"I still can't believe you didn't snog Cedric," Astoria said to me as we stood in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The third years had D.A.D.A right before the fourth years did, so I often saw Astoria, Ashley, Melody, and Ginny while I was on my way in and they were on their way out.
"I saw him in the hallway this morning, and I almost snogged him for you," she went on. It had been over a week since my midnight meeting with Cedric, yet it was all that Astoria wanted to talk about. "Honestly, he's a hunk."
I stifled a laugh as Ashley nodded frivolously. "A Quidditch hunk," she added.
"C'mon, you two mindless bozos," Melody grunted with a nasally tone. Her tired eyes and sallow face were still focused on the book in her arms. "Let's get out of here before you two drool everywhere."
"Are you still sick, Melody?" I taunted, raising my eyebrows at her. Even if this was the only time she was ever sick in her entire life, I'd never let it go. She constantly berated people for being sick, as if it were solely their fault.
"Shut it, Mudblood," she sneered, glaring up at me. "You're always sick, you dirty, diseased, nasty...gross..."
Unable to finish her sentence, Melody looked back down at her book before stalking out of the room. Astoria and Ashley followed quickly behind, both still enthusing about Cedric's good looks.
"Lainey," Ryan Harper prompted as he and Vince Anderson walked by. "Can you—like—cure Melody for me? I've been avoiding her for almost a week and it's torture—at this point I think I'd rather just catch her disease than be away from her for so long."
"I thought you were moving on from Melody to get with her little sister?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side.
"She's still young though...and I don't really want another black eye, so..."
Anderson snickered maliciously as Harper elbowed him in the gut. He wasn't laughing after that.
"Well, even if I did know how to cure Melody, I wouldn't. She probably just has a cold, and besides, she deserves it—"
"Don't you say that," Harper snapped, pointing his finger in my face. His features softened immediately as he lowered his hand. "You probably are right, though..."
I laughed to myself as Harper and Anderson exited the room. Most of the fourth years had arrived by now, so I took my seat next to Malfoy, who had a mischievous grin on his face.
"What are you so happy about?" I asked skeptically, furrowing my brow.
"You really don't know? Pathetic, Mudblood," he snorted, shaking his head. "Well, since you're so daft, I'm going to come up with the most ridiculous lie to explain why I'm so pleased—like, I just love to look at your face, it's so beautiful."
I rolled my eyes, leaning back in my chair. "I'm not daft enough to believe that. Honestly, Malfoy, you'll have to come up with something a little bit better."
"How about...I constantly want to snog you?" he offered, his eyebrows jumping as his smirk held strong.
I coughed violently, grabbing my throat dramatically. "Well—that is arguably even less believable. Try again."
"Hm...I fancy you?" he mocked with a hint of malice.
"Horribly unbelievable. Honestly, the worst lie so far—"
"I'd rather date you than Pansy."
I sat up, blinking as his grin widened. "Wait—that's a lie? You'd seriously take pug-face over me? That's pretty low—but a believable lie."
"Oh—was I still supposed to be lying?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he studied me. My jaw dropped slightly as my wide eyes stared at him, but I didn't get a chance to express my utter befuddlement before Professor Moody came stomping into the classroom.
"We'll be working on countering the Imperius Curse today," Moody announced as he dropped some papers onto his desk. "I'll be putting the curse on each of you so you can experience its power and attempt to resist its effects."
"What?" I blurted, feeling my chest swell with anxiety. This was my worst nightmare—
"Relax, dimwit," Malfoy muttered to me as Hermione began to rant to Moody about the ethics of the situation. "He said Imperius not Cruciatus."
I let out a deep breath, nodding once. "Right, right, of course..."
Malfoy's pondering eyes didn't leave me until we all stood up to began moving desks out of the way. Even though we weren't practicing the Cruciatus Curse—which I surely would have left for—I still didn't like the thought of being under Moody's complete control. What if he made me do something extremely embarrassing? So far, he only made the Gryffindors jump around in an amusing manner, but he always seemed to have a more sinister way of treating the Slytherins.
Pansy went first, and apparently he'd told her to reveal something sob-worthy, because she began blubbering about her pet cat dying. Crabbe went next, and I assumed Moody told him to add two plus two, because after about three minutes of standing there with a pondering expression on his face, he finally said, "Four."
Malfoy was called to go next, but instead of walking to the middle of the room, he pushed me into the circle instead. I stumbled, nearly losing my footing as I found myself standing in front of Moody.
"Well, Fitzroy, if you're so desperate to go—" He held his wand up, pointing it directly at me as my body froze. He was about to use an Unforgivable Curse on me—oh God—"Imperil!"
Suddenly, all of my anxiety seemed to fade away. It was actually somewhat...relieving. I wasn't stressed about school, drama, or visions of my mother. Honestly, I felt like I could just take a nap, but then—
Tell him how you truly feel... Moody's voice echoed through my brain. I nearly jumped at the sound of it, my eyes darting frantically as I tried to focus on one thing. My vision seemed so blurry—
Go tell Draco Malfoy how you truly feel about him, the voice in my head commanded, and I immediately felt inclined to do so. The only problem was...how did I really feel about Malfoy. I mean—I'd always hated him, of course, but now that I was being told to reveal my true feelings, something seemed different.
Slowly, I took a few reluctantly steps toward Malfoy. I couldn't see his face very clearly, but I could tell he was alarmed to see that I was closing the distance between us.
That's it, tell him how you really feel...
My head was spinning as I tried to make sense of the situation. I was supposed to tell Draco Malfoy how I truly felt about him, except the words on my tongue didn't seem to be the same as what I'd been telling myself for years—
No, I couldn't tell him that—I couldn't tell him what Moody wanted to tell him. I mean, it was the truth—those words on my tongue—but I didn't want to say them out loud—that would be ghastly—
Tell him, Mudblood! Tell him now!
No, no, no... my brain whined as I clutched my head between my hands. I closed my eyes, trying to drive the voices out of my mind—
Tell him how you really feel about him—
My eyes flew open, but I could barely see. The pale face and platinum blond hair was blurry in my vision as Moody's gripping voice took over my weak mind.
"I like you," I blurted reluctantly, my body relaxing as I gave into Moody's demands. The world slowly came back into focus as I heard the clamor of snickers throughout the classroom. When my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was staring at a very smug Draco Malfoy. I blinked furiously, my mouth gaped open in utter shock. I had just told Draco Malfoy that I liked him—how—
"Bet Moody told her to give the biggest lie she could think of," I heard Ron mutter on the other side of the room. Malfoy's eyebrows jumped at me as I struggled to find words.
"Good attempt, Fitzroy," Moody's true voice said to the entire room. "Malfoy, you're up."
Malfoy shoved past me, slamming his shoulder into mine violently as he swagger toward the middle of the circle. I slowly took his spot, still feeling slightly petrified. How would I explain that to him? Would he believe that Moody had told me to tell a lie? Could I even believe that what I'd said was a lie?
But...I had to have fought off the curse and just told an utter lie, right? I mean—how could I like Malfoy? He was a horrible person, truly loathsome—obviously I didn't fancy him, but even liking him as a friend would be a crime wouldn't it? I—I didn't like him at all...did I?
∆
As Halloween approached, we were informed that the competing schools in the Triwizard Tournament would be arriving on Friday, October 30th. Because of this, students would be dismissed from classes early that evening and meet back in their common rooms to assemble. I skipped my last class all together that day, not only because it was Arithmancy and I'd been trying very hard to avoid Malfoy, but because I decided that it was time to initiate plan Ton-Tongue Toffees. Oh—and Truth Testing Toffees, which is what Fred and George had decided to name their lie detecting candies.
While all of the Slytherins were in their last class of the afternoon, I spent the hour distributing the colorful toffees into candy dishes around the common room. Since it was nearly Halloween, the Slytherins would easily take mysterious candy that was lying so temptingly in plain sight. Especially those who were as daft as Crabbe and Goyle...
I tried to blend in with the crowd when the Slytherins began to stagger back into the common room, although Harper and Melody—who were in my Arithmancy class—found me immediately after dropping off their books in their dormitories.
"Where were you, Fitzroy?" Harper demanded. "You are never going to catch up in that dumb math class—"
"She was never caught up to begin with," Melody snorted maliciously.
"Thanks Melody," I retorted sarcastically. "I think I'll figure it out. I had more important things to do. Wait—Melody—where's your book?"
"What book?" she questioned as though she didn't always have a book in her hands.
"Um—any book? You're not reading—it's weird," I observed, eyeing her skeptically.
She shrugged dully. "Something is happening that's actually mildly intriguing. Plus, Harper's going to be all over the Beauxbatons girls and I can't wait to laugh when he's rejected."
"If, Mel, if," Harper corrected smoothly. "Besides, I'm not really into French girls. I'm more into your sister Harmony."
Harper looked over at her expectantly as she scrunched her nose at him. "Is that supposed to irk me?"
"Fitzroy," Malfoy barked as he swaggered through the common room. "Skipping class, huh? Or have you realized that your brain capacity is too low for you to pass so you dropped out?"
I pursed my lips, narrowing my eyes at him. "Maybe I just had better things to do than spend an hour seated next to someone as revolting as you."
"Oh! Burn!" Harper sang, although he immediately cowered back at Malfoy's scowl.
"Ooh! Candy!" Pansy Parkinson squealed as she took a heaping handful of toffees on one of the end tables. I tried not to look too pleased.
"Oh yes!" Adrian Pucey enthused as he began to collect toffees in his pocket. Soon enough most of the Slytherins had gathered around the candy dishes to try to snatch a few toffees. I pretended to scratch my nose in order to hide the widening smirk on my lips.
"What's got you so smug, Fitzroy?" Malfoy sneered, wrinkling his nose at me.
I shrugged casually. "Just excited to meet some Durmstrang boys."
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Of course... Well, I can't wait to meet the Beauxbatons girls. I hear some of them are vela."
My lips curled displeasingly as I eyed him with contempt. "I hope you actually kill yourself trying to get to them this time."
"Assemble a line," Snape's dull voice called throughout the common room. Everyone turned their attention toward him as the first years scurried to form a line. I gave Malfoy one last scowl before catching up with the third years.
"The Durmstrang boys are just going to be so hot," Astoria was gushing when I approached them.
"Really?" Melody mused, giving me a discrete eyebrow raise. "Please tell us how you know."
"Oh Melody—I just know. I mean, how could they not be hot? They're boys."
"Viktor Krum goes to Durmstrang," Ashley said. She turned her head back toward the sixth years. "Hey—Adrian! Your lover boy is coming to Hogwarts! You and Krummy can finally be together!"
"Get stuffed, Ashley," her brother called back as his friends all snickered.
All four Houses filed down the massive front steps of Hogwarts castle in eager anticipation of the other schools' arrival. As the rest of the students buzzed with excitement, Astoria wouldn't stop talking about the "older, sexy Dumstrang hunks."
"I don't even think Evan would care if I hooked up with one of them—or all of them. They're just that spicy."
I scratched my head uncomfortably as I tried to avert my attention somewhere else. For the last two minutes that we'd been standing out here in the cold, Harper had been trying to get Harmony to look at him, so I decided to focus on that.
"Harmony—Flemming—Harmony—blue hair—Gryffindor—"
Harmony Flemming finally looked over at Harper and sent him a crude gesture with her finger that Melody found hysterical.
"Good one, sis," Melody called over to her blue-haired sister. Harmony then proceeded to give her sister the same sign of disdain. Melody turned to me with a sly smirk. "Told you she was a bitch."
"How is she in Gryffindor?" I wondered out loud. Before Melody could give me some snide answer, however, I heard my name hissing from the Gryffindor's line. Er—my nickname, actually.
"Fitz—pst, Fitz—"
I turned my head toward the Gryffindors to see that the Weasley twins were beckoning for me to join them. My eyes darted around hesitantly as I confirmed that no professors were looking my way. Then, as inconspicuously as possible, I scurried over toward the Gryffindor line.
"It is cold out here," I hissed, rubbing my arms with my hands. "Bloody hell—"
"Here," Fred began as he quickly unraveled the scarf around his neck. "Take my scarf."
Any chill within me dissipated as heat rushed to my cheeks. "I—I can't wear your scarf. It's Gryffindor colors."
"Oh come off it, Fitz," Fred retorted with a dramatic eye roll. "You're more of a Gryffindor than a Slytherin anyway."
Pressing my lips together, I gingerly reached for the scarf that Fred was handing to me, but before I could grab it, he swiftly began to wrap it around my neck. My fast-beating heart nearly burst with elation.
"Well, better?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows at me.
I nodded once, hoping he wouldn't be able to see my blushing face in the dim, evening light. "Yeah, thanks."
"So, Lainey," George began, but before he could get another word out, Colin Creevey popped up next to us.
"Hey Lainey!" he beamed excitedly.
"Shh—Colin!" I snapped as I glanced around warily. "I don't want anyone to know I'm here. I'm supposed to be with Slytherin—"
"Oh—but you're going to stay, right? I mean—you'll sit with us for the feast, right?" he questioned expectantly.
"Er—probably not. I'm sorry, Colin, but I think I'm obligated to sit with the Slytherins. Look—"
"Since you can't stay, can I get a picture of you?" he pleaded, shaking his camera with excitement.
"Uh—no—"
"Just stand still and smile," he commanded as he held his shiny new digital camera up to his face. Before I could try to protest, I heard the snap of the picture and saw the flash that went with it. Luckily, I only had to blink once to remove the blinding sensation in my eyes.
"Ooh, Fred was in that one too!" Colin jabbered.
"Thanks, Creevey," Fred acknowledged heartily.
"Are you seriously paying him to take pictures of me?" I groaned.
"You think I'm made of money, Fitz? Colin just takes pictures of you for fun."
"Oh—yeah. You're my favorite person to photograph," Colin gushed. "You always have the best facial expressions! Although you do look a bit intimidating when you walk down the corridors alone..."
I rubbed my forehead, scowling at an amused Fred.
"Anyway, as I was saying—" George started, but he didn't get another word out before all of Hogwarts' students began to burst with commotion.
"It's Beauxbatons!" Colin exclaimed as he ran back toward the front of the Gryffindor line.
I squinted up toward the sky to see that an enormous flying carriage—led by winged horses the size of elephants—was soaring down toward the castle.
"Well, that's an entrance," George commented dryly.
"Er—what were you trying to say, George?" I prompted, shaking my attention away from the massive house-like structure that was approaching.
"Right," he said, turning to me. "We were wondering if you've tried any of the candies on the Slytherins yet."
"Now would be the prime time," Fred pressed on. "Considering it's nearly Halloween."
"And the professors will be most indignant if the Slytherins' facial features begin to blow up when the other schools are here," George added.
My lips slid into a crooked smirk as I looked between the twins. "It seems I'm one step ahead of you boys. Why else would I have skipped last period other than to spread toffees throughout the Slytherin common room?"
"You skipped a class?" Fred questioned incredulously.
"That seems unlikely," George agreed, raising an eyebrow at me.
"You guys think I don't take pranking seriously? Come now, do you know who you're speaking with?"
Before either twin could respond, the Beauxbatons girls had flaunted by, gaining the notice of all of the Hogwarts boys.
"Whoa, Freddy—check out that blonde one," George mused, his eyes glued to her as he tapped on his twin's arm.
Fred followed his gaze as his grin widened. "I like that brunette, personally, Georgey."
I rolled my eyes bitterly as I crossed my arms. "Pigs—all of you—"
"Oh come off it, Fitz," Fred insisted. "You ogle over Diggory all the time—"
"It's only fair that we get to look at a few girls," George finished, nodding fervently at me.
"Unless you're jealous," Fred sang, wriggling his eyebrows at me.
"Because you fancy Freddy," George muttered lowly, giving me a wry smirk.
"Oh you two, come off it," I scoffed. "I'm not jealous of those girls—they're like Barbie dolls, honestly—"
"What dolls?" both twins questioned in unison.
I shook my head, glancing bitingly over at the Beauxbatons girls again. "Never mind..."
"Well, if you're not jealous, maybe I'll go talk to the brunette," Fred announced, his words gnawing at my patience. The thought of Fred with another girl—especially one of those girls—
Before I could let the thought consume me, the school was in an uproar again because Durmstrang was arriving. Instead of coming by air, however, this second school came by an underwater ship that emerged from the lake.
"Oh good, the boy school is coming," I noted vindictively. "Since you're so keen on getting with the Beauxbatons girls, Fred, I s'pose you'll have no problem if I hit it off with one of the Durmstrang boys."
Fred's cocky grin faded as his jaw shifted with resentment.
"Oh, just look at them," I cooed teasingly as the Durmstrang boys began to disembark from their large ship. "So...large and...attractive."
Fred's eyes slanted over at me as his lips curved cleverly. "You know, Georgey, I think Fitz might need one of our Truth Testing Toffees."
George's eyebrows shot up as he mimicked his twin's crafty facial expression. "Do you detect a lie in our ickle Slytherin, Freddy?"
"I do, Georgey—she must be lying about her attraction to these Durmstrang blokes."
"And why must I be lying?" I countered, holding my head high with dignity.
"Everyone has a type, Fitz, and your type does not match with these goons," he insisted, peering over at the Durmstrang students again. They wore thick coats that made their already stocky structures look even bulkier.
"Oh yeah? And what is my type, exactly?" I probed.
"Well, to begin, there's Ronniekins—"
"So, dull, annoying, and red-headed," George confirmed.
"And not nearly as massive as them," Fred added.
"But I'm over Ronniekins," I insisted irritably. "My type can change, can't it?"
"Not that much," Fred said.
"Besides, red-head is clearly a requirement for you," George pried.
My brow furrowed as I looked between the two of them. Of course I knew where George was going with that; he seemed thoroughly convinced that I fancied Fred. But I played along, nonetheless.
"How so?"
Before either of them could answer, however, the Durmstrang boys were walking by, and one of them caught their eyes.
"That's Viktor Krum!" they both exclaimed in unison.
"Hey—Ronniekins!" Fred called over to his brother. From the section of fourth years, Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked over at us. "Your boyfriend Krum is here!"
"Oh shut up!" Ron snapped back, although he couldn't seem to get the beaming smile off of his face.
As the four Houses filed back into the castle after the Durmstrang crowd, Harry, Ron, and Hermione caught up to us, Ron still enthusing about Krum.
"Hermione—he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"
"Doesn't sound like a very solid relationship to me, Ronniekins," Fred teased, earning a scowl from his younger brother.
"Seems like you two need some relationship counseling," George piped in. "You two can go with Fred and Lainey—"
"George!" I griped indignantly.
"Oh—Lainey," Ron greeted, noticing me for the first time. "Why aren't you with the Slytherins?"
"Is that a question, Ron?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
I let out a laugh as Ginny—who had popped up next to us—giggled to herself.
"Oh true—so, anyway, Lainey," Ron prompted, "apparently I haven't charged you for that marvelous spew badge you're wearing—"
"S-P-E-W!" Hermione seethed, scowling venomously at Ron.
"Whatever," he droned before turning back to me. "So, that'll be two Sickles, Lainey."
"You actually bought one of those things?" Fred teased, eyeing my S.P.E.W. badge with an expression of mockery.
I glanced vaguely at Hermione, who seemed very heated about the entire situation.
"I—er—didn't realize they cost money—"
"Oh—Lainey, don't worry about it," Hermione assured me briskly. "I forgot to tell you that we were trying to raise money for the cause... Just let her be, Ron."
"Let her be? You made us pay!" Ron complained vehemently.
"Oh hush up, Ron," I said as I rummaged through my robes. "I think I have two Sickles to spare for Hermione's...cause."
"It's not just my cause, Lainey," Hermione replied formally. "It's the cause of all of us."
I handed two Sickles to Ron, who was still grumbling about paying money, while the twins just shook their heads at me.
"You should be saving that money, Fitz."
"Yeah, you need to have twenty Galleons ready to pay us in two years," George reminded me. Of course they hadn't forgotten about our bet that I'd get more O.W.L.s than them.
"Almost three years, Georgey, don't forget how young she is," Fred pestered, winking.
"Twenty Galleons!" Ron blurted in outrage. "Lainey—what did you do?"
"Er—" I began, but we were entering the Great Hall now, and I saw that Ashley and Harper were ardently waving for me to come join them. "I—have to go. I'll talk to you guys later—"
"Wear that spew badge nice and proud, Fitz," Fred teased lightly, although as I was walking away I heard a rattle of complaints from Hermione.
When I sat down at the Slytherin table between Ashley and Harper, they were pointing animatedly while Astoria was gazing dreamily at—
"Durmstrang!" Ashley hissed in my ear. "Lainey—Durmstrang is sitting with us!"
I peered down the table a bit to see that right across from Malfoy sat Viktor Krum, and beyond him were the rest of the Durmstrang boys. Seeing them up close now, I was thoroughly disappointed by their looks, but if it made Fred jealous, I could be a pretty good actress...
"Well, Astoria? Sexy hunks or what?" I questioned, glancing amusedly at her.
She let out a swooning sigh as she propped her head up by her arm. "So sexy."
"Sexier than me?" Anderson huffed. "I find that hard to believe."
Astoria snapped her gaze over at him with her nose crinkled in disgust. "Um—how do you find that hard to believe?"
"Give Anderson some credit," Melody pried. "He's ugly, but at least he's not as butt-ugly as Crabbe."
"Wha—did someone—uh...?" Crabbe stammered bemusedly as he peered over at us.
"Crabbe is not butt-ugly," Ashley insisted defensively. "He's butt-...pretty."
Crabbe's face contorted with even more befuddlement as Melody snickered maliciously to herself.
As I glanced down at the Durmstrang boys again, I noticed that Malfoy was now smarming up to Krum.
"I just knew that you'd catch the Snitch," Malfoy drawled smugly. "It's only a shame your teammates couldn't score enough points for you win the Cup—"
"Go stuff yourself, Malfoy," I snapped down at him. He and Krum immediately turned their attention to me, Krum looking inquisitive while Malfoy growled venomously. "He's all talk, Viktor. The entire match he wouldn't stop talking about how horrible of a Seeker you are."
"Oh, but I knew you'd catch the Snitch," Astoria cooed. "You're just too sexy not to."
"My brother absolutely adores you, Viktor," Ashley gushed snidely. "I bet he'd marry you if he could."
Krum opened his mouth to spit out some bewildered response, but before he could, Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the Great Hall.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and—most particularly—guests," he greeted, beaming out at all of the students in the Hall. "I have great pleasure—"
I stopped listening when someone yanked on the red and gold scarf around my neck, nearly strangling me.
"What the bloody hell is around your neck?" Harper questioned, tugging on the scarf. I pulled it away from him before shooting him a nasty scowl.
"It's just a scarf—blimey, Harper—"
"Is that a Gryffindor scarf?" Ashley blurted much too loud, gaining the attention of all of the Slytherins seated around us.
"Oh, I'm so glad I didn't bring a book," Melody mused to herself as she gave me a sinister grin.
"What are you doing with a Gryffindor scarf, Mudblood?" Malfoy barked hotly. "Take that garbage off—"
"Relax—"
"Who gave that to you, huh?" he demanded. "One of those blasted Weasleys, I assume—"
"Just drop it," I grumbled, turning my attention back toward Dumbledore. Apparently, the Headmaster had nothing left to say, though, because he had taken his seat, and the feast had begun.
"Which Weasley?" Malfoy growled through his gritted teeth.
"That's none of your concern," I replied stiffly.
The tables were now bursting with food, but all of the Slytherins around me were too preoccupied with glaring at me hatefully to even notice. I ate quietly, feeling very discomforted with the high amount of tension surrounding me.
Malfoy had seemed to forget about Krum all together, as he spent most of the feast grumbling to me about "Gryffindor trash" and "Weaselbee scum." Harper kept tugging tauntingly on the scarf as though it were some foreign object, while Ashley was completely appalled that I would "support" a House that we competed with in Quidditch. Melody was looking particularly smug over the fact that everyone was cross with me, while Anderson kept trying to "predict" which Gryffindor I would marry. Astoria paid no mind to my scarf dilemma, as she was too busy goggling at the Durmstrang boys.
However, after Dumbledore had explained the rules of entering the Triwizard Tournament and presented the Goblet of Fire to us all, Astoria had a few things to say about my scarf.
"Let me guess," she began as the students began to file out of the Great Hall. "You slept with one of those hot Weasley twins and then grabbed his scarf by accident."
"Er—no—"
"Don't deny it, Lainey. I know you like one of them. And it's no shame to be a thirteen-year-old tramp. I mean—I will be slightly jealous if you have sex before me, but—wait—you didn't bang both of them, did you?"
"Astoria," I groaned, throwing my head back. "I haven't slept with anyone—I haven't even kissed anyone, and you know that."
She snorted. "Of course I know—you refused to kiss handsome-Diggory. If you won't snog him, who will you song?"
"No one, because I'm thirteen," I insisted, flatly. Before Astoria could rant about more inappropriate sexual things, a great commotion exploded among the Slytherins that were scurrying out of the Great Hall.
"Mah tongue!" one kid exclaimed as his tongue rapidly expanded out of his mouth. It was nearly impossible for me not to laugh as half of the Slytherins' tongues sprouted to a size so massive that they were unable to speak. A few of the Slytherins' noses had begun to grow as well, which was really no surprise; most of the Slytherins lied with every word they said.
Adrian Pucey's tongue was weighing him down, much to Ashley's delight, Pansy's nose had nearly sprouted to the size of her head, large enough that she couldn't even see, and Crabbe and Goyle's tongues were nearly as fat as they were.
All of the Hogwarts Professors quickly rushed over to the affected Slytherins while the rest of our House was buzzing with panic. I seemed to be the only Slytherin—other than Melody—to find this whole thing entirely hilarious. Among the other Houses there was a loud, coursing laughter that radiated throughout the Great Hall.
I glanced over at the Gryffindors to see that Fred and George were ecstatically amused. When Fred met my eyes, he gave me an excited wink that nearly had me giggling.
As the unaffected Slytherins proceeded to the entrance hall, Ginny ran up to me with fervent energy.
"That was hilarious!" she hissed enthusiastically. "You really got those Slytherins—I'm sure they'll be furious when they find out those candies belong to Fred and George."
"Speaking of them, can you give Fred his scarf back?" I asked as I began to unravel the scarf. "I forgot to give it back to him when we came inside—"
"Oh, don't worry about it," she assured me. "Fred wants you to keep it. I'm sure it's pissing off the Slytherins. The twins thought the toffee prank went brilliantly, by the way. They might just ask you to go into the pranking business with them."
I wanted to smile at the thought, but something else had caught my eye—something that brought a hideous scowl to my face. "That flirty swine—"
Ginny whipped her head around, following my gaze to find Cedric Diggory standing on the other side of the entrance hall with that Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang. They were standing awfully close, and he was giving her that same charming smile that he always wooed me over with—
"That downright git," Ginny blurted. I'd told her about my midnight meeting with Cedric—which at the time she'd been excited about—but now her feelings had clearly changed. "He's foul—leading you on and then flirting with Cho. I never really liked Cho anyway, she's...well...I just don't like her."
"Because Harry likes her?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
Ginny's cheeks flushed red. "Well—maybe. It looks like we both have a reason to dislike her now, though."
"Yeah," I replied, my eyes still lingering in Cedric and Cho's direction, "I guess we do."
It wasn't really Cho I disliked, though; it was Cedric that I liked, and it was completely foolish of me. He was a seventh year and I was a third year; it would clearly never work. And he and Cho looked so perfect together—probably because she was only two years younger than him, not four. But the way he'd acted with me the other night...
"Are you all right, Lainey?" Ginny asked, peering over at me with concern.
I blinked, bringing my vision back into focus. "Yeah, fine..."
The events in this chapter correlate with The Goblet of Fire Chapters Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen.