prospicere futurum

Corinne rubbed the sleep from her eyes, snuggling deeper into the soft pillow beside her, the scent of cedar and petrichor, before realizing where she was. And the lack of the familiar presences beside her.

She jolted up, scanning the room for only a second before spotting him at the end of the bed, hunched over a large textbook in the early morning light seeping through the window.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled, biting back a laugh as his eyes finally met hers.

"Sorry... Woke up early, didn't want to bother you."

"So you thought some seven a.m studying would solve everything?" She teased, climbing from the blankets and crawling closer towards him.

"Not studying." He shook his head, pushing the book towards her. "I thought of those spells that Moody mentioned at the start of term. Protective enchantments." He slid his finger down the tattered page until it landed on a bolded line. "Cave Inimicum."

Corinne squinted to read the small text in the low light.

"Protective charm that produces a boundary to keep the caster hidden from view... Those on the other side of the shield are not be able to see, hear, or smell the caster." She cocked her head to the side, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders. "Okay?"

"I just wanted to find something you could use... you know... if Weasley tries to come near you again and I'm not around."

"Oh, if you're not around, I'm doomed, huh?" Corinne smirked, pushing the book from between them and crawling closer to loop the blanket around Cedric's body as well, her head falling onto his shoulder.

"I'd like to think not." He mumbled, turning to press a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Breakfast?"

She nodded, scanning around the room quickly before sighing. "I'm going to have to start keeping clothes here, aren't I?"

"Are you accepting that you'll be spending many more nights in my bed?" Cedric smirked, ducking out of the way of her smack.

✵

Ella stomped down the stairs, her stomach grumbling almost painfully after she had spent the past ten minutes trying to pry Taylor from her bed. Needless to say, she wasn't bringing her any breakfast if she was going to sleep the morning away.

She stepped into the common room, the sunlight filtering in through the stained glass and revealing a messy head of red hair slouched across a large arm chair. His eyes flashed to Ella as soon as she arrived, the skin beneath them a dark red, as if he hadn't slept well at all last night.

"Stevens-" Fred croaked out, his voice hoarse from lack of use.

"Weasley, piss off." She muttered, hurrying on towards the door before Fred jumped over the couch, stopping an inch before her, hands out in a silent surrender.

"I know. I get it." He blurted, "Ella, I didn't know."

"It doesn't matter."

"No, really... I didn't know she was scared... I mean, it was just a prank. It was just a coincidence, I wouldn't have ever... If I had known,"

"Yes, you would have. Only probably sooner." She held back a sigh, pinching two fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Weasley, honestly... I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. I feel like I don't even know you anymore, if I ever did-"

"Where is she, Ella?" He cut her off, his voice pleading.

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on. That's a bold faced lie."

"I'm not telling you." She corrected, stepping to the side and starting towards the doorway once again, though Fred kept her pace.

"She's with him then?"

"Of course she is." Ella snapped, finally meeting his eyes again, feeling her stomach drop slightly at the sight. "I don't know what your plan was, but if it was to drive them closer together, you're doing a bang up job."

Fred's mouth moved twice, shutting both times with no words before he ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Leave her alone, Fred." Ella advised, "I'm serious... She doesn't want to see you."

"I can make it up to her... I can show her I wasn't trying to be such an asshole."

"She doesn't want that!" Ella groaned, "This obsession, Weasley, it's got to stop! It's her and Cedric, I'm sorry that you don't get that. Just leave her be. Don't talk to her anymore, don't glare at her through classes, and no more fucking pranks."

Fred nodded through her words, not meeting her eyes any longer, his gaze settling into the grout in the stone floor.

"Will you tell her I'm sorry?" He breathed at last, as they neared the staircase. The very staircase Corinne had shoved him onto just last night. The staircase he had vanished beneath her feet. "I'll give her her space... Please tell her I'm sorry?"

Ella didn't answer, though Fred didn't wait for one, turning back towards the room and climbing over the portrait hole, letting it swing shut easily behind him.

✵

It had been nearly a full week. A full week with only one Weasley per class, and though she was reluctant to meet George's eyes either, she had nodded through his hurried apology before Herbology had begun on Monday.

As thankful as she was for not having to face Fred, including her quick trips through the common room and her glances towards the Gryffindor tables, as she had been eating most of her meals with Cedric the past week, she had been forcing Ella and Taylor to practice the protection charms with her almost daily. Ella had even taken it upon herself to learn the spell with her, so that Corinne could see from the other side of the shield, testing their work thoroughly. Cedric's smile had relaxed the past few days, his eyes seeming brighter whenever Corinne reported she had still not seen Fred, and that McGonagall had promised she would have a severe word with the Gryffindor.

Though it was inevitably no surprise that Fred was slouched over in his seat beside George and Lee for Defense Against the Dark Arts on Friday. Corinne felt the smile flicker from her face as she spotted him, though he didn't turn to see her, despite Taylor's voice echoing through the classroom as they entered.

The Gryffindor's and a few Ravenclaws who must have heard about last weekend's prank looked up as she took her seat, wishing more than ever that it wasn't directly in front of the Weasleys, and even more that half the class wasn't looking between her and Fred as if waiting for the next exciting argument.

Corinne finally let out the breath she had been holding as she unfolded her notes and starting copying down the words from the board at the front of the room. Moody had begun their lecture, and there was not even a cough from the desks behind them.

The hour sped by, everyone packing up their supplies and starting towards the doorway, though Corinne was quick to notice the way that Fred had not stood up, despite that George and Lee were already starting towards the hall.

Normally, or rather, for the past months, she had become a professional at flying from each room they shared together, never giving him a spare second to torment her, though with his proximity to the doorway, she had elected to stall with Ella and Taylor, praying he would leave first.

This was obviously not his plan.

"Professor, I think Corinne and I had a question if you have a second?" Ella asked, loudly, Taylor's eyebrows furrowing for only a second before her gaze flashed to Fred who was gathering his things now to leave at last.

"Sure, Miss Stevens... I can't guarantee I'll know the answer though." Moody offered them a joking smile and Ella forced out a laugh, pulling her notes from her bag and shoving them onto the professor's desk as Corinne pretended her attention was on the lesson at all, rather than the red-head sauntering into the hallway.

Corinne lingered a bit behind Ella, barely processing her words or Moody's response before Ella was nodding and thanking him, shoving Corinne out towards the hallway and glancing down both ends.

"Smart." Corinne mumbled once they had shut the door behind them. "Thanks."

"That's our Ella." Taylor grinned, linking arms with the brunette and giggling as she received an eye roll.

"You'll be alright, then?" Ella muttered, nudging Corinne lightly. "We've got Magical Creatures."

"I'll be fine." Corinne assured her, "It's you two out in the snow with whatever creature Hagrid's got for you today I'd be worried about."

"Very funny." They grinned, offering her a wave and starting down the stairs while Corinne made her way towards the back staircase around the corner. While it was a bit out of the way, she much preferred the lack of people and more importantly, not having to face the scene of Fred's prank again.

She turned the corner, the stairs now in view when she heard the footsteps, pausing at once, her eyes snapping behind her to reveal Fred, his hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes latching to hers.

She flung around the corner and out of his sight, backing against the stone walls and raising her wand out before her.

"Cave Inimicum." She rushed out, breathing a last sigh of relief as the shimmery wall flew up before her eyes before fading into nothing.

Fred had rounded the corner just a second too late, his eyes scanning over the hallway and up the empty staircase. He paused for a moment, letting his head fall back, eyes rolling to the ceiling in frustration as Corinne held her breath, holding her books tightly to her chest as if he was going to start walking up and down the walls.

"Fuck." He muttered at last, turning back and rounding the corner once again out of sight. Corinne waited for what felt like hours before trusting that he was truly gone, lifting the spell and hurrying up the stairs towards the tower.

✵

Corinne burst through the open doors of the bustling Great Hall, scanning for only a second before spotting the sandy brown hair, a wide grin spread over his face as he listened to some ridiculous story from Lucas. She made her way easily through the aisles before appearing behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on his head.

"Perfect opportunity to choke him, Corinne." Lucas teased between a sip of his steaming coffee.

"I would never." She grinned, sliding into the seat beside him. "Care to explain the extremely large package that was delivered to my dorm this morning?" She asked, hardly able to contain her smile as Cedric's began to stretch along his lips.

"You got it?" He asked, turning to face her now.

"Yes."

"Do you like it?"

"You shouldn't have done that..." She muttered, shaking her head though her smile never faltered. "You didn't have to get me-"

"But do you like it?" He repeated, his eyes lighting up as she nodded.

"I love it. It's gorgeous." She answered, her mind still caught up on the pale pink dress sitting perfectly in it's golden wrapped box upstairs.

"I know. That's why I knew you had to have it." He shrugged, easily, pulling the plate of sandwiches closer to her for lunch.

"You're going to spoil me, Diggory. I'll get rotten."

"I'll deal with that when we get there." He grinned, his teeth flashing beneath his smile as he watched her start on her breakfast, her skin peeking through her tights as her knee pressed against his beneath the table. "You have a free period after this?" He muttered, knowing the Hufflepuffs were already deep into a conversation about next year's Quidditch team that normally he would be jumping right into.

"Yep." She answered, stealing a sip of his coffee and wrinkling her nose at the lack of sugar.

"You going to try the dress on for me, then?" He smirked and she swatted his hand from where his fingers had settled onto her thigh.

"You wish, Diggory. You'll see it in two weeks."

"I'm just not sure I can wait." He teased and she felt the smirk spread across her face.

"Isn't patience somewhere in that long list of Hufflepuff traits?"

"I can assure you, it's not." He laughed, leaning over and pressing a quick kiss beneath her ear. "I'm glad you like the dress. And I can't wait to go to the Ball with you."

"Even if I make a fool of you dancing in front of everyone?" She reminded him, both of their attentions pulled across the table as Lucas laughed.

"Oh, please embarrass him in front of the whole school. Corinne, here," Lucas rummaged through both of his pockets for a few seconds, dropping a few silver coins to the table. "I'll give you... seven sickles."

"How tempting." Cedric rolled his eyes, scattering the coins with a grin as they rolled to each side, Lucas hurrying to catch them before they could clatter to the floor.

"I do have a free period though... if you wanted to go swimming?" Corinne breathed softly, as if Lucas was paying any attention to anything other than the coins rolling over the table.

✵

Corinne heard Ella before she saw her, the portrait hole slamming sharply behind her as she stormed to the couches where her friends were now watching her entrance, wide eyed. She tossed her bag to the floor and slumped into the arm chair at their side, pursing her lips, her eyes rolling to the ceiling as Taylor looked to Corinne for answers that neither of them had.

"Good evening, Ella..." Taylor started, "How are you doing this fine-"

"I'll kill you." Ella warned, Corinne biting back a laugh as she watched her friend glare at the ceiling.

"Are you alright, Ella?" She asked, softer now than Taylor had been before.

"No." The brunette answered, shortly, Corinne waiting for only a second before she continued. "He just asked me. To the stupid ball."

Corinne blinked, her eyes linking with Taylor's in confusion for only a second before both of their mouths fell open.

"He... Eddie?" Corinne remembered a second too late to keep her voice down.

"Correct."

"Ella!" Taylor was grinning, "Ella, that's so exciting! Oh, Merlin, how did he ask you? Did he say he made his potion too? I was wondering if he had-"

"No, he didn't say. He just said some other terrible, disgusting things. 'I've liked you for a while now.' 'I think you're really cool.'" She pretended to gag into her hands and Corinne stifled an eye roll.

"Ella... Is it so bad that he might actually be a good guy? And that he might like-"

"Yes, it's really that bad."

"Well, what did you say?" Taylor pressed on, clearly unfazed by Ella's sour mood.

"I told him I guess."

"You guess!" Taylor's mouth dipped into a frown.

"Yes, I guess." She grumbled, "If we have to go, I guess."

"Well, now I'm going to be the only one without a date!" Taylor looked truly terrified at this realization as Corinne set a calming hand on her shoulder. "You'll come with Cedric and I, and Ella and Eddie. You're plenty fun on your own, you don't need anyone else."

"Besides, not everyone else has dates... I know someone who doesn't..." Ella teased, dropping her voice low as the Weasley's entered the room, surprisingly much quieter than Ella had a few minutes before.

"I'm going to bed." Corinne spoke softly as well, hoping she could slip up the staircase before Fred noticed her, though as the honey brown eyes latched with hers and her heart stuttered against itself, she realized that wasn't meant to be.

"Hi Corinne." His mouth had wrapped into an entirely unfamiliar sort of a frown, and Corinne assumed it was his best impression of guilt or regret.

She hurried forward, forcing her eyes to the stairs beneath her before disappearing around the corner, Fred's sigh audible to practically the entire common room.

"Taylor... Ella." He nodded towards the girls, his eyes lingering over Ella for a moment before Taylor grabbed for her bag from the floor at her feet.

"I'm going to head up too... Coming up, Ells?"

"Yeah... Be right up." She groaned, slumping farther into the arm chair as Taylor hurried up the stairs after Corinne.

"Stevens..." Fred started, moving to the now vacant couch beside the brunette as George scanned over the two, a sad smile stretching against his mouth before he too headed up to the dormitories.

"Weasley, be careful what you say to me right now. I'm not really in the mood."

"Oh, come on..." He pressed, though heeding her warning and feeling out her attitude before he went on. "Heard about you and Carmichael?"

"Already?" She slapped a hand to her forehead and he chuckled at her theatrics.

"Word travels fast." He shrugged, pausing for a few more seconds before realizing he wasn't going to get anything more out of her. "Can I ask you..."

She lowered her hand from her face, her eyes meeting his, noting the serious expression that was so rarely worn by the Weasley twins.

"Your potion... When you all made yours... Is yours... I mean... Is it Eddie?"

She paused, her mouth twitching into half a scowl, though she couldn't pull her mind from the sadness that was so clear in Fred's gaze.

"Yeah." She admitted at last.

"So you... I mean, you don't seem like you're too thrilled about him."

She waited a few seconds, thinking over the Ravenclaw boy. "I don't know him."

"Right..." He nodded, leaning forward and letting his elbows fall onto his knees as his eyes scanned over the fraying rug at their feet. "But you... you think it's real, right? The potion? You think it actually works?"

Ella didn't answer. She didn't want to. Not with the way Fred was speaking, the way she could barely see his face any more.

"Why are you asking me this." She asked, her voice nearly a whisper even though they were two of the last people in the quiet room.

"You know why." He mumbled, meeting her gaze again, the orange flames from the fireplace dancing in his eyes.

"Fred... if you're actually saying that you... If you actually got Corinne, then... I guess I don't know... if it works."

"You think I'm lying?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"I... I guess I thought you were joking."

He shook his head a few times, though it seemed as if it was mostly for himself and not for Ella before he stood from the couch.

"Night, Stevens." He offered her a quick nod and turned back towards the boys staircase.