Backfire

"Hermione, I've done something incredibly stupid," Holland says. The curly haired brunette found the bushy-haired witch alone on the bridge, just finished talking with Ginny. It was a chilly October, the girls sporting scarves and knit-hats. Holland rubbed her mitten-clad fingers together, sniffling as another gust of wind blows. The image would have been quite confusion to most students of Hogwarts, a girl in green and silver attire, mingling and chatting amongst a crowd sporting maroon and yellow, it was almost an impossible sight.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but when do you not?" Hermione chuckles, immediately stopping when she sees Holland's worried face. Holland was facing away from the castle, eyeing the rocks and water below the bridge, wondering how much it would hurt to jump down on it just in case Cedric had seen her and was in the mood to devour her face once more.

"Hermione!" Holland whines, looking up at the Gryffindor. Hermione immediately wipes the smile off her face.

"Alright, calm down. I was only kidding. What did you do?" Hermione carefully walks closer to the dark haired girl.

"Okay," Holland lets out a breath. "I just want you to know that the worst part of this entire mess was not my fault." Holland confirms.

"I-I don't think I want to hear this?" Hermione says, confused. Holland would usually intend on making sure the most lethal damage was hers.

"You're going to anyway." Holland takes a deep breath and begins, "Diggory planned on making me drink a love potion and I gave him a spicy chew me and the twins made a few weeks ago and I didn't know he put all of it in my water and next thing I know is he had drunken all of my water and now he wants nothing to do other than snog me." Holland was now trying to catch her breath, hoping she wouldn't have to repeat and reliving the horror of the previous day's events for another time.

"Cedric drank water and now he's in love with you?" Hermione seemed confused, not understanding what Holland had said as she had explained everything in one breath. Holland wanted to sink to her knees, wanted to jump off the bridge, wanted to scream and run off to the Forbidden forest, maybe have a quick chat with Aragog before willingly submitting herself to the pleasure and delight of his sons and daughters.

"Hermione!" The girl whined, really not in the mood to be repeating herself and taking things calmly. The girl was hysterical, wondering what she'd done for everything to go so wrong so quickly.

"Right, okay. We'll have to do a bit of reading. Do you suppose he'd brewed it himself?" Hermione tucks a strand of hair behind her hair, eyeing the girl in front of her in concern. Hermione had a sinking feeling she already knew just what potion it was that had landed her friend in such a predicament.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't spoken to him because I can't get a word out without him trying to prey on my face!" Holland says through gritted teeth, hands flailing. The two quickly make their way to the library, mountains of potions books surrounding them. Holland had never been in such a wild, toe-curling mess before. Maybe this was the world's most unpleasant, but clearest sign that she should just stop pranking people. There she was, sitting on the same ground her and Draco had been just a few days ago whilst Hermione was standing in perfect posture, eyes going back and forth as she turned another page of the book she was holding. Holland tried to imagine herself as Hermione, how would Hermione handle this situation?, She thought to herself. She wouldn't handle this situation because she would have never gotten herself in it!, Holland scolds herself, burying her head in the book she'd been reading, repeatedly hitting herself in agony. Hermione sends a cold glare at her friend, not appreciating the solo pity party while she'd been actually looking for something that could help their situation.

"Here. An efficient antidote depends on how the potion was brewed, so we can't be able to answer that question yet. But it says we can determine how long he'd be lovesick for you." Hermione says, reading from the tattered book. Holland tried to collect her thoughts.

"Ashwinder eggs, rose thorns, peppermint, pearl dust, rose petals," Hermione began to read out what the potion contained. "Powdered moonstone, one spoon equivalent to 30 days of efficacy." Hermione looks at Holland as they had found something to help them not look so clueless about the situation they were in. "The spoons of moonstone powder determines whether or not an antidote could still work. More than 3 spoons, he's a goner." Hermione concludes.

"Perfect. All we have to do is find out how many spoons of moonstone is in there! Shouldn't be anything to worry about, right? Not like Diggory's got any intentions of marrying me and having Dane empty the entire jar of moonstone, you don't think?" Holland asks, still trying to calm herself down as the two look for two specific Hufflepuffs.

"Moonstone? Can't recall, but I don't reckon I'd put more than 5," Dane Oliver chuckles in amusement, not knowing Holland's situation. Hermione's eyes widen at what he had just heard, immediately looking at Holland to see how she had taken the news. Holland's eyes were wide, but her expression blank, trying to not panic. The two had looked all over the castle for the Hufflepuffs, knowing that Cedric Diggory was best friends with his year's potions master. Dane had been speaking to them at the end of the bridge, on the slope on the way to Hagrid's hut whilst Cedric was sternly told to simply wait for them from afar in the bridge and only allowed to peer from it, Holland fearing he'd fearlessly kiss her if they were too close, but also would suddenly get the temptation to profess his love to her and tell the entire school about it if he were somewhere unattended.

"Are you joking?" She asks quietly, not trusting her voice. She turned to look at Cedric, who was staring at her with a smile. "Is he joking? Please tell me he's joking." She begs Hermione. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? What made you think that doing that was okay?" She yells out at the confused Hufflepuff, who had now flinched backwards, afraid to be near the hysteric Slytherin.

"Hey, what's going on over there!" Cedric demands, beginning to jog over to them before Holland lets out, "No, stay right there!" The boy raises both hands in defeat and stops in his tracks, slowly retreating to the bridge.

"Look, he said he was tired of all the goblin slime and the hexes." He explains, rolling his eyes as if he were to say the two could have easily retaliated with complex potions instead of silly wand-waving. "The book said the more spoons of moonstone, the higher the chances of it working. We are talking about the Draught of Peace, right? Cedric was just tired of all the fighting." Dane says. Holland snorts, that was it? She'd expected more from the boy. She had to admit, it was quite amusing how the boy was still nice as he tried to prank her. While Holland found the attempt pathetic due to the lack of vindictiveness, Hermione found the attempt pathetic due to the fact that the Draught of Peace was not to commence the kind of peace that would end wars or feuds, but to commence a deep, easy sleep upon the drinker. She concluded that like Viktor Krum, Dane Oliver was a superb potion brewer, but not the smartest.

"I think the draught has given me and him a little too much peace!" Holland says. "Can't go one day without him tailing me, why don't you go brew your best friend the Draught of Peace off." Holland cries in agony, Hermione trying not to laugh.

"That can't be. How silly of me!" Dane says in disbelief. "I must have gotten the words all confused when I was reading it. Amorentia and Draught of Peace were on the same page, I didn't think it would be difficult to tell the difference!" He was chuckling nervously, the two witches staring at him in distaste.

"Holly!" Cedric calls as he calmly walks over to them, holding onto her hand. She faced him impatiently before his lips landed on hers again. Holland quickly pulls away, very much fortunately having her eyes meet a specific twin's who'd been watching them, having just exited the bridge. It took her 5 seconds to let out a relieved breath to see that it was Fred before realizing the twin not being George didn't make things better.

"Look how wrong you were." Holland says in the mock-tone of Dane's, letting out chuckles despite herself. She faces Cedric and begins to scold him, igoring Dan and Hermione's protests. "I want you to stay away from me, alright? Snape and Sprout said we needed time together every single day, and when we do, we have to be at least ten feet apart. We are going to talk in open areas, the Great Hall with 4 people between us, I don't care. We are not going to be all cuddle-cuddle, lovey-dovey, got that?" Holland sneers at Cedric, who could only stare at her brown eyes when she said this. Slowly coming to terms with what the girl had said, the boy began to frown before giving her a defeated nod, looking down as he did it. No longer wanting to stay in front of the boy, Holland began to run after Fred.

"Holly, wait!" Hermione says as she began to chase after the hysterical girl. Holland couldn't help herself. It wasn't that she was going mad over the fact that her rival suddenly sparked an artificial interest in her, it just felt that nothing had gone right ever since she began her fourth year and the thought left a nasty, sinking feeling in her.

-

Holland was a wreck, she had no idea what to do. Her pranks had never turned out the way she planned, the boy she'd been hexing is currently in love with her, and one of her best friend's thinks she's gone ballistic for kissing the aforementioned boy. To top it all off, her best friend, the love of her live, is ignoring her. Holland couldn't bring herself to eat. She had spent about half an hour seated next to Draco before letting him and Pansy know that she'd rather go to bed early.

"Are you alright?" Pansy asks, worried that her friend's appetite had depleted for the past few days.

"Yes, I'm good. Don't worry, I'm just really tired." Holland says sadly. She no longer bothered to fix herself up when she left the common room, she was looking pale and sickly, her hair an even bigger mess. Holland looked like she was two seconds away from passing out.

"Well get at least a little bit of bread in you," Draco insisted grumpily, pushing a plate towards the weak girl but Holland kindly smiled and pushed the plate away before standing up. Pansy and Draco looked at her worriedly, knowing something was indeed bothering her and that they wanted nothing more than to cheer her up. Holland began to walk out of the Great Hall, not caring about the watchful eyes that lingered on her as she made her way to the doors.

"Holly," She hears a familiar voice call, knowing just whose it was. She couldn't talk to him. She couldn't even face the boy after imagining how he'd responded to his twin's news that she had been kissing Cedric.

"Hi, George." She faces him briefly, giving him a small smile despite her sallow eyes. She then continued making her way out of the room. George decided against following her, not wanting to make things worse and could only watch as the girl left the hall. There it was, George had finally spoken to her. Holland had only hoped for it to happen, no longer being able to handle having to ignore the twins. But why was it when he'd finally done so, she wanted nothing but to walk away from him?

Holland remained on her bed, blankly staring at her dorm room's dark and emerald-tinted ceiling. Her stomach growling, but her limbs in no condition to move. She didn't want to see anyone, nor talk to anyone. She decided to move to the Astronomy tower, a place that was quiet and empty. She got tired of peering out her window, giving up on keeping an eye out for the Giant Squid. She needed a place just for herself, knowing she wouldn't be able to hear herself think the minute Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode enter their dorm. She put on her slippers and left the room. As she left the portrait hole, she realized that the Astronomy Tower was too far, deciding on a stroll around deserted areas of the castle instead. She then made it to the sixth floor, sitting on a bench in front of a big glass window, and staring at the full moon. Holland found peace in the music of the night, crickets chirping, and the echoing of splashing water the giant squid was making at the Blake Lake. Once again, she rested her eyes on the glowing moon, appreciating just how luminous it was and how beautiful it shone in the sky. The sight reminded Holland of her previous year at Hogwarts, the memories making Holland smile to herself. She was hoping that wherever Remus Lupin was that moment, that he was safe and will feel better once his transformation had ended. As she began to relive the memories of her third year, her eyes began to droop as she was slowly being pulled into the world of slumber.

-

Holland woke up soundlessly and was now cluelessly looking around as she'd forgotten she had been taking a stroll and was just taking a break. She tried to hurriedly go back to her common room, careful not to get caught. She couldn't even imagine the look on old Snape's face once he'd been informed that Holland Avery had been up to no good again. The castle seemed to be much darker and creepier, it couldn't have been earlier than midnight. Holland made sure to ask a random painting of the time, being told it was half past midnight. Holland then tried to carefully run to her portrait hole, stopping when she heard her stomach growl.

"I'd feed it, if I were you. You look like you could faint any second!" The Fat Lady of Gryffindor says, referring to the Slytherin's stomach. "Darling, you should eat. No boy, or girl should have you robbing yourself of the privilege to enjoy a meal." The Fat Lady says, beginning to sing and ignoring the protests of her fellow portraits.

"I think you're right about that." Holland admits as she decides to go to the kitchens, running away from her horrid, off-key melodies.

-

Holland carefully makes her way to the kitchens, after jumping up and tickling the pear in the painting. The pear was about a foot above her, and she usually had the twins tickle it for her, so gathering whatever energy left in her was beyond exhausting. She entered the portrait hole, gasping out a greeting to the elves that were still somehow working.

"Why aren't you resting?" Holland exclaims, surprised to be greeted with the sight of a still-busy kitchen. The elves all turn to face her, cheering in delight at the witch they were too familiar with. Holland always snuck to the kitchens, restless nights always having her crave something only the house elves could whip up.

"We do not sleep until we is sure all students get a good night's sleep with a full stomach, miss!" One elf says, happy and cleaning up a bowl and spatula that looks like it had just been recently used.

"Was someone here before me?" Holland asks, eyeing the bowl and looking around to see if there were any other student there.

"Oh yes, they is still here, Miss Avery. But no worries! What can we's make for you?" An elf sweetly asks Holland, warming her heart. Holland figured she could wait outside as there would be a bench she could sit and snack on.

"Anything small and easy to make! I'd eat anything you beautiful, little ones can make for me." She says and the elves quickly move around to begin preparing a snack for Holland. Holland begins to walk to right outside the kitchens, not wanting to disturb the working elves when she's greeted by the sight of a familiar Hufflepuff seated at where she planned on sitting, staring at the moon just like Holland had.

Cedric sees a moving figure in the corner of his eyes, turning his head to see Holland. He looked sad and in thought, he didn't bother saying anything before turning to face the moon again. Holland sighed quietly, feeling sorry for boy, but not exactly ready to be all empathetic and passionate as she was afraid he'd engulf her in another kiss. So Holland walked past him, looking for other benches to sit on..

"Don't you want to sit next to me?" He calls, staring at Holland's back.

"10 feet apart, remember?" Holland asks blankly, still walking.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Holland stops in her tracks as she hears the break in Cedric's voice. Relax, he's just bewitched.

"I don't actually hate you." She said, face scrunching up as she immediately regrets speaking. Now was not the time to be nice to the boy. Besides, she did hate him. Why was she suddenly all ready to spare his feelings?

"Well come on, then." Holland was facing Cedric now, and he was patting the space next to him. Holland lets out a breath before walking over to him. Cedric was seated on the giant tiled windowsill, feet up as he leaned against its wall.

She thought sitting next to him would be another disaster, that she'd spend most of it trying to pry his lips off her face. So she decided to sit opposite of him, the moonlight illuminating both their faces.

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Goblet of Fire?" Holland teases, not used to seeing the boy without a smile.

"I'm scared." He says blankly. Holland cleared her throat, this was painfully awkward.

"Well.." Holland trails off, not knowing why she was about to console the boy she disliked the most. "That's the small price you have to pay for eternal glory, right? Don't even understand why you even joined, from what I can see, the school adores you." She rolls her eyes in confession. It was true, Cedric wasn't known as the golden boy because he was a Hufflepuff, he really was known for being the complete dream of a boy, perfect friend, perfect classmate, and perfect student.

"Do you adore me?" Cedric asked hopefully, looking at Holland. Holland wanted to bang her head through the window at this sudden inquiry. She knew better than to pick another row with the bewitched boy, and decided to humor him.

"I guess." She answered reluctantly, earning a disappointed look from Cedric. "Does it matter? Everyone else does. You'll be adored until the day you graduate, possibly even until the day you die." Holland scoffed.

"I don't want to just be adored forever. It's nice people think of me as someone worth adoring, but it's not what I want people to think of me when the time comes and they have to speak in front of my grave." He admits, Holland listening carefully. "I get it, I live my life following the rules and being sensitive," He says, referring to when Holland told him that he could let loose and live a little. "but I don't think I could ever grow up to be more than that. My father, he's adored. But he's also a man. I want to be a man. I want to prove to everyone that I'm not just kind and patient."

"You'll be fine." Holland easily says.

"None of us know what's actually in store for us out there. I wrote my name on that parchment thinking I could nail every task so easily. Now I'm not so sure about that. And Harry, he's just a kid. What if nearing the end, I'm expected to just leave him for dead? I don't know if I've got what it takes." Cedric begins to doubt himself.

"Come on, Diggory. You can't possibly think all of this is your responsibility. Harry's my friend, and I pray to Merlin, Godric, and to everyone I can pray to that he gets out of this alive. But Dumbledore said it himself, you stand alone. Even then, you're most likely just overwhelmed, the tournament nearing and all. But you've got your chance to be a champion, and you can even protect Harry while you're at it. And Hogwarts, alongside your dad, will be more than proud of you." Cedric turns to look at her, surprised at what she had just said. The two were actually quite close together and this made Holland nervous. "But kiss me again and I will fucking murder you."

"I promise I'll try not to." He brought his hands up again. "Has anyone ever told you how amazingly kissable you are, though?" He asks, earning a groan from Holland.

"I'm going to seriously injure you, Diggory."

"I'd rather you than whatever's waiting for me out there." He says, serious again. It was clear that the tournament really was getting to him. "Holland?" He asks after a moment of silence.

"Hm?"

"I know I'm not supposed to ask, but the thought of going out there and doing this alone.. I can't think properly.. This morning after thinking about you—" Holland winces and pretended she didn't hear what the boy had said. "I left my dormitory in just a shirt with no pants." Cedric admits, letting Holland know just how badly his nerves have been affecting him.

"You're really nervous, aren't you?" Holland whispers in surprise, the boy could only nod in response.

"Tell you what," Holland breathes out, wondering why she was even going to suggest what she was going to say. "We are supposed to spend time together, we could always go to the library, theorize and strategize about how you could easily win every task." Holland suggests, leaning away when Cedric leaned in closer in surprise at what she'd suggested.

"You're going to help me?"

"That's what I said." Holland confirms.

"Don't think that's allowed, though." Cedric says unsurely, to which Holland rolls her eyes at.

"There are a lot of things not allowed in this school that I've done, this is nothing." Holland shrugs.

"Oh Merlin, you're brilliant." Cedric engulfs her in a hug.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Holland grits out as she was struggling to breathe in the boy's tight hold, prying away from the boy's grasp and praying for no other student to come to the kitchens for a midnight snack.

-