The next morning, word had spread quickly of what had happened between Draco, Catriona and Pansy, because of Pansy. She had been found outside underneath the bleachers crying her eyes out. Naturally, she told whoever had found out, and that person told their group of friends, who told another group, and so on it went over night until even Mad-Eye Moody had began to hang around Draco and Catriona more. Harry and Hermione had had a good laugh over this, and neither had noticed that Ron hadn't let out a single chuckle.
While Ron was having his troubles, so were Catriona and Draco. Draco would find his girlfriend breaking down in his arms, leaving tear stains on his school robes.
"Everyone thinks I'm a slut," she sobbed, her voice muffled by Draco's robes, "what happens if mother hears about this?"
"You're not a slut," Draco replied to her firmly. He refused to let Catriona believe that she was a slut. "You're the most perfect girl I've ever met, with the sweetest and kindest personality. If we were old enough, I'd marry you." he admitted shamelessly.
This made Catriona's head lift up a bit. Draco saw that her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair a bit messy, yet he couldn't help but think how beautiful she always looked.
"Really?" she asked him, a smile playing at the edges of her lips.
"Of course," Draco kissed her forehead, and hugged her even tighter.
"Don't ever let me go," she whispered, and Draco promised her that he wouldn't dream of it.
***
The couple emerged from the Room of Requirement a few hours later, just in time for supper in the Great Hall. As they walked in together, everything went quiet for a few seconds, until people started whispering and pointing. Catriona and Draco seperated, walking to their own house tables independantly, regardless of what anyone said. Draco admitting that he would marry Catriona had put her in such a good mood, she couldn't stop smiling and didn't care that the girls next to her were staring, or that Cedric Diggory was looking at her longingly. She simply filled up her plate and listened to Dumbledore make his speech. All the while, she kept glancing at Draco, who kept glancing back and smiled to himself secretly. Once Hogwarts had eaten, and their bellies were full, everyone made their way back to their dormitories. Draco was waiting at the doors, and once Catriona had joined him, the pair began walking to the seventh floor corridor. They were climbing the stairs to the seventh when a voice called for Catriona. Catriona and Draco spun on their heels and found Cedric Diggory coming up behind them.
"Hi!" he said, taking large breaths, as though he were swigging down some pumpkin juice.
"Uhm... hi?" Catriona answered, giving him an odd look.
"I was wondering if you and Draco would want to come to our Quidditch practise," he asked.
"When is it?" Draco asked.
"Right now," Cedric grinned at the two. Catriona looked at Draco, who shrugged his shoulders.
'Why not?" he accepted, and the three began walking to the Quidditch pitch.
"So Diggory," Draco began, "Why are you practising for Quidditch when all matches have been cancelled this year?"
"Gotta keep in shape, mate!" Diggory kept walking, "Although, it's clear you've been doing so as well, if you catch my drift."
Draco let out a false laugh, when in his mind, he was stabbing Cedric Diggory to death.
Eventually they made it to the Quidditch field, where things had been restored to normal, where the rest of the Hufflepuff team were dancing around in the air on their broomsticks.
"So why'd you invite us here?" Catriona's voice was filled more with curiousity than with suspicion.
"Well, in all honesty, we kind of felt bad that you and Draco are being treated like criminals," Cedric admitted, climbing onto his broom stick.
"That's really sweet," said Catriona, and she smiled at him kindly, her eyes practically saying thank you.
"Nah, it's nothing really," he said, then turned to Draco, "I managed to get your Quidditch clothes and broomstick out here."
"How did you manage that?" Draco asked, walking over to one of the walls, where his robes were hanging on his Nimbus 2000.
"A little inspiration from Potter's stunt at the First Task," admitted Cedric shyly. He was staring at the ground and his right foot was making circles in the grass. He didn't know why, but Cedric felt shy around Catriona.
"I'll be right back!" Draco dashed off to the change rooms with his emerald clothing in his hands, his blonde hair bouncing and shining in the sun. Once he was out of sight, Cedric looked up a bit. "So, what are your plans for the summer?" he asked her.
"I'm not completely sure yet, to be completely honest with you," Catriona smiled, "I'll let you know as soon as I do. What are you gonna be up to after this whole tournament is over?" "Same I do every year," Cedric shrugged, then realised that Cat didn't know what he usually did in the summer, "I usually go camping with dad, and I used to go with the Weasleys up until a few years ago. I suppose they just got busy, with Potter being a close family friend of the Weasleys..." Catriona hadn't spoken about Ron in days, and having Cedric talk about being somewhat close with their whole family made her a bit angry, but she managed to hold it down.
"That must've been fun," commented Catriona, for she couldn't think of anything else to say. Draco was running back to them, now in his Quidditch robes. He stopped a few inches from them, grinned wickedly at Catriona, and then took off. His robes were sticking to his chest, showing off his abs for a quick minute. Draco did flips and twirls in the air, mostly because he wanted to have fun. It had been ages since he'd been on his broom.
"I'll be off too!" Cedric said, now climbing his own CleanSweep, "If you want to join us, there are some brooms in the shed over there."
With those words, Cedric took off. Catriona considered this for a moment, then began walking towards the shed Cedric had mentioned a few seconds ago. From there, she grabbed the nicest looking one there, and climbed on. She had no idea how to do this, though. She'd never in her life climbed a broomstick, once.
"One leg on each side," she whispered to herself, "Tight grip on the handle, don't wanna slip off while I'm fifty feet in the air."
Before she knew it, Catriona's feet had lifted off the ground and she was skyrocketing towards a blur of yellow. The Hufflepuffs saw her coming, and quickly dashed away. In a matter of seconds, she'd come to a stumbled stop. Draco was holding her tail.
"You almost crashed!" he laughed, "Be a bit more careful, won't you?"
"I'll try my best," she winked, and then floated there for a few seconds, watching everyone else fly about so graciously. Catriona couldn't help but keep her eyes on Cedric, who let the snitch have a ten minute start, where he'd go after it and catch it in less than a minute. Of course, she'd watch Draco do it even faster, but she was impressed that a boy with such a strong build could do it so easily.
It was getting dark, and Catriona noticed her bum was aching. She wanted to get down, but didn't know how, and she was too embarassed to actually ask anyone.
"Draco!" she finally gathered up the courage to ask, "How do I get down?"
Draco had been busy with Diggory; they had both been taking turns shooting the Snitch in different directions, and then watching the other go after it.
"Just will yourself," he shouted back, "Think of yourself floating down, and it's as though your broom can hear you. Don't try too hard though."
Catriona imagined herself floating down, but in a matter of seconds, that image became her plummeting down to Earth. Then, just as Draco had predicted, her broom heard her. Catriona could feel gravity pushing her down, harder, and harder. Catriona let out a scream, and looked down, noticing that she was only a few feet from the ground, so she shut her eyes tight.
She thought she was dead when a pair of strong hands had her back, that perhaps an angel had caught her and was taking her to heaven.
"Are you alright?" even the voice sounded angelic! But she realised that an angel wouldn't be asking her such a blatant question.
The voice didn't belong to God, or an angel, not even Draco. It belonged to Cedric Diggory.