prospicere futurum

Corinne blinked into the warm sunlight poking through the golden curtains, the warmth of a body pressed tightly against her back, Cedric's arm slung over her waist. She shut her eyes again, just for a moment longer, to enjoy the feeling of being wrapped up beside him, his breath hot on her neck.

She finally adjusted, leaning out of his touch a bit and stifling a laugh as he groaned softly into her ear.

"Don't move." He muttered, "Too early."

"Too early... I thought you're the one with quidditch practice before dawn every day. Or has that all been a big facade?" She teased, rolling to face him and hoping not to wake the snoring roommates surrounding them.

"Not a facade. I happen to have chosen to sleep in with you instead, though you're almost making me regret it." He finally opened his eyes, two fingers rising to Corinne's chin to pull her up into a small kiss.

"Well it's not my fault you're two million degrees." She giggled, tossing the blankets from her legs for some air, though not ready to leave his side yet.

"If that's you're way of telling me I'm hot, then thank-" He trailed off as she tried to shove him off the bed, to no avail, the most she accomplished was rocking him slightly in place.

"How did you sleep?" He asked, releasing his hold from her waist, his fingers trailing slowly to rest on her wrist, rubbing soft circles as she spoke.

"Great. It's bloody hot down here but... it's nice."

"I know. It was weird first year, but now I'm always freezing back home."

"Oh, great, so you've ruined sleeping for me now?"

"I could always warm you up." He shrugged.

"I'm not opening my eyes, but I know it's not even seven, and if you both don't shut the hell up in the next three seconds you're no longer considered my friends." Lucas grumbled from the next bed over and Corinne slapped her hand over her mouth to fight back her laughter.

"So menacing from the guy with his eyes closed." Cedric muttered, reaching his arms over his head to stretch before tossing the blankets back over Corinne and pulling her back against his chest. "Ten more minutes... maybe twenty. You might have ruined me, you know. Skipping practice, sneaking girls in my dorm-"

"Girls?" Corinne teased, "Plural?"

"I warned you to shut up. Now look what you've gone and said." Lucas tossed a spare pillow towards their bed which landed no where near it's intended target, the brunette rolling over again as the room fell back into silence.

Cedric did not stay true to his word, as twenty minutes had come and gone, the rest of his roommates rushing down to dinner two by two and Corinne falling in and out of sleep before the sandy haired boy was shaking her awake, a frazzled smile on his face as he began pulling his school robes on.

"I'm sorry, love. I let us sleep a bit long..." He glanced at the watch on his wrist as Corinne jumped from the bed.

"We're going to be so late... I've got to go all the way upstairs to get my sweater and my tie..."

"You'll miss breakfast... or... what's left of it." Cedric shook his head, rummaging through his dresser for only a second before tossing over a golden sweater. "Just button your robes up all the way and say you forgot your tie. No one will notice."

She shrugged, knowing it was a better option than arriving to potions late and on an empty stomach, pulling the soft sweater over her head, Cedric turning to face the doorway a second too late, though he was quick to pull his eyes from the exposed skin along her waist as soon as he noticed.

"I think you just like me in your clothes." She teased, starting to button up her robes from the night before as he swung the door open and led her into the stairwell.

"Who could blame me? You're adorable." His lips pulled into a soft smile as he grabbed for her fingers, dragging her into his chest and pressing his lips to hers quickly. "Now come on, I'm not doing double potions on an empty stomach."

They rushed through the corridors, arriving to the Great Hall not a minute too soon, grabbing a quick handful of whatever was left on the tables and both draining a mug of coffee before Cedric was nodding towards the exit. He followed quickly after her, linking their fingers together in the chilly hallway as they descended towards the dungeons for their lesson.

"And that's everyone." Snape drawled, the door swinging shut behind the two, narrowly missing Corinne's heels.

"Sorry, Professor." Cedric spoke, already starting towards their seat.

"I trust it won't happen again." He answered, his eyes already back to the stack of papers on his desk. "Page 177. Partners, but quietly." He ordered, Corinne sneaking a look over towards Ella and Taylor who were smirking back at her, ignoring her glare and the shake of her head.

"I'll get our stuff." Cedric answered, his eyes flicking around the room before spotting the Weasley's at the cabinets near the back. He stood from the desk, leaning slightly to press a soft kiss to the top of Corinne's head before leaving.

Nearly two hours later, their potion was nearly perfect, though Cedric was apparently insistent on using up every last minute of class time to ensure it was flawless. There was a deep haze hanging over everyone's heads that was certainly coming off of a few cauldron's near the back of the room, though everyone was pretending not to notice, despite the fact that Katie Bell's hair currently looked as though she'd been dragged through a swamp headfirst.

"That is time. I can see that some of you will be wanting to re-visit this before exams." Snape advised, hardly sparing any of his students a second glance as he gestured to his desk. "I will take vials of everyones work here. Labeled cohesively."

Cedric was quick to ladle their potion into the crystal vial at their desk, scrawling their names across the label and starting towards the line at the front. Corinne stifled a smile, watching as his eyes scanned over their potion, obviously comparing the color to those in line before him.

She stood slowly, listening as everyone started to file from the room, the chatter fading into the distance as she gathered up their extra ingredients and set off towards the cabinets to replace them. She dumped the small pile onto the bottom shelf as the small Hufflepuff who'd been working with Lucas stepped aside before sorting them into their appropriate baskets. Just as she was reaching for the second shelf to drop the baneberry into it's small pouch, a tall figure appeared at her side and she held back a sigh, not sparing him a single glance.

"Need a hand there, Baker?" Fred asked, the smirk evident in his voice.

"Fuck you." She answered, rolling to her tip toes, her fingers nearly reaching the fabric of the pouch.

"Yeah?" He chuckled, "Now or later?"

"God, Fred, honestly, I-" She jumped slightly, the tip of her finger brushing against the ribbons tying the pouch together before his fingers wrapped around her wrist, pulling her hand towards his chest, his smile falling into a scowl.

She could see at once where his gaze had landed: the gold and black striped sleeve of her sweater peeking out at the ends of her robes. His brown eyes were dark as they finally flickered to hers, scanning over her body slowly.

"Are you sleeping with him?" His voice was practically a growl now, so low she was surprised she had heard it even in the nearly silent room.

She yanked her hand from his grasp, some of the berries popping in her grip, dark blue juice oozing through her fingers.

"Not that it's any of your business." She snapped, turning from him to assess the damage in her hands before Cedric returned, his face set into a deeper frown even than Fred's.

"Problem, Weasley?" Cedric asked, hardly sparing the red-head a glance as he plucked the berries from Corinne's hands, tossing them into the pouch with ease and raising his wand to clean her fingers.

She looked quickly towards Fred, only to see his jaw lock into place before he stormed back towards his seat, grabbing his bag and marching from the room.

"You alright?" Cedric asked, pulling her towards the hallway by her elbow carefully before Snape could snap at them for dawdling.

"Fine." She nodded, offering him a genuine smile and hurrying towards the staircase, eager to leave the frozen dungeons.

"Good." He nodded, satisfied with her answer as he slung an arm over her shoulder and the two started up the steps side by side.

✵

It had been sleeting sideways all day, though you wouldn't have known it from where Corinne and Cedric sat, huddled beside each other at a table near the center of the crowded library. While Corinne would usually prefer to study somewhere a bit more private, away from the chatter of students at the nearby tables who thought they were whispering, all of her favorite benches throughout the school were typically positioned next to now frozen windows which showcased the sun that had nearly fallen behind the trees in the distance.

She pressed her cheek against her fist on the table, scrawling another line of what was in her mind, a very pointless Herbology essay. Still, it had to be three pages, and she was nearly there.

Cedric's hand appeared over her parchment, crossing out her last sentence with two dark lines and she glanced over to find that his eyes were still very much on his own work.

"Excuse you!" She could feel the smile rising to her face even as she forced her tone to a scolding one.

"That was wrong." He smiled down at his own parchment, a good three paragraphs ahead of her. "Look again, love."

She hardly needed to look over the sentence, already knowing he would be right. She felt as if her brain was nearly mush, and how Cedric planned to head out to a Quidditch practice after this in the freezing weather was truly beyond her.

She raised her quill, quickly vanishing the last sentence, shaking her head twice in a poor attempt to wake her brain up and then setting back to work. She glanced at his watch from across the table, craning her neck to see the small hands ticking by. He would have to leave in just five minutes, and she had been hoping to walk with him at least part of the way, if only as an excuse to be done with work for the night.

"I can't believe you're still going out there." She finally sighed, setting her quill down to offer her fingers a short break. "It's so cold, and you know no one will be out there with you if you freeze over and fall off your broom."

"Well thank you for the words of caution." He grinned, starting to stack his books. "And for your information, Preece is meeting me, and I'm sure he's well versed in warming charms."

"Wait!" She threw her arm over his work as he went to slide it into his bag. "Leave your paper for me?"

"And why would I do that?" He teased, though not moving to put his essay away anymore.

"Because you love me?" She put on her best smile as he stood from the table, unrolling the parchment and pushing it towards her.

"I will leave it as a guide." He said, his stern voice contrasting with the love sick smile he wore as he leaned down over her face. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"I'll see you." She nodded, "Stay warm."

"Not going to happen." He chuckled, pressing his lips to hers. "I love you."

"I love you." She smiled as he pulled away, watching as he started from the library before pulling his paper towards her and scanning over his final few paragraphs.

Nearly half an hour and an aching wrist later, she was rolling both of their essays up carefully. The library had drastically emptied out now, only a few seventh year students huddled near the back and scribbling away between textbooks as she nodded a goodbye to the scowling librarian and started towards Gryffindor tower.

The halls cleared out as well as she ascended each level of the castle, hands pressed carefully to the railings. Though she didn't think it was possible that Hogwarts would actually let students fall to their deaths, she didn't want to be the one to find out.

She held back a cuss under her breath as the staircase beneath her began to shake, the stone grinding against itself as it shifted in it's new path. Of course it would be the very last stairway before she was safe in Gryffindor's common room. She glanced towards her fingers, wrapped tightly around the bannister as she tried not to look over the edge.

"Oi!" The painfully familiar voice called, her eyes searching for only a moment before she found Fred, standing between his usual group of friends, an evil smirk twisted on his face. "Baker! Don't look down!"

Her stomach dropped, and despite his warning, she couldn't help her eyes as they fell to her feet, a scream ripping from her throat at once.

"Fred-" George hissed, though his words were drowned out by the blonde's screams. She could still feel the railing beneath her hand, holding on for dear life as her knees gave out and she fell to the solid, invisible steps beneath her, the stone digging small cuts into her knees as she waited for the inevitable fall, her eyes screwed tightly shut.

The hallway fell silent and Corinne whimpered as she felt hands grip beneath her arms, pulling her to her feet. Her legs still felt weak and she fell against someone solid, her eyes flying open and pushing against the body before realizing it was George. Not Fred.

"Calm down, Baker, for Godric's sake! It was just a joke." Fred called from the landing.

George's jaw hung open as he watched Corinne breathe in deeply, practically on the verge of hyperventilation before her eyes finally latched to his and she stumbled out of his arms.

"Seriously, George?" She breathed out in what was nearly a whisper, feeling the warmth of tears sliding over her cheeks.

"Corinne, I didn't... I didn't say anything-"

She gripped her bag against her shoulder, pushing through the crowd that had gathered to watch, everyone wide eyed as Corinne raced up last few steps towards the portrait hole before Fred's fingers closed around her arm.

"Hey, come on, Corinne-"

"Don't touch me." She seethed, spinning around and ripping her arm from his grasp. His lips were still pulled into half a smile, as though he didn't even realize it was there. "Everyone thinks you're so funny. But you're not. You're an asshole." She stuttered, shoving him roughly and spinning back to the doorway as he stumbled down a step, his mouth falling open, no trace of a smile leftover.

The portrait hole slammed shut with such force it echoed through the corridors, everyone turning to each other as whispers began to form, though the Fat Lady was doing little to hide her annoyance at the scene that had just unfolded before her.

"Dammit, Fred!" George finally spoke, the older twin spinning to face his brother as if he'd forgotten he was there.

"What? It was a prank! She over reacted-"

"You're fucking torturing her!" George's voice raised now, sounding twice as menacing each time it resounded off the castle walls.

"I am not." Fred's eyes rolled back without a second thought, though he could feel everyone's eyes on the two of them, Lee standing silently at the top of the stairs.

"Fred, if even I'm telling you it's too far-"

"Oh, you're so right." Fred hissed, his voice dropping low as if all of their friends weren't hanging on their every word. "It must be so difficult to have boys throwing themselves at her." He shoved past George, not sparing the rest of their friends another glance before striding easily down the stairs and around the corner out of sight.

✵

"It's okay." Taylor whispered, brushing lazily down Corinne's hair, her head perched onto her friend's shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. "Cor, you have to breathe. Deeper than that, you're going to pass out."

Corinne nodded in understanding, though she had no idea how to settle her own breathing. She had never felt anything like that before. Sure, the occasional jolt of fear when she realized she was too high on the bleachers or when her gaze fell over the railings of the staircases, but never standing in thin air, looking down on a nearly seven story drop with nothing to hold onto. Not even in her nightmares.

"Corinne?" The familiar voice had her jolting from Taylor's shoulder, her head spinning towards the doorway which Cedric had just rushed through, Ella close on his heels, a worried frown painted across her face. Corinne hadn't even noticed Ella leave in her race through the portrait hole and straight to the couch where Taylor had been sitting.

She went to stand, though it was too late. Cedric was already around the couches, his body blocking the warmth from the fireplace for only a second before he pulled her into his arms, his cheek soft against hers as her hands clasped around his neck.

"Ella told me." He muttered, falling back into her seat as Ella nodded for Taylor to join her upstairs. "You're okay. It wasn't real."

She nodded into his chest, not trusting her words yet as her breathing had only just returned to normal.

"He'd better not come back here tonight. When I see him, I swear-"

Corinne shook her head now, pulling back to face her boyfriend. His lips were pulled into a deep scowl, his eyes planted firmly on the doorway.

"You're not fighting." She whispered, "Everyone's watching you this year. I'm not letting you get into trouble for this-"

"I don't care. I'll get expelled if it means he'll leave you alone."

"I'm going to McGonagall in the m-morning." She mumbled, her breath catching on her words as she let her head fall back to Cedric's chest, enjoying the steady beating of his heart beneath her ear.

"Okay. I'll go with you." He nodded, a determined look in his eye as Corinne shrugged, snuggling deeper into his arms and soaking in the warmth of the fire before them. It felt as if goosebumps were permanently etched into her skin now, like she hadn't been warm all night.

"I'm sorry, I probably smell awful." He mumbled, his fingers brushing along the fabric of her tights. "Ella caught me on my way back in, I didn't even have time to-"

"You don't." She cut him off. "You smell like you."

"Yeah?" His lips pulled into a soft smile, biting back a laugh. "And you smell like you. And I don't ever want to leave you."

"Then don't." She whispered, knowing it was nonsense. Even if it weren't for the tournament, or the quidditch practices or the prefect rounds. They would always be busy. Cedric would always be busy. She had never minded before. Before the idea of having to face Fred became more and more difficult with each day.

"How about..." He breathed, warm air fluttering against her hair. "You come back to my dorm so I can shower, and I can make sure you don't have to see that asshole for the rest of the night?"

"Mmm..." Corinne paused, pretending to consider his offer. "That's an awful lot of stairs."

"I'll carry you." He teased, slipping a hand beneath her knees and standing from the couch as she laughed, squirming to get to the floor.