was also part of the fine print."
Cedric rolled his eyes, "Shut up," He put his hand on my face and gently pushed me to the other side of the already small bed. I took this opportunity to be overdramatic and flung myself off the bed, groaning when I hit the ground with a thud, making Cedric burst out in laughter.
I sat up and placed an arm on the bed. As I rested my chin on it, I blew my bangs out of my face, "Oh, don't mind me. I'm fine. It's not like I fell out of bed or anything."
He faked coughed and rolled his lips between his teeth to hold back his laughter, but as we made eye contact, he cracked up again, which made me do the same.
"Honestly, Love, You can't expect me to feel sorry for you when you throw yourself off the bed," Cedric breathed as his laughter ceased.
"And why not?" I stood up and straightened the jersey Cedric gave me last night, but my question was lost on him because when I looked at Cedric, his hands were resting behind his head, and I saw his eyes linger up and down my body, taking in my appearance.
I felt myself blush and swayed my arms lightly. The jersey's sleeves swung against the hems that rested on my hips, "Maybe we should, erm... go to class. We're obviously very late," I locked my hands behind my back and looked around at the empty dorm. His roommates must have left before we woke up.
"Orrr", Cedric's voice trailed as he sat up and looked at me with his beautiful grey eyes, "We can just stay in bed all day?"
"Ohhh. Now you're speaking my language."
He bit his lip as he reached his hands out, "Then get back over here already."
"Mmm. Yes, sir," I smiled temptingly and took his hands. He pulled me back into his arms, causing us to fall onto the bed with guffaws.
"I can get used to you calling me that," He grinned as he pulled the duvet back over us.
I nuzzled my face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Since you slept so well with me, maybe we should do this more often," Cedric offered, resting his chin on my head.
"I really wish we could."
After a few moments of silence, my head still rested on Cedric's chest. While we both sat in our thoughts, we pressed our fingertips into the other person's and watched them turn white over and over again.
Cedric was the first to break the silence, "How do you think he did it?"
"How do I think who did what?"
"Harry. How do you think he got his name into the goblet? I asked him, but he just said he didn't do it."
I shrugged, "I don't know. Obviously, there was a way to trick the goblet, but it's hard to believe Harry could figure it out. At least, not on his own."
"So you believe he didn't do it?"
Nodding, I admitted, "Sure. I have no reason to not believe him."
"I guess you're right," Cedric sighed.
I tilted my head to look at him and laced my fingers with his, "Hey, no matter what, you're still a Hogwarts Champion. The most worthy one, at that."
His face brightened slightly, "You really think so?"
"Of course, I do. No offence to Harry and all, but I can't think of anyone more deserving of this opportunity than you."
Cedric smiled and shifted his body to prop himself on his elbow again. He rested his face in his palm as he looked down at me lovingly, "I meant what I said last night, Y'know? About how I'm going to marry you when we're done with school."
I felt my cheeks turn red again, "I know, but we'll talk more about that closer to the end of school. It's still kind of early."
The look of adoration never left his face, "Maybe, but until then, I'd much rather do this," he placed his hand on my cheek and leaned in to capture my giggles with his lips. My smile melted into his as we kissed, and we were in the middle of paradise.
-------
A few days passed, and I sat beside Angelina at lunch.
Fred held The Daily Prophet in front of his face as he read it. On the cover was a huge picture of Harry, "They didn't even mention Cedric's name. Serves him right, I'd say."
I blinked, taken aback by his words, as George cleared his throat to warn him of my presence.
"What?" he questioned from behind the paper.
"Oi, Why don't you put the paper down, you lunatic?" Angelina told him.
Fred did so, and when his eyes met mine, they flickered with a bit of fear as he gulped.
I rested my chin in my palm and pretended to be fascinated by his opinion as anger started to rise in my chest, "No, go on. Please continue, Freddie. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter."
He regained his composure quickly as he rested his crossed arms on the table before asserting, "Well, it's not exactly like the Hufflepuffs have been treating Harry kindly, innit?"
"And you blame all that on Cedric? Half the Gryffindors aren't treating Harry kindly, including Ron," I protested with an unwavering tone.
The bitterness in his voice hardened like his posture, "Ron's just tired of being in Harry's shadow. Cedric could at least get his friends to stop wearing those stupid 'Potter Stinks' badges."
"You don't think he's tried? Plus, The Hufflepuffs also tire of living in the Gryffindor's shadow. This is the coolest thing to happen to their house in a long time, and now they have to share it with another house. I'm not condoning his friends' behaviour, but Hufflepuffs are often getting made fun of and underestimated."
Fred scoffed and rolled his eyes, breaking contact with mine, "Of course, you'd take his side."
"What colour do you think these bricks are, George?" Angie inquired from him, trying to make humour in this awkward situation.
George scratched his chin, playing along, "I don't know. Beigh, Y'think?
Both of them pretended not to pay attention to our fight.
I bit the inside of my cheek and turned my head from them back to Fred, "I'm not on anyone's side. It's irritating that you always feel the need to speak on things you know nothing about."
Fred took this statement as a personal affront, which it was, and got louder, "Then why do you even come around me anymore?"
"Funny, I was just beginning to ask myself the same question," I said, trying to keep my voice from rising.
He shooed me with his hand and spat, "Then go already. I haven't wanted you around anyway."
"Fine," I stood up from the table and stomped off.
Fred immediately felt guilty and quickly got up to follow me out. He tried to grab my hand to stop me, "Lettie, Wait. I didn't mean it like that. I just-"
As soon as his fingers touched mine, I yanked my hand away and turned to snap at him, "What other way could you possibly have meant it, Fred?!" The acoustics of my voice bounced off the walls as tears threatened to spill from my eyes. Oh, How I hated crying when I was so full of anger.
Fred jumped back slightly at my anger and opened his mouth to reply, but when he couldn't find the words, he closed it. Shame spread across his face before he looked down at the ground.
I huffed a little, "Exactly."
With this, I turned on my heels and stormed off towards The Courtyard.
----
Fred's P.O.V.
"Way to be a part," George hissed as I sat back at the table.
I sighed and rested my cheek on my fist as I pushed my food on the plate around with a fork. My stomach was already too full with guilt to eat anything.
"What's gotten into you lately, Fred?" Angelina questioned.
"Sometimes it feels easier being distant from her," I lied.
She retorted, "Well, if pushing her away makes you feel better, then you seem to be doing a good job at it."
The lump growing in my throat kept me from responding. Angie was right. I was pushing Charlotte away, and I can't explain why. It's just that when I look at her, it feels like my heart is breaking all over again. It didn't take long for me to piece together what almost transpired between her and Cedric at the World Cup, and the thought of them growing closer ignited this desire in me to destroy what little connection I had left with her. Flashes of them plagued my mind, and I couldn't seem to find the strength to stop myself from spouting out crude remarks about Cedric to her.
Speaking of Cedric, he came running into The Great Hall and skidded to a stop when he reached our table and spoke through heavy breaths, "Hey, guys. Have you seen Charlotte? I've got something I have to tell her."
"She uh...She left," Angelina hesitated, sounding slightly nervous.
He looked confused, "What? But we were supposed to meet here."
Then George piped in, "Actually, Fred ran her off."
I dropped my fork and gave him a look, "Dude, Really?"
He shrugged casually and took another bite of his food, "I'm not going to be on your side when you're being a knob."
Cedric's eyes flashed with anger as he looked at suspiciously, "What's he talking about?"
"Nothing," I glared at George before turning back at Cedric, "Last I saw her, she was heading towards The Courtyard."
He seethed at me with narrow eyes, about to say something, but decided against it by biting back his indignation, "I'm gonna go find her," Was all he said before leaving.
----
Charlotte's P.O.V.
I was sitting on one of the stone walls in The Courtyard, trying to figure out what was bothering Fred so much, when I felt someone tap my shoulder.
Looking over it, I saw Cedric grinning down at me, "Hey there, Love."
His smile always warmed my heart, instantly distracting me from my previous fight with Fred, "Hello, Handsome."
He sat next to me and kissed me hello, "Are you okay? I looked for you in The Great Hall, but George said something about Fred running you off."
"It's nothing," I sighed sadly, "Fred and I have just kind of been on the outs lately."
Cedric looked at me concerned, "Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head, "No. Not really."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Mustering up a smile, I leaned closer to him, "I'd much rather hear why you were looking for me?"
Cedric's posture perked up, and he raked his fingers through his hair vivaciously, "Right," He flung a leg over the wall to straddle it so he faced me directly. His hands went up when he leaned in to divulge, "I know what the first task is."
My eyebrows raised, instantly fascinated, "You do? How? What is it?"
"I do, Harry told me," Cedric got even closer so he wouldn't be overheard by surrounding peers as he whispered next to my ear, "It's Dragons."
"What?!" I responded shockingly in a loud whisper, "Dragons?"
"Yes!" He leaned back to look at me and revealed anxiously, "And I'm starting to freak out for the first time ever in this competition. You got to help me come up with a plan."
"Of course I'll help you," I told him as I pushed his bangs out of his face to relax him a little, which was working, "You just have to play to your strengths. What are you best at?"
Cedric smirked proudly, "Well, I haven't got a chance to show you that yet."
I giggled and swatted at his arm, "Cedric, I'm serious."
He laughed a little and put his hands up in defeat, "Okay. Okay. Umm, Transfiguration is something I've always done really well in. Oh, and Charms too."
"Perfect. We'll start from there," I took his hand and pulled him off the stone wall, "C'mon. Let's go to the library."
"Lead the way," He followed behind, never letting go of my hand.