Chapter 20
Corinne tucked the soft fabric of her scarf closer around her neck, even as the warmth from the castle took over the chill that had sank into her bones from the long, winding walk back from Hogsmeade. It had been a lovely lunch and a lovely trip, even with the blistery cold, and she could still feel the warmth that had flooded her chest as she had watched Cedric laugh and smile down at her and kiss her goodbye before hurrying off to the Quidditch practice he had almost let himself be himself late for.
She started up the steps, looking forward to finding her roommates and perhaps spending the rest of the evening in bed with at least a dozen blankets and a good book before she heard a low whistle from the dark corridor to her left, the fire from the lanterns dancing along the walls and illuminating the figure as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Look at you, Baker... Bit cold out for a skirt that short, isn't it?" McClaggen called as he neared her, and Corinne slowed as she neared the next staircase, whirling around to face the Gryffindor, her mouth pulling into a sneer before she had even realized.
"Excuse me?" She scoffed, watching annoyance take over the smirk on his face.
"Oh, lighten up. That was a compliment."
"Funny. Try keeping them to yourself."
"Oh, Corinne, don't play games. You're just loving all this attention, aren't you, you little traitor? Short skirts, dating Cedric Diggory, playing the helpless victim while he pulls you from the lake in front of the whole school?"
"You're delusional." She rolled her eyes, starting up the steps again, her stomach dropping when he raced forwards, stopping her in her tracks.
"I'm not the one treating everyone like they're beneath her all of the sudden. You think dating a champion makes you one too?" He was grinning, as if all of his words were coming out much more frightening than they really were, though Corinne didn't like the lack of space he was giving her, or the nasty look in his eye. "How about this, Baker. No one even knew your name at the start of term, and now you're dating golden boy and strutting around in little outfits." His fingers slid along the fabric of her tights for only a second before she jumped back, her hand surrounding the railing before she could trip down the steps.
"Don't touch me-"
"As if you're not letting Diggory do a whole lot more than that... He had half the school pining after him even before he was a Hogwarts Champion." He mocked, "So don't even try to act like you're not putting out. And when he's done with you, you'll just move onto the next boy who will touch you, and maybe I won't be waiting around anymore after the way you've treated me-"
She hardly hesitated, her hand flying forward and landing on his cheek with a sharp smack, her skin stinging immediately before she spun and raced back down the staircase, ignoring McClaggen's screams and threats as she ran.
She wasn't sure where she was going, only that she wouldn't let him see her cry or know how badly her hand was stinging as she shoved it deeper into the pocket of her coat.
-don't even try to act like you're not putting out.
She huffed, finally slowing down as she reached the next intersection of corridors, scanning wildly left and right before choosing the emptiest one and resuming her march.
-when he's done with you,
"Ugh." She groaned, leaning against the wall at last and hardly caring about the chill eating through her jacket from the stone as she pulled her hand from her pocket, scanning over the fiery red skin.
-you'll just move onto the next boy who will touch you.
Her stomach was churning, and she wasn't sure if it was from the words themselves, or the thought of the nasty boy who had spoken them.
"Corinne?" A new voice spoke from the end of the hall and her eyes flashed upwards, ready to run again, or possibly offer up more than a slap this time, though it wasn't Cormac who was drawing closer to her.
"Hey, are you alright?" There was a look of concern she had so rarely seen grace either of the Weasley twins faces now painted across Fred's as he neared her, and she watched his gaze flicker around her eyes before she realized she had been crying.
"Oh..." She blinked quickly, moving to wipe over the skin of her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not." He answered without a moments hesitation. "I asked to be polite, I meant to say what happened?"
"Nothing happened." She pushed off from the wall, though Fred moved to block her path, throwing his hands up when he saw her falter and step away from him.
"Woah, hey... Sorry, I... Corinne, will you just tell me why you're crying so I can help you?"
"I don't need your help, Weasley."
"Okay, sure. Of course." He nodded, taking half a step backwards to give her some more space. "But I think even Diggory would thank me for making sure you're alright... since you're crying in a corridor all alone."
She shook her head, annoyance flaring up in her chest even though she knew he was only being kind. She just wasn't used to it from him lately.
"Just McClaggen being an asshole." She explained, finally.
"How so?" His tone has dropped lower and when she finally looked back to his eyes, they were dark even with the afternoon light still painting the sky outside of the windows above.
"Well, I'm sure it's nothing unusual for him." Corinne muttered, leaning back against the stone wall again. She wanted at least a few more minutes before she had to head back up the staircase and hopefully by then no one else would be able to tell she had been crying, from McClaggen no less.
"Did he hurt you?" Fred asked, his eyes scanning over her and lingering for only a second on her dark tights which disappeared into her boots.
"No." She shook her head, "I think I did a bit more damage to him... Hopefully there will be a handprint on his face for at least a day or two." She pulled her hands from her pocket, holding it out between them and Fred's mouth fell open as he spotted the bright red skin.
"Corinne..." He sighed, closing the space between them, a small flicker of warmth spreading through his chest when she didn't pull back. "I know that hurts."
"Lots of experience slapping assholes?" She smirked, shrugging carelessly before he took her hand in his, her breath leaving her lungs as his fingers traced lightly over her skin. Her eyes were wide as she watched his thumb move slowly over the back of her hand, waiting for him to speak again, standing in silence. "Fred..."
"Sorry." He shook his head, dropping her hand from his. "Just... Good for you... Shit." He shook his head once more and scanned over the vacant hallway around them, running his hand over his head nervously. "I... Could I walk you back upstairs? You know... since your slapping hand seems out of commission for the moment?"
She paused, her mind racing from the thought of running into Cormac again on the way to Gryffindor tower, out to Cedric on the Quidditch pitch, far away from the school...
"I get... if you don't want to walk with me. I could just... walk near you. I mean, it is my common room too, so eventually I will have to head up there-"
"Oh, shut up." She laughed, pushing off the wall once more and nodding towards the staircase. "Get a move on, Weasley."
"Alright, then." He bit back a grin, sliding up at her side and breathing in the familiar scent he usually had to shut his eyes to imagine these days. "Maybe you'd like to clue me in onto what he said though? You know, in case the handprint fades from his face... I could give him a nice matching broken nose? Or a black eye on the opposite side of his face? Keep everything symmetrical?"
"I don't think you need any more excuses to get into any more fights." She muttered.
"I rarely fight. I'm actually shooting for Head Boy next year. Think I've got a shot?" He grinned as she burst into laughter, and he let her up the stairs a step ahead of him. "I'll take that glee-filled laughter as a yes."
✵
"Cedric, I'm serious!" Corinne had giggled as his lips had pressed again to her neck in the bustling library. "Quidditch is optional and exams are not!"
"I don't have end of the year exams-"
"But you have Friday's exams! And you haven't even thought about the final task and you know it's going to be so much harder than the rest."
"Do I know that?" He whispered near her ear, the warmth of his fingers sneaking beneath the hem of her sweater.
"If you don't, then I'm even more worried for you success." She laughed.
"I like Quidditch practice. Takes my mind off anything I'm stressing about. And don't you stress about it either. These are my problems. We'll worry about the final task once we find out what it is. Until then, why stress?"
"I guess..." She sighed, dropping her gaze back to her book, despite that she hadn't turned a page in nearly ten minutes, since Cedric had pressed the first kiss to the skin beneath her jaw.
"So I'm going to go... Have a short practice... and maybe when I'm done, I might enjoy a nice, relaxing, hot bath in the prefects bathroom?" His voice had dropped to a low whisper and he pressed a scrap of paper into her hand.
"Maybe you'll enjoy a nice, relaxing, hot bath all on your own." She teased, though they both knew he would find her waiting for him in a few short hours.
Which is where she found herself now, stuffing the crumbled paper into her bag as the water flowed into the oversized bath behind her.
She snuck one last look at the doorway, reminding herself that Cedric had said this was the least common prefects bathroom, and it was late on a chilly Thursday night, before pulling her sweater off, folding it neatly and setting her skirt over it on the bench beside her things. She had at least had time to grab her bathing suit this time, and thus felt much safer as she looked over the plain black swimsuit. If anyone did happen to wander in before Cedric got here, at least she would be covered, and the only explaining she would need to do would be what she was doing in the Prefects bathroom this close to curfew when she was not in fact, a Prefect.
She hurried towards the steaming pool of water, the air pulling goosebumps to her skin as she sank to the floor, running her fingers through the water to ensure it wasn't too hot and then sliding into the water with a sigh. She paused for a second to enjoy the water before sinking beneath the surface, her eyes shutting as the water soaked into her hair.
She surfaced again, spinning towards the door, her eyes wide. Nothing had changed, nothing had moved, yet she could have sworn she had heard the door shut.
She took a deep breath, leaning against the warming tiles of the bathtub and glancing at the stained glass window where the glow of the sun was all but gone now, sunk behind the forest in the distance and leaving a severe lack of light aside from the lamps hung around the oversized bathroom.
She pushed off the wall and let herself glide easily through the water, wishing she had brought her watch. She could only guess what time it was, how long she had been waiting, if Cedric's practice would run short or long, or-
"Hi." She screamed, only for a second, clapping a hand over her mouth as she whirled around to find Fred at the edge of the pool, a cheshire car grin spread along his face.
"What the hell, Weasley?"
"Spook you?" He laughed, "Maybe because... you're not supposed to be in here?"
"Oh, and you are?"
"Only difference is... I don't mind being caught."
"I don't mind... What are you even doing here?"
He shrugged, his smile never fading.
"How did you get in here?"
He raised one eyebrow, looking down at her as she hugged her arms to her chest, the water suddenly feeling much too hot, the steam rising into the air a bit suffocating.
"Come on."
"Well... Cedric's on his way, so you'd better leave." She warned, not even wanting to think about how to explain Fred's presence to her boyfriend if he walked in right now.
"Oh, no... not the boyfriend-"
"The prefect."
"The prefect boyfriend!" Fred nodded, lazy smile still stretched across his lips. "You're right... I'd better run."
"You're so not funny." She grumbled, splashing a wave of warm water out of the pool and watching as he jumped backwards with ease.
"Hey, careful! That's assault!"
"My hand's all healed up, I can always smack that smirk right off your face-"
"I'd love to see that. Honest. But then you'd have to get out of the nice, warm water and into the freezing cold air-"
"Worth it."
"In that little bathing suit. Nice birthmark, by the way." His eyes flickered between her eyes and the small brown outline on the back of her shoulder.
"Weasley, out!" She ordered, and rolled her eyes as he offered her a salute, starting back towards the door.
"Night then, Baker." He called just before the door slammed and she leaned back onto the ledge of the bathtub with a deep sigh.
Her heart was still pounding when the door opened again a few minutes later, Cedric hurrying through with a small smile.
"That water better still be warm." He called, pulling his hoodie over his head and tossing it onto her clothes, racing towards the water and jumping in without a seconds thought.
"It'll be warm enough for you, you're very late."
"Am I?" He grinned, moving easily towards her in the water.
"Yes, very, very late." She informed him, though she couldn't stop the smile pulling to her lips as he neared her. She took a few steps backwards as he drew closer. "So late in fact that I had to deal with, hey! Stop!" She giggled as he reached her, her back hitting the tiled wall behind her as the large room filled with her squeal as Cedric's fingers closed around her hips, pulling her against him and swallowing her laughter into a kiss.
"Mhm?" He mumbled through the sloppy kiss, his hands sliding down her legs and wrapping them around his waist, her back still pressed against the wall beneath the steaming water. "You were saying?" His lips slipped down from hers, tracing roughly over her jaw, down her neck, over her collarbones. He paused to pull the strap of her suit over her shoulder and kissed over the revealed skin, moving easily to where she knew the birthmark sat on her skin.
She hummed, her mind now fuzzy and her previous sentence long forgotten.
"Don't let me off easy, love. Thought you were angry with me?" He teased, using both hands to roll her hips against his and grinning at the gasp it earned him.
"Shouldn't you be tired after Quidditch?" She mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and returning the favor, sinking her lips onto the warm skin on his neck.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He asked, his hands trailing lazily beneath her hips and lifting her easily from the water, ignoring her screams of protest as he set her onto the ledge in the cold.
"Stop! It's freezing!"
"I'm sorry." He grinned, his hands landing on her knees and moving them apart easily, his lips connecting to the skin inside of her thighs, bright gray eyes looking up into hers. "How can I ever make it up to you?"