Chapter 12
Ella nudged Taylor, a bit too violently and nodded towards the passage they were to be reading which resulted in a quiet groan from Taylor as she began scribbling out her previous sentence.
"If you can't even get the writing part down, I'm afraid to see you try to harvest the leaves." Ella remarked, though Corinne noted her poor attempt to hide her smirk.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen we are almost out of time and I don't want to forget the announcement I'm supposed to give... oh, where is it..." Sprout mumbled, searching through the jumble of papers on her desk. "Oh, here! Now, many of you may have already guessed from our back to school lists... but Hogwarts will be hosting the Yule Ball this year, in honor of the TriWizard Tournament and it's champions, yes, yes! Settle down, please!" There was a murmur between the students that no one deemed important to keep quiet. "It will be held the night of Christmas Eve, formal attire is required, and there will be dance lessons set up for anyone who is in need of them, as there will be dancing. Formal dancing!" She shouted to be heard over the ever climbing chatter.
"There will be more information posted in common rooms by tomorrow morning, and please don't hesitate to ask any questions! We want to make sure that we are representing our school in the best way possible! That's all I have for today, everyone enjoy the rest of your week!"
Everyone was out of their seats, clambering between chairs to discuss with their friends.
"Great." Ella grumbled and Corinne stifled a laugh.
"Ella, you don't need to bring anyone-"
"Yes you do!" Taylor objected, sliding her things into her bag in an effort to keep up with her friends who were already halfway out the doorway. "Ella, yes you do."
"I'm not asking-"
"Yes, you are! This is your chance! I don't know why you're postponing the inevitable-"
"Talking about me?" Fred's voice could have carried over the grounds, yet after a sigh, Corinne turned to see him and George had very nearly caught up to them.
"Never, actually." Corinne shrugged, continuing along the path back to the school and ignoring the twins laughter.
"Oh, come on, Corinne. Taylor's right, why put off the-"
"I wasn't talking about you, Weasley." Taylor explained, shooting the redhead a pointed glance which he ignored.
"Leave us alone, Fred. Seriously." Corinne ordered, though still not facing the boys behind them.
"Or what? Big bad Prefect boyfriend's going to come scare me off again? I've got another eye he could try to blacken."
"Don't tempt me, Weasley." The voice appeared out of no where, and Corinne felt her heart skip as she spun to place it. Cedric has stepped out from the pathway leading into the courtyard, eyebrows raised as he watched the girls hurry over to him, the Weasley's slowing to a stop as they met his eyes.
"Apparently I haven't made it clear enough, Fred. Leave her be. All of them, actually. I don't want you around them."
"You own the whole school now, Diggory? Is that a champion perk? Or a Prefect perk, or a Quidditch Captain perk, or-"
"All of the above, yeah." He offered the boy a dismissive nod, wrapping one arm around Corinne's shoulder and leading her and the girls back into the courtyard. "Everything alright?"
"It's fine." Corinne promised, leaning against the tall boy's chest as they walked, Ella and Taylor waving a quick goodbye and hurrying into the school, Taylor shooting Corinne an obnoxious wink.
"Hear about the ball?" Cedric asked, finally pulling away as they neared one of the empty benches in the silent courtyard and Corinne looked up to his bright gray eyes.
"Just now." She could feel the smile sneaking onto her face.
"I hope it's not too bold of me to ask if you'll go with me?" He teased and she held back an eye roll.
"I'll have to think it over, you know, I'd hate for this to move too fast..."
"Well, I'd just hate to picture you dancing with anyone but me."
"Oh, my God... Dancing..." She clapped a hand over her face and Cedric laughed.
"I'm not even going to tell you the worst part then, until you agree to go with me."
"There's a worse part than dancing?" Her mouth fell open as she watched his small smile.
"The champions dance first... in front of everyone. First thing."
"No..." She muttered, "Well, that decides it then, I can't go with you- no really! Stop!" She giggled, his fingers slipping around her waist and pulling her onto his lap, one hand rising to her chin and tugging her gently in for a kiss.
"You're going to be fine." He assured her, "I'll teach you to dance if that's what you're nervous about, and we're going to have a great time."
"Well, at least the second part is true." She agreed, pressing a last kiss to his nose. "Let's go inside, please, it's freezing out here."
"Whatever you say." He let her climb off his lap and followed her into the castle at once, the warm air enveloping the two of them at once as he slipped his fingers into hers and began the walk to Transfiguration.
✵
"Corinne!" She spun to the familiar voice at once, holding back a laugh at the disheveled nature of her boyfriend.
"Where have you been? You look like you've been in a fight with the entire owlery!" She giggled, watching as he gave a careless attempt to flatten his hair before resuming his story.
"Well sorry I've been running up and down this castle looking for you." He was wearing an excitable grin. "I've figured it out. Well... I suppose I didn't do much. Come on," He nodded for her to follow him, the two of them starting down the staircase, Corinne's eyes landing on the golden egg pinned at his side.
"Wait, about the egg?" She practically jumped along at his side and he chuckled.
"About the egg, yeah. What gave it away?" He teased, nodding towards the oversized object.
"Funny." She followed him down a familiar hallway leading towards a familiar statue. "What're you taking it to the bathroom for?"
"You'll see! I'm just doing what I was told." He shrugged, kicking the door open and locking it behind them once again.
"By who?"
He gave her a funny look, his eyebrows knitting together before answering. "Moody... It was so strange. He pulled me aside, and I was sure I was about to be screamed at for something. And then he just kinda blurted the whole explanation out. It almost seemed like he hadn't meant to. Well, I'm sure he hadn't. They're not supposed to interfere, right? The teachers?"
"Yeah, we've seen how well that's worked out so far." Corinne shrugged, sliding down to the edge of the pool as Cedric began to fill it with warm water once again.
"You actually have to put it in the pool?"
"I'm not sure... he just said it had to be underwater. None of the sinks are big enough." He sank down beside her, setting the egg at their feet.
"Well..." She shrugged, the pool had already filled over halfway. "Push it in!"
"I'm not pushing it in. What if it breaks?" He tugged his shirt over his head and slid into the water, Corinne trying not to linger on the defined lining of his abs.
"No, you're right. This was a much better choice." She smiled as his jaw dropped and he splashed her with a wave of the warm water.
"You pervert." He teased, grabbing the egg and pulling it into the water with him. "Okay, might want to cover your ears." He warned, waiting until her hands were pressed firmly on each side of her head to crack the egg beneath the surface, yet no scream came. He stared at the colorful lights beneath the water for a few seconds before nudging her knees. "It's not screaming... look at this."
"It's making some noise though..." She leaned closer to the water, watching the lights dance around in Cedric's hands. "Maybe you've got to-" She trailed off as he plunged himself underwater. "Hey!" She whined, pulling her sweater off and jumping in beside him, wasting no time to sink beneath the surface.
"-ponder this:We've taken what you'll sorely miss,An hour long you'll have to look,And to recover what we took,But past an hour — the prospect's black,Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
The two of them pushed back to the surface, each taking a deep breath, the egg still gurgling in Cedric's hands as the song continued.
"What is that?" She asked, Cedric shaking his head, obviously just as confused.
"Again." He answered, shutting the egg and reopening to restart the song as they both dropped back underwater.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,We cannot sing above the ground.
And while you're searching ponder this:We've taken what you'll sorely miss.
An hour long you'll have to look,And to recover what we took.
But past an hour — the prospect's black,Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
They listened two more times, until their lungs felt ready to burst from lack of oxygen and flopped the egg back onto the tile floor outside of the tub.
"Seek us where our voices sound... Why do they have to talk like that." Corinne muttered.
"We have to go find someone. Find someone hidden, because they say searching. Someone's taken something I'll sorely miss. We have an hour to find it and get it back, but after an hour..." He paused, replaying the song in his head, "I can't ever get it back."
"Okay... I think it matters less what you're looking for and more... who took it from you?"
"Maybe..." He leaned against the wall beside Corinne, his fingers finding hers absentmindedly, linking them through his own one by one. "Seek us where our voices sound. Cannot sing above the ground."
"Rabbit. Groundhog..." She began listing animals she knew lived underground and Cedric scoffed out a laugh.
"If a rabbit's stole something from me, I think I'm fairly confident."
"They're fast!" She pointed out, splashing him for good measure.
"I think they mean underwater." He pointed out, gesturing to the pool around them. "Considering..."
"Oh... right." She felt her face begin to heat up, thankful for the steaming water all around them. "If it's the Giant Squid, you're dropping out right now." She muttered, watching his eyes flicker up towards the windows above their head where there was a mermaid etched into the stain glass windows, orange and golden hair perfectly matching the scales of her tail which flicked lazily over the blue window water.
"No... Not the squid." His eyes met hers and he nodded towards the mermaid, Corinne's eyes going wide.
"There's mermaids in the lake?" She whispered and he shook his head side to side.
"Not like her... But Hagrid's talked about them before. Merpeople. He talked about them like he knew them."
"But Hagrid's seen a lot of things. It can't all have been at Hogwarts."
"What else is in there? That's sentient and could take something from us."
"What are they taking?" Corinne asked, looking back to Cedric quickly. "No, more importantly... Are they nice?"
Cedric barked out a laugh now and Corinne bit back a smile. "You know what I mean! Are they safe?"
"I don't know... We'll have to do some reading..." He hoisted himself from the pool at last, reaching down for her hands and pulling her easily to his side, grabbing one of the fluffy white towels and wrapping it around her before tugging her into a hug. "Thank you. For coming with me. And always helping me think through this stuff."
"Of course." She smiled, the chill of the large empty room rushing against her legs before Cedric grabbed his wand, muttering a quick drying spell and pulling his shirt back on.
"Want to change before dinner?" He asked, seeing as they were already near Gryffindor tower.
"No, I'm too hungry." She answered, waiting for him to slip his shoes back on and heading towards the door.
✵
Corinne flipped through yet another book, jotting down the latest note. "Fantastic Beasts says that merpeople living in colder waters are more akin to Selkies and Merrows. The mermaids from fairytales are from warmer waters like Greece. The oldest recorded Merpeople were Sirens."
"Which are very dangerous..." Cedric muttered under his breath, flipping to the next page of his book and scanning over the paragraphs as if the second task were hours away instead of weeks.
"I would say Dumbledore wouldn't make the task dangerous, but you were burnt by a dragon a few weeks ago."
"And it didn't even leave an impressive scar."
"Good!" She laughed, shaking her head at the brunette across from her on the bench. They had found a quieter corridor, favoring the vacant hallway over the crowded library where anyone could hear them discussing their merpeople attack strategies. "Idiot."
"You're such a loving girlfriend. Have I ever told you that?" He grinned before turning back to his page.
"It says Selkies have been known to hunt and kill wild predators in open waters including sharks." Corinne turned the book towards Cedric, pointing to the photo in the bottom corner where a grayish selkie wore a necklace made of shark teeth longer than it's own fingers.
"Okay, so transfiguration's out of the question." Cedric leaned over to the parchment at his side and scribbled out a full line of notes.
"You were not going to transfigure yourself into a shark!" Corinne leaned forward to peek at the rest of his ideas which he tore from her reach, stuffing it into his book to mark his page.
"Oh, I'm sorry, what are your ideas?" He watched as she scanned over her notes and sighed dramatically.
"Well, I've more been doing research than planning-"
"No, you've more been scaring yourself for an hour. Let's try for some plans of action, pretty girl."
"Well, if you're going to ask nicely." She smiled, picking up her quill once again.
"Merlin, do you two ever do anything other than study?" Corinne was beginning to think she would hear Fred Weasley's voice in her nightmares soon.
"Not that it's any of your business..." Cedric started out, flipping his book shut as if Fred would ever have glanced near it.
"Right, right. Sorry, I'm meant to be leaving... the whole school alone." He grinned, George standing silently at his side, looking quite ready to leave.
"You know, Weasley... How do you fancy a pick up game? This weekend?"
"Oh, sounds fun. You'll search for the snitch and I'll bludger your head in?" Fred grinned, though his eyes didn't hold their usual spark for his jokes.
"No bludgers, no snitch. Gryffindor's best five against mine. First to 150 wins?" Corinne scanned over each of the boys, wishing they had never walked over. Not only did she not want to be around the Weasley's anymore, she didn't want Cedric to be either, and she didn't want him to be the one planning it.
"You've got a date, Diggory." Fred looked back at George who was now wearing a familiar grin, competitiveness on clear display.
"Fred." She cut in, the brown eyes flashing to hers at the sound of her voice. "Don't do this... Ced's been training all term-"
"Some of us don't need practice." Fred smirked, turning back to the Hufflepuff. "Saturday morning?"
"After breakfast. See you at the pitch." Cedric agreed, sliding a bit closer to Corinne and re-opening his book as if to signal he was finished talking with the Gryffindors altogether.
"Why do you hate me?" She hissed as their footsteps faded down the hallway.
"Hate you?" Cedric chuckled, sliding his hand slowly across her knee.
"Yes. It's bad enough he never leaves us alone, now you're making plans with him!"
"Because he needs to be knocked down a few pegs. His ego is out of control."
"Well, that's true..."
"You don't think I can beat him?" Cedric asked, though there was no insecurity in his voice and the familiar smirk was painted on his face.
"No, obviously I know you can. And I just think it will piss him off more."
"Well, I'll handle that if I need to." He shrugged, shutting the book in her lap and sliding it into his bag. "Come on, enough research. I want dessert."
"Dessert?" She laughed, letting him pull her bag onto his shoulder beside his own and linking her fingers through his to follow him down to the kitchens.
✵
The sun was finally out after days of gray clouds, which had resulted in only one day of beautiful snow which had all turned to sludge now as the clouds disappeared. Though it was hardly much warmer, Corinne had chosen to take advantage of the slight temperature increase and had bundled up to watch Cedric, Lucas, and three other members of the Hufflepuff team practice down at the Quidditch pitch.
The pick up game against the Gryffindors was in just three days, and Corinne often found herself considering which she was dreading more: the game or the second task, though eventually always choosing the second task, especially if it was to end with an injury as the first one had.
She tucked the scarf closer to her neck, glancing up towards the sky once more. Her neck was starting to get sore from this angle, but it was better than having to scale any more bleachers and avoid looking down for the next hour or two.
"Well, well, well! Look who we have here!" The voice was similar, though she realized at once it wasn't Fred's. She glanced up to see George already a few rows of bleachers above her, Lee Jordan grinning at his side as he balanced at the edge of the wooden plank. Her stomach jerked unpleasantly.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as unwelcoming as she thought it did.
"Came to scout out the competition." George shrugged, his grin widening as she visibly resisted an eye roll.
"He's lying. We didn't know you lot would be here." Lee shouted back, still climbing bleacher by bleacher until they were nearly at the top, flopping down and watching the practice before them.
"Oh, what is it, Baker? Fraternizing with the enemy against the rules or something?" George called down, his voice echoing through the stands and she shook her head.
"Come up here! You can't even see anything down there, don't you want a better view?" Lee called down as well.
"We don't bite, I swear!" George promised, holding two hands out as some sort of peace offering.
"I'm fine here, thanks!" She called back, hardly sparing them a glance, the thought of them being that far up was making her stomach turn. There was a pause of silence before she heard feet stomping down plank by plank and huffed out a sigh, turning to watch the redhead climbing down towards her.
"I'm honestly not trying to be a dick." George called once he was a few rows away, slumping onto the bench behind her. "I know my brother's being a git, and I've tried to talk some sense into him. It just doesn't come very easily, you see."
She scoffed out a laugh and turned to face him, the small smile on his face spreading at her attention.
"I just... I don't like heights. So I don't want to sit up there."
"Oh! Shit... Oi, Lee! Come down! She's right, the view's way better down here!" He called up to his friend, turning back to Corinne, "I love breaking my neck in two." He muttered and she could no longer hold back the laugh.
"Who's playing for you guys then?" She asked once Lee had joined them and George faked fulling a zipper across his lips.
"Don't blame us just because we're not dumb enough to broadcast our team and strategies to the world." George shrugged, earning an eye roll from Lee and Corinne.