Draco and Holland had decided to take refuge in the corner of the kitchens, hiding and peering from the end of the hall, eager to see Cedric and his group of friends. Another secret the school had was where the kitchens were, the twins being the ones to tell Holland about its locations and what exactly the room held. Holland wasn't surprised to find out there were house-elves in Hogwarts. After a while, she and Draco managed to sneak to the portrait that lead to the kitchens so they could enjoy hot chocolate and simply converse in a place no other student would find them in. Any student of Hogwarts knew professors were found trailing behind the students on the way to the Great Hall, and if Holland causes a big enough commotion, their house heads would be able to see the crime. Draco nudges Holland in excitement, landing his eyes on an elated Cedric, hair still slightly wet from running in the rain uncovered, most obviously and disgustingly feeling over the moon as he'd just put his name in the cup. Behind two small crowds of students, were all the professors. Holland knew it was no smart prank, but she didn't need a good prank. She just needed a prank that would be seen. It was almost against her morals to recycle a prank in less than 24 hours on the same person, but sacrifices clearly had to be made. She readied her wand on another bucket of goblin slime to pour on the already soaked boy.
"Descendo." Holland casts happily, and smiling as she'd finally seen the beautiful image of a slimed Cedric Diggory. He had been repeatedly turning his head, responding to as many excited, young Hufflepuffs and the occasional few Ravenclaws as he could. The lot had quite a ton to be so excited about, being able to witness the Triwizard tournament, and all. Holland had to make sure she wouldn't get the first years dragged into the dousing, so she waited until they were a good few feet away from him before conjuring the spell. The boy had remained silent in astonishment, while the people surrounding him and his group of friends let out yells in what seemed to be a mixture of amusement and alarm.
"Brilliant, this friend of mine is. You should have made sure the bucket landed on his head, too." Draco whispered evilly, earning a smack on the back of his head. "Ow! Fuck was that for!" Draco frowns, bottom lip jutting out as he began to rub the back of his head.
"We're here to prank, not severely injure, you bloody psychopath." Holland scolds him, not liking the violence that slowly began to creep out of her friend's personality. The two inwardly groaned at the wonderful smell of savory food wafting from the portrait of the bowl of fruit that were only a few feet away from them. Holland frowned as she knew she was about to miss tonight's heavenly chicken, but she knew she had to keep strong and stay devoted to their plan as it would all be surely worth it in the end.
"What is going on over there!" McGonagall calls, in outrage, walking through the students that had crowded over Cedric to see what had happened. People from all houses were now stopped, quietly watching and whispering to one another. Holland took a deep breath before running towards Cedric and put on a show for the entire crowd to see.
"That's what you get for hexing me this morning!" Holland purposely shouts, making sure the professors think Cedric had begun the entire thing. Nobody dared to continue on to the great hall, all were now surrounding them in a semi-circle, watching the two in curiosity and apprehension. Professor McGonagall immediately waved Snape over, as he were the one to be responsible for Holland. The professor wrinkles his face in disgust, already knowing just who he would see the moment he'd arrived to the scene. Just as he predicted, he'd been faced with Cedric Diggory and Holland Avery. Snape had to close his eyes to hide the fact that he had rolled his eyes so hard he'd actually seen brain matter.
"Clearly, this pair of wizards have not learned from their previous dispute." He says, loud enough to let the first years know he was not a professor a student should even dare to disappoint, in case they haven't had a class of potions yet. "Such a shame, wise witches and wizards should know better than to act like such imbeciles." Snape drawls out in what could only be distaste. "Professor Sprout, do come here quickly. You'll need to see this." Sprout, surprised that a Hufflepuff had gotten in trouble, began to walk quickly to the scene and softly pushing smaller students out of the way. The usually warm plump woman's mouth falls agape as her eyes fall on Cedric. The boy was soaked. In rain, in goblin slime, and in shame. He let his head fall down, dreading the moment he was currently in.
"And what is this?" Sprout demands, Cedric hesitantly raising his head to make eye contact with his house head. "For a boy who claims to be ready to enter the Triwizard tournament, you'd expect better." She says in disappointment, hurt beginning to form in Cedric's face. Holland couldn't help but actually feel a tad bit sorry, but she needed this to happen, so she immediately looked away and pretended to not have seen anything. Why was she suddenly softening up? She'd prepared for this moment, and things were going in her favor, she should be ecstatic! Who cares how Cedric felt? He didn't care how she felt when he dropped the bucket on her. Sprout and Snape were now speaking quietly to each other, whispering in each other's ears. Cedric was now stood alone, Holland in front of him. The two alongside their professors being the only people in the middle of the circle the students had formed. Draco had probably managed to sneak off to the Great Hall if he wasn't with the house elves and demanding they give him an apple.
"My office. Both of you." Snape says to them while already turned around and making his way to his office, dispersing the crowd with a simple flick of the wrist.
"Move along, now." McGonagall tells the students, who seemed to have forgotten what they were even out in the corridors for. McGonagall then lead the way to the Great Hall as the four began to walk to Snape's office.
Holland could usually bring herself to look Cedric in the eyes and give him a smirk, but she felt like she couldn't after seeing how hurt he was from what Sprout had said. She reluctantly turned her head to take a peak at the boy who'd already been looking at her. Once their eyes meet, he gives her a wink. What the hell?,Holland thought. He seemed so weird recently, deciding on a different, toe-curling, space invading approach. Holland cringed at the memory of Cedric telling her to kiss him. As much as it pained her to say it, if Cedric kept that up, she might end up caving as she couldn't stand looking at the boy more than a second.
Holland knew she had to look upset, so she let out an exaggerated sigh as she dragged her feet across the castle's tiles. The four enter Snape's office, Holland eyeing the room as if it had been her first time there. Holland had never finished a year in Hogwarts without a visit in the greasy haired professor's tidy office. In the middle of his office placed a desk, one behind it, and two in front of it. Snape and Sprout stood before the two, gesturing them to sit down.
"Feel free to sit comfortably, but to also remind yourself that whoever may be sitting there after you might not appreciate the stench of goblin slime, Mister Diggory." Snape telling Cedric to sit, but basically also telling him that if he were a kind human being, he wouldn't. Cedric frowned at this, deciding against sitting down and standing adjacent to the chair vacant for him. Like the good boy he was, he carried it to Professor Sprout, who immediately smiled despite their current predicament, thanking the boy before sitting down. Holland rolled her eyes. Even when the boy was in trouble, he still had your heart. Snape took a moment after this before finally clearing the air.
"For students above the age of eleven, you'd think keeping your wands and foolish spells to yourselves wouldn't be so such a challenge." Snape says, Sprout only nodding behind him, not wanting to say anything out of anger.
"You know, Severus, I think it might be best if the two learned to spend more time together, without wands." Sprout nods as she softly suggests the idea to him. Holland drew in a breath, biting the inside of her cheek so she could keep a straight face.
"Pomona, you may have quite the idea there." Snape raises his eyebrow in interest, Holland trying to fight off the smirk that was about to form on her face. Oh how badly she wanted to suggest something about the Triwizard tournament, but that would just completely blow her cover. She needed more, she needed to make sure Snape knew the thought absolutely repulses her. She pulled a grimace to form on her face, ready to complain.
"Now, now, Avery. The adults are talking." Snape teases coldly, dismissing whatever she was planning to say before returning to the whispered discussion between the Herbology professor. From the corner of her eye, Cedric seemed to be shaking, no longer sporting the confidence and cheekiness he had when he'd winked at Holland just minutes ago.
"Weekly?" Sprout whispers to Snape, Holland could only pretend like she wasn't excited. Snape shakes his head and says something back. "Daily?" Professor Sprout asks in astonishment. Holland could taste blood now, biting harder as she could literally feel her lips curl up so much that she probably resembled the cheshire cat.
"Not quite the result you thought'd turn out, huh? Seems like you've lost your touch, Holls." Cedric says, hoping it would annoy her and thinking Holland would be upset that she had gotten herself in trouble, as well. Holland faced the boy, bringing a finger to wipe her lip, some of the blood leaving her mouth. Cedric eyes her in a mixture of panic, confusion, and what seemed to be immense discomfort. The boy probably thought she was some sort of vampire, and Holland loved it.
"Oh, you have no idea." Was all Holland could say, making sure the two professors didn't see before she leaned towards the boy. She immediately jumped back once Professor Sprout began to speak.
"Right, it's settled then. You two are to spend at least an hour together, every day, weekends not included." Sprout starts. Holland could almost sing. This was too good to be true. Never in a million years would she have thought that she'd be this elated to have been forced to see Cedric everyday for at least an hour. She began to make a mental list of all the useless activities and false information she could plant in his things to make sure he'd be nothing but a clueless fool in the Triwizard tournament.
"Other than that, no exceptions. If the other's schedule does not fit, that is simply no longer our problem to fix. Surely fully planned hexes, slime dousing, and making a mockery of this school could mean you two are fit enough to plan out your schedules and priorities to comply with your consequences." Snape says, Sprout hiding her discomfort at the profesor's choice of words.
"Shame on me, indeed." Holland says quickly, rising to her feet and ready to bolt to the Great Hall. Holland could practically taste the chicken and potatoes, but before she could rub her belly in excitement, Snape interferes.
"Not so fast, Miss Avery." He grabs a hold of the girl's robes to prevent her from leaving, causing her to almost trip. "Don't expect your little bonding to be enough punishment to suffice on its own. You two get a week's detention." Snape says, Cedric's face contorting in horror. "Any word, expression, or even sound of complaint, and it will be two weeks of detention." Cedric's face was forcefully blank at this point, not knowing what else he could do to somehow makes things better for himself.
"First time? That's adorable." Holland teases, pinching the boy's cheek in mock adoration, sniggering at the hissing that left his mouth as he was in pain and frustration.
"If being nice and actually giving a damn about this school is adorable then yes, I'm probably the most adorable person there is out there." Cedric fires back, actually mad. How dare she not see the seriousness of the situation? It was astounding to Cedric.
"It wouldn't kill you to live a little." Holland retorts, crossing her arms.
"You could live without being disruptive!" Cedric exclaims in disbelief, this girl truly was as mad as a hatter.
"You two learn to control yourselves in any part in the castle. Spend your time together wisely, neither Pomona nor I are to watch," Snape says, earning looks of confusion from the two. Holland could easily lie her way out of this punishment had she not been hoping for this to happen. "but do continue to fool yourselves to be overly confident that the paintings and ghouls won't be able to tell us if you have actually been complying." Snape says, implying he knew Holland Avery very well. Holland simply smirked, amused with the professor's hatred for the girl.
"Right, then. Good night." Holland says, ready to leave for the Great Hall.
"Baffles me how so accustomed you are to this." Cedric mutters as he watches the girl stand, walking slowly behind her.
"If you spend the rest of your life so baffled and surprised about living with risk, I can't say you live an exciting life." Holland chirps, not caring that the two professors could hear them.
"Yeah? Well—"
"It would be fairly decent of the two of you to settle your argument outside my office." Snape dismisses the two who were still in his office. "Away with you."
-
Holland sat next to Draco and Pansy for the fourth time that week, still not talking to George. The Great Hall seemed different when Holland sat in a different table, she felt as if things weren't right. She shifts in her seat, eyeing her fellow Slytherins and meeting eyes with Aurora Harrington, her childhood friend that seemed to have an eye on her friend Draco. Holland decided to be friendly, wanting things to somehow develop between her and Draco. She gave Aurora a quick wink, the girl tore her eyes away immediately, cheeks turning scarlet.
"Still can't believe you've landed little bonding sessions with Diggory." Pansy snorts. Draco and Holland share a knowing look. The two decided to keep the plan between the two of them, not wanting to jinx their best prank yet. It was currently Thursday evening, the night all students had been waiting for. It was the night the champions for each school would be chosen. The entire hall was buzzing in excited chatter, and the sounds of wood scraping against the stone floors as students made themselves comfortable in their seats here and there.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope Diggory gets in." Draco whispers to Holland, as the three find themselves sitting on benches with students from Durmstrang. Holland snickers at what she heard as she uncomfortably returns a smile to a random student from Durmstrang. She then started looking around for Cedric, eyes landing on a redhead instead. George looked like he'd been watching her for some time, keeping his gaze on the brunette. He had kept a blank face, probably because he was still trying to see how Holland would respond to his gaze. Holland found her ribcage ready to spit out the rapidly beating heart it contained, her pulse jumping at the sight of the boy she'd been avoiding for days. Holland's eyes began to sting. Knowing she was a second away from crying once more, she tore her eyes away from her friend.
"I'm not in the mood for this." Holland softly says to herself, looking away. She was still hurt over their fight, but she had to keep her focus on Cedric. And there he was, with his friends and significantly a lot more composed compared to the last time she'd seen him. It was probably because he was no longer covered in slime and no longer moping over his first detention. But even then, he was quiet, not speaking and looked like he was going to be sick. His friends were all patting his back and whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down.
Dumbledore began to talk, preparing the entire room for the announcing of the champions. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the champion selection!" He waves his hand across the room, dimming the fires illuminating the room, increasing the glowing blue light in the room provided by the cup. Holland linked her arms through Draco and Pansy's, leaning her head on Pansy's shoulder as she knew she'd have time to relax before the Hogwarts champion would be chosen. The flame turned magenta, before spitting out its first burnt piece of paper, "The Durmstrang champion," he begins, "Viktor Krum!" Him and his friends erupt in a cheer, Holland wanting nothing but to cover her ears as the students of Durmstrang were seated so close to her and her friends. They were all giving Viktor a hug before letting him walk to Dumbledore who'd given him a handshake. Viktor then walks to the side, standing where he'd be accompanied by the other champions.
The goblet roars again as it spits out a burnt but beautiful piece of a pleated, circular piece of paper, resembling a ballerina tutu. "The Champion of Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Holland had no idea who that was, craning her neck to see what the girl looked like. A beautiful pale-skinned girl with hair even more silver-looking than Draco's stood up from beside Cho Chang, smiling as she fixed her little blue hat. Her face held a demure but winning smile as she gracefully walks to Dumbledore, also shaking his hand then positions herself next to Viktor as they waited for the last champion to be called.
As the goblet roars its last flame, Dumbledore catches the paper. "I can't watch." Holland says retreating her arms from Pansy's and Draco's to cover her face, suddenly realizing that if Cedric isn't chosen as a champion, she'd just be forced to spend time with him every day, especially since they'd been basically banned from trying to hex each other again. Draco tries to snap her out of it. "Calm down." He says. "If you can't tutor him, you can find a way to make your little daily dates worthwhile, I'm sure." He said, not at all helping his friend in calming down with his choice of words.
"Cedric Diggory!" Holland grabs Draco's hand, trying to keep a straight face and trying not to let out a roar of victory. Draco held and squeezed her hand right back, clearly just as ecstatic as she was. The two were practically vibrating in their seats, finding it almost impossible to stay put as they were feeling triumphant. Pansy fortunately took initiative to turn her head to Daphne Greengrass, sneering and most probably saying a lot of unpleasant things about Cedric to notice that her best friend and crush were holding hands and looked so elated they might as well have been seconds away from a passionate kiss. "We did it." She says, rolling her eyes as she chuckled in disbelief as Cedric pats the backs of all the Hufflepuff's he'd pass on the way to the front of the hall as if he were the minister. Despite their current situation, Holland hoped Fred and George were alright, watching someone from their year compete in the tournament when they couldn't.
"Excellent! We now have three champions!" Dumbledore was right. Excellent, indeed. "But in the end, only one will go down in history." He says. "Only one will hoist this chalice of Champions," Barty Crouch unveils a covered chalice, revealing the beautiful, blue, glass trophy. "The vessel of victory. The Triwizard cuup!" He exclaims and the students begin to applaud, coming to a stop when the goblet of fire begins to roar again, strings of flame dancing and forming helixes as it spits out another piece of paper. Holland's brows knit together in confusion. This couldn't be good. Dumbledore caught it instantly, opening it and reading it with an unreadable expression. The entire hall had fallen silent, no student nor teacher dared to move or even breathe in suspense of the current scene.
"Harry Potter." Dumbledore reads, not seeming to believe what he'd just read. Holland's pulse quickens, No, she thought to herself. Students begin to turn heads, either to look at their friends in wonder and curiosity, or to look for the boy whose name had been called. Not only was the tournament only supposed to have three champions, but it shouldn't allow somebody as young as Harry. He was three years below the allowed age. Holland, being his friend for almost four years, knew there had to be some form of skullduggery going on.
"No. This is wrong, there has to be some kind of mistake." Holland says out loud, standing and trying to get somebody to not make Harry walk over there. "Hello? You're going to let him compete? He couldn't possibly have outsmarted the age line." Holland sassed, Harry eyeing her as if he were saying, 'Thanks, Holly.' The Slytherin had earned nothing but neglect by the students who didn't roll their eyes at her. She sat back down in defeat, muttering to herself that if another student dared to roll their eyes at her once more, she would make it so their eyes would never leave the back of their bloody empty heads.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore yells, making Holland cringe in discomfort. The headmaster barely yelled. "This can't be." Holland whines as she sat back down. "Why are they letting this happen?" She says as everyone watched the boy slowly walk to Dumbledore.
"He's a cheat!"
"He's not even seventeen yet!" Shouts and roars emerge from a few students in the suspenseful silence as Harry strode over nervously to Dumbledore.
"Couldn't take another moment not to being in the spotlight, I see." Draco scoffs.
"I know Harry. He wouldn't do this." Holland says more to herself than Draco as she knew he had no intentions of ever trying to be understanding for Harry Potter.
The champions and the professors were to meet in private as the students were dismissed. Holland bids a hurried goodbye to Draco and Pansy before scurrying off to Hermione and Ron, squeezing through a wave of students.
"I can't be the only one who thinks this was planned somehow?" Holland breathes out, tired from her previous journey being smushed between multiple students.
"It was planned. His plan. And it worked. End of story, goodbye, the end." Ron says, bitterly quoting their lunatic of a professor, walking with Seamus on the way back to their common room. Holland immediately turned her head to Hermione, who looked just as surprised and confused as she was.
"Hermione.." Holland trails off, hoping she wasn't thinking the same thing.
"I don't know what's going on, but I don't think Harry has any business gunning out for eternal glory. Don't think about this too much, Holly. We'll talk tomorrow." Hermione places her hand on Holland's arm, comfortingly stroking it with her thumb before bidding the worried girl a goodnight before walking over to a waiting Ginny before the two made their way to Gryffindor tower.
Holland ran a hand through her hair in distress, watching the hall slowly being emptied of students. She felt a hand on her shoulder after she sits down on a bench. She turned to see a red-haired twin, heart beating quick before realizing it was Fred. "Hello there." She says sadly.
"We haven't talked in ages, Holly." He says, sad as well. Holland was now watching the cup in the front of the hall, admiring its blue flames.
"I'm sorry. I really am. You know how much I love you two, I was just worried and didn't know what I was saying." Holland says quickly, not wanting their argument to go on any longer.
"Why is that so hard for you to say to Georgie, then?" Fred immediately asked and Holland winced. She had a feeling this was how the conversation was going to go.
"Are you kidding? That's all I've been saying. He doesn't want to hear it. I'm tired of trying to say something to somebody who won't listen. What's the point, then?"
"That's not true, Holly. George has the worst attention span, but the only person he could listen to talk for ages is you." Fred says, smirking at how easy it was to get the girl to blush.
"Sod off, that can't be true." Holland rolls her eyes. Even though she felt relieved to have been finally talking to Fred agian, she wondered where George was.
"Though, it is. Give him an hour to talk with me, and he'd already be asleep after half of it." Fred jokes.
"I'm just letting things fall in place on their own, I guess. I've done my part, I know I have. I don't hate George. I could never hate you two, but right now I still have Diggory to worry about and I can't let anything else distract me."
"Those priorities of yours sound a bit unsorted, Holly." Fred eyes her in concern and a hint of frustration. Was this girl really putting Cedric before him and his twin? Were they just a distraction for her now?
"It's a long story, you two would have easily understood that if one of you weren't ignoring me." Holland says, standing up as she had gotten impatient. "We should probably go to bed, now." She says, realizing that the Great Hall was now empty. The two say their goodnights and part ways to head to their own common rooms.
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