Inner Circle
As the group made their way down the corridor, Juliet caught Cedric glancing at her with a look of quiet frustration. She couldn't shake the guilt gnawing at her stomach, especially knowing Cedric didn't deserve to be dragged into this mess — but most of all, she didn't want Cedric to be so overwhelmed with the guilt that he would fess up and tell Snape it was her idea. With a quick glance to make sure no one else was watching, she slipped away from the group and tugged Cedric aside into a quieter corner of the castle, away from the others.
"Cedric," she began softly, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked down, not meeting his gaze at first. "I'm... I'm sorry for all of this. For dragging you into it. You shouldn't even be part of this mess."
Cedric's expression softened for a moment, but the disappointment in his eyes was unmistakable. "Juliet, it's not about me being dragged into it. It's about what's right. A student got seriously hurt, and nobody's stepping up to take responsibility. Don't you think that's a problem?"
Juliet swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her. "Look, I know it looks bad. But... Hogwarts isn't going to expel the entire Slytherin house, Cedric. The threat of expulsion is just that — a threat. Snape's trying to scare us into confessing. If we all stay quiet, the worst that can happen is some detentions. It's... it's better this way."
Cedric shook his head, clearly unimpressed with her reasoning. "This isn't about the consequences, Juliet. It's about your conscience. You're all more worried about protecting yourselves than admitting what happened." His gaze sharpened, as if seeing through her facade. "Do you even know who hosted the party?"
Juliet froze, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked away, her throat tightening. She couldn't admit the truth, not now — not to Cedric of all people. "No," she lied, her voice barely audible. "I don't."
Cedric's eyes narrowed, and for a moment, the air between them felt heavy with unspoken tension. "You're lying," he said quietly but firmly, the disappointment in his voice cutting through her like a knife. "You do know. But you're not going to say anything, are you?"
Juliet's chest tightened as she met his gaze, her mind racing with a thousand excuses, a thousand ways to deflect. But none of them would work. Not with Cedric. His sincerity, his determination — it was something she wasn't used to encountering. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
Suddenly, it had all come crashing down on Cedric. Everything. The things people said about the Slytherin house — cunning, cheating, manipulating — had all started to make sense. He refused to let himself think for a second that these people weren't just going to look out for themselves. They were inner-circle, and when it comes down to it, they would save each other's ass and throw Cedric's under the bus.
Cedric sighed, his shoulders sagging as if he'd expected this all along. "I thought you were better than this, Juliet." His voice was quiet, but the sting of his words was unmistakable.
He turned and walked away, leaving Juliet standing there, her mind swirling with guilt and confusion. She wanted to call out to him, to say something, anything to fix the situation. But the words stuck in her throat, and all she could do was watch as he disappeared down the corridor.
For the first time in a long while, Juliet felt completely, utterly alone.