Y/N POV
I wake up earlier than Hermione. Resisting the urge to wake her and tell her she's slept in through her first class, I get up and pull on my robes. I brush my hair, grab my bag, and quietly head down to the Great Hall.
It is still quite early so it's only a very small amount of students are up. I grab a slice of toast with jelly and open my Charms textbook. Soon enough, more students begin to shuffle in. The Gryffindor table remains particularly empty.
"Why up so early y/n?" A voice says to my left. I look up from my book to a handsome boy with brown hair and yellow robes.
"Good morning Cedric." He stands there for a moment awkwardly. "You can sit down silly," I say. He smiles and sits besides me.
"Good holiday?" He asks, setting his books down on the table.
"Yeah, I spent most of it at the Weasleys', how about you?"
"Yeah, good. A bit boring."
"You're an only child, right?" He nods solemnly.
"I'm sorry, I bet holidays get boring."
"Yeah, that's why I spend most Christmas holidays here with friends." He grabs a couple of grapes. "Anyway, can you believe everything about the Triwizard Tournament?" I close my book and give Cedric my full attention.
"No! This has to be the most exciting thing to happen at Hogwarts in forever! I'm super excited for it! Fred and George want to figure out a way around the age restriction, even though I fully respect the age restriction. They wouldn't install it if it weren't for our safety." A small smile tugs at the corner of Cedrics mouth. "I wonder what Hogwarts students will be wanting to compete." I take a deep breath and then I remember something. "Wait, Cedric, you're a seventh year," he nods. "Are you going to compete?"
"I'm not sure. It is dangerous and I don't think I would be chosen." I scoff.
"Cedric, you're one of the most talented and popular boys here," he blushes a bit. "You'd definitely have a chance."
"Yeah, you might be right." Cedric pauses and looks at my lips. My heart jumps. He lifts his hand to the corner of my mouth. "You have a little, uh, jelly." He chuckles and wipes it off. My skin tingles where his hand was.
"That's embarrassing." I say and pick up a napkin and wipe my face again.
"No no, it's very cute." Our eyes meet. He scratches the back of his head nervously. We both smile. What is going on?
"Ahem." We both turn our heads to see Fred and George standing over us.
"Fred, George. Morning." Cedric nods at them. The twins nod back. "I was just leaving. See you around y/n." He stands and with a smile, walks over to the Hufflepuff table. I bite my bottom lip and the twins sit down. George sits in front of me and Fred besides me.
"Flirting with Diggory now huh?" George asks. I tear my eyes away from Cedric.
"Sorry?"
"He's stealing your girlfriend, Freddie!" George smirks. Fred puts his arm around me and looks back at Cedric.
"As if!" Fred scoffs and kisses my hand. "Isn't that right darling?"
"We were just talking." I pull my hand away from Fred. "We haven't talked to each other in a while so it was nice to catch up."
"Catching up. Alrighty y/n." George winks at me. He loads potatoes onto a plate. "Looked a lot more than that! Both your faces were bright pink!"
"No they weren't!" I protest. George nods, turning to Fred.
"Weren't they Freddie?!"
"I didn't get a good look." Fred says softly, grabbing a bowl of porridge.
"He is a lot cuter and taller than I remember," I confess. George's eyes widen and I regret what I said immediately.
"Ha! So you were flirting with him!" George says, obviously proud of his right observations. More students file in and the Great Hall is now full of voices.
"No no, I was just admitting that I find him attractive!" I put my charms book back into my bag. I take a look at Fred and he doesn't look so good. I place my hand on Fred's shoulder. He flinches at my touch. "I would never cheat on you Fred." I say, a bit flirty. He doesn't meet my eyes and takes a bite of his food. "Okay, then."
"What's wrong Fred?" Lee says as he sits down with us. "You look like you're going to be sick."
"I'm fine, just a bit tired." He says. He pushes his mostly full bowl forward and picks up his bag. "I think I'm going to head to class early. I'll see you all later." He walks out of the Great Hall.
"Y/n, what did you do?" Lee asks. My mouth falls open.
"Me? I didn't do anything!" George looks at Lee and then looks away. "George wanna say something?"
"She and Diggory were rather friendly this morning" he says, chewing on some sausage. Lee looks at me shocked.
"You're dating Cedric?"
"No no no!" I kick George's shin underneath the table. Sausage falls out his mouth as he groans and grabs his leg. "No! I came down early and he was here so we just talked." Lee looks between George and I and then over at Cedric.
"Okay first, ouch y/n!" He gives me the stink eye and I give it right back. We unintentionally get involved in a staring contest. My eyes burn and I eventually give in. "Haha loser!" He gloats. "Anyways back to the story. Fred and I walked in and they were locked in some lovey dovey-" Lee quickly interrupts him.
"You were snogging Cedric?!" He screams. A few people at our table look at us questioningly and then turn their attention back to their breakfast.
"No I wasn't!" I hiss at him. "Keep your voice down for goodness sakes!"
"You didn't let me finish Lee! They were locked in some intense eye contact" George says.
"Wow eye contact!" I wave my hands dramatically. "Very romantic."
"To be completely honest, y/n, eye contact is pretty intimate. Especially for men." Lee confesses.
"Well then I'm sure it doesn't do much for you boys," I grab an orange off the table and stick it in my bag. "I'm going to go find Fred and make sure he's alright."
"Okay y/n, but don't be surprised if he doesn't talk to you." George says as I stand.
"And whys that?" I ask, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "He's my best friend, why wouldn't he tell me what's wrong?" George and Lee exchange a look and then both shrug smuggly. I wait for their explanation but after a few seconds of silence, I give up. "Whatever. I'll see you both later." I walk out of the crowded Great Hall, bumping into people and getting rude responses on the way out.
The Fred Weasley I know would never go to class early so where would he be? I just start walking, hoping I get a feel of where to go as time goes on. I walk outside of the school and onto the grounds. The fresh morning air feels good on my skin. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
I walk toward the Quidditch Pitch. Sure enough, sitting on a hill close to the field, I spot a tall ginger haired boy. He's staring off at the sky and around the beautiful stadium and doesn't notice me. I settle right beside him and he jumps a bit, not expecting company. When he realizes it's me, he returns his eyes to the sky.
"Fred?" He doesn't meet my eyes. "Freddie what's going on?" I ask. When he doesn't answer I get up and sit right in front of him, blocking his view of the field. He turns his head to the side. I grab his face and turn it to me. "Talk to me." He looks everywhere but my eyes. Defeated, I let go of his face. I return to sit by his side. "Okay, then I'll just sit here with you."
We sit in silence. He inhales deeply and for a moment I think he's going to talk, but then he exhales and stays silent. I watch all different kinds owls fly to and from the castle. After another ten minutes of silence, I look at him and place my hand softly on his cheek. He slowly turns his head and meets my eyes.
"I just want you to know that I love you, and you're my best friend and I can't stand you being upset. Especially with me." I tell him. His cheek warms underneath my hand. He doesn't say anything but without warning crushes me in a hug. My heart melts and I wrap my arms around him. "I just want you to be okay." He nods against my chest.
"I'm okay," he mumbles, "just had a bit of a rough morning." I nod and he lets me go.
"You swear to me I didn't do anything wrong?" He nods and sticks his pinky out. We lock our pinkies, kiss our thumbs, and press our thumbs together. I beam at him.
"Oh! I have something for you." I announce and I reach into my bag, pulling out an orange. I hand it to him. He looks a bit confused.
"Erm, y/n." He says, staring at the fruit in his hand. "You're a bit odd." I smack his knee.
"You had about two bites of breakfast this morning, and I already had to deal with moody Fred, I don't want to deal with cranky Fred!" He opens his mouth to protest but I don't let him. "And don't even pretend that you wouldn't be cranky! I've known you for way too long to not know you through and through!" He backs down and begins to peel the orange. He waves a sliver of it in my face.
"Doing this for you." He pops it into my mouth. We gives me a few pieces and we sit there, enjoying the silence and the clouds moving across the sky. For a moment, everything is good. Everything is peaceful. Then the clock begins to chime. "Well. We should probably be going," He stands and offers a hand to me. I take it and he yanks me up. A little too hard. I slam into his body and he stumbles a bit and then regains his balance. One hand is on his chest and one hand is still in his hand. I let go quickly and try to recover without Fred noticing my embarrassment.
"Yes," I smooth down my skirt and flatten down my hair. "Yes, we should be going."