Chapter 34
My breath heaves as I finally get to the great hall. I had to run all the way from the forbidden forest and now I'm soaking wet. It decided to start raining just as I got to the quidditch field, so I had to run to the great hall in the rain. It's been a couple of days since I saw the beetle when I was talking with Cedric, so I've been trying to search the woods before the daily prophet came out, to see if there were anymore like it. So far there hasn't been, so now I'm sure that the beetle was Rita Skeeter. The Daily Prophet reporter who is reporting on the Tri-wizard Tournament. She has a tendency to make up stories to stir up drama. I don't know what she would possibly right about Cedric and I, but I know she'll come up with something.
I run over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Parker are all huddling around something. When I walk up, Hermione gives me a look of pity and I know I'm screwed.
"What does it say?" I ask quietly.
"It's best that you read it yourself." Hermione says as she hands me the paper which reads:
Another Hogwarts champion looking for a possible love. Mandy Lafoi's notorious daughter, Felicity Wilhite, who was spotted with Draco Malfoy at the Quidditch World cup, has been rumored to be talking with original Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory. Could it be a blooming love? Or a way for Felicity to get closer to the action? Find out as I keep everyone updated on the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
Rita Skeeter.
Bile rises up in my throat. Draco's going to be pissed.
"I have to go find Draco." I say as I set the paper down on the table.
"Felicity!" Draco yells for me from the door of the great hall. Hermione gives me a look of pity.
"Good luck." She mouths, before I turn towards his scowling face.
"We need to have a little talk." Before I get the chance to speak, Draco grabs my arm and pulls me out of the Great hall and towards one of the side hallways.
Before I can get a word of defense in, Draco's hands are on my wrist and one is covering my mouth with my back against the wall. Anger radiates off of him. I'm screwed.
"Dray..." I try to say but my voice is muffled by his hand.
"What the fuck have you been doing behind my back?!" He shouts. Fear shoots through me, making it harder to breathe. He moves his hand from my mouth, making it a bit easier to talk.
"I didn't do anything I swear. Rita Skeeter twisted the story around." I reply.
"So you were with Diggory?"
"He found me in the woods." I say quickly. "I was taking my usual hike when he spotted me and went after me to make sure that I wasn't getting into any trouble. You know how Hufflepuffs are." His anger doesn't deplete. I wish it would.
He moves closer to me, making sure that I can feel his breath against my cheek. "You're mine." He says menacingly. "Don't forget that." Forcefully, he walks away, leaving me to catch my breath. Tears flood my eyes as I realize what just happened. Rita just gave him more of a reason not to trust me. He was already having a hard time trusting me because of the shifting thing. If our relationship doesn't end by the end of the year, I will definitely be surprised.
"You alright there, Feliz?" The nickname makes me freeze. I shake my head slowly as I feel Fred's arms wrap around me. His warmth envelops me like a blanket that I take comfort in. Tears fall down my cheeks but I don't bother to wipe them. "What did he do?"
"He's mad about what Rita Skeeter said." I say quietly. My voice seems more high pitched than normal and I hate it. It makes me feel small and weak. "I didn't do anything."
"I know." He whispers.
"I need to go after him." I try to pull out of his arms but with a good amount of strength, he holds me back from going anywhere.
"Let him blow off steam. If he really knows you, then he'll come to his senses." I nod my head and settle down.
"I hope I didn't fuck everything up." Fred gives me a look of pity. Or one that is filled with concern. I can't tell right now. My brain feels too muddled to think clearly.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" His voice is gentle and I hate it. I feel like a kid who's been hurt or got their feelings hurt. I don't want to feel this weak. Nevertheless, I nod my head and follow him wherever he wants to go. Neither of us talk. I want to say that I hate it too, but I have nothing that I truly want to say. My relationship with Fred has become so diminished that it's kind of sad. We rarely talk to each other and if we do, it's only for a few seconds.
"I'm sorry." I murmur. It slips out without a single thought but it feels like a good way to fill in the silence.
"For what?" He looks at me confused.
"For dragging you into unwanted drama last year and then completely abandoning you this year." Everything spills out, like I've been meaning to say it for a while. I should've been meaning to say it for a while. "It's not fair to you."
"We've both been busy."
I laugh at the poor excuse. "You may have been but I haven't. I've been wallowing in self-pity the last couple of months because of this damn tournament."
"Ignorance is bliss isn't it." He tries to joke.
"Yeah. I wish I didn't know. I could have written it down that way but I didn't want to be surprised." My shoulders sag, like a weight has been placed on them. He slides her arm around my back and pulls me close to him. His presence is comforting.
"Maybe it would help to tell someone? Like what is going to happen to me?" The joking returns to his voice but his question makes my stomach flop.
"It's better that you don't know what happens to you." I reply. The thought of him dying makes me move closer to him. I don't want to think about how I'm going to feel when that happens. I don't want him to die. I should have undone his death in my script but I didn't think that I would be so close to him. I hate it.
I hate that this is all real. And that I have real feelings for the people here. I feel real emotions about knowing who is going to get hurt and who is going to die. And it hurts that I can't fucking change it. Either I don't know how, or I do but it might change something major. Fred's death shouldn't change anything too major. Should it? It shouldn't, especially since it wasn't really shown in the movies. Maybe I could stop his.
"What's that look of determination for?" Fred asks, snapping me back to reality.
"Nothing. I just thought of something that I need to do." I pull out of his arms and give him a genuine smile. A look of confusion crosses his face. "I have to go find Parker. Thanks for trying to cheer me up."
"Alright. Before you go though." He places a kiss on my cheek and whispers in my ear. "I'm here for you. Don't forget that please." I nod my head and I know a blush is dusting my cheeks.
"I won't." I take off running back to the great hall, where I last saw Parker.
Thankfully, I found her just as she was walking out with George Weasley by her side.
"Parker, when you get the chance, I need to talk to you about something." She nods her head with a confused look on her face. "I'll be in my dorm." Ignoring both of their looks of confusion, I walk away, hoping Pansy isn't in my dorm. Or close to Draco.
Thankfully, when I get to the common room, she is sitting on the couch talking with Blaize. Neither of them pay any attention to me so I am able to get to my dorm without anyone stopping me. Before I get to my dorm, however, I stop in front of Draco's dorm. His door is closed and I can't hear anything from behind it. I desperately want to open the door and check on him but I doubt he would appreciate that right now. I'll come back later, after I talk to Parker about Fred's death.
There has to be some way to stop it from happening. I know that Augustus Rookwood was the one that killed him. He was fighting off death eaters with Percy when Augustus snuck up on them and shot a spell at them, throwing them and debris everywhere. The explosion kills him instantly. How to stop it should be easy. Stop Augustus before he gets there and we should be fine. I just don't know exactly where he was when he died. I know that he was close to the room of requirements because Harry was there to help Percy move Fred's body until the first half of the war ended.
I walk into my dorm and take a seat on my bed. I pull out a book and wait for Parker to show up.
"Ok. Curiosity got the best of me. What's up?" Parker walks into our dorm about twenty minutes later.
"We could try to change Fred's death." I say as I look up at her.
"What?" She looks at me confused. "We can't change anything. You know that."
"What would change so drastically that we can't prevent Fred's death? Nothing. All we would have to do is make sure that he doesn't get to the room of requirement during the first half of the battle." I shrug. "Or make sure that Augustus Rookwood doesn't get near them."
"Them?"
"Percy was there when Fred died." I respond, talking about Fred's annoying older brother.
"We don't know all the details. So I think we should talk about this in our real reality. That way we can actually accomplish it." I blow out a sigh of relief and nod my head. She's going to help me.
"Anyway have you figured out the egg yet?"
We talk until it's time for dinner. I tell her about how the next few months are going to go without going into too much detail. We talk about the Yule ball and make plans to go get dresses with Hermione. Yes, we decided to drag Hermione with us. She will be informed today at dinner. She needs to pick out her iconic pink yule ball dress anyway so...Also I know that her dress was originally blue but I wrote in my script that it looked the way it did in the movies. Besides, I think pink looks amazing on Hermione.
We walk into the great hall. Almost automatically, I feel eyes on me. Not just from the Slytherin table but from everyone in the room. It feels like last year all over again. Same month too. I hope I don't repeat this thing next year. I hate that time period when people think that I'm a slut.
Ignoring all of the stares, I take a seat with Parker at the Gryffindor table. Parker sits next to George and I sit next to Fred. Hermione in front of me. Harry and Ron are on her left and Seamus Finnigan is on her right, talking to Dean Thomas.
"Do you get a feeling of deja vu?" I ask the people around me, jokingly. Ron gives me an annoyed glance, while George and Harry snort out a laugh. Hermione gives me a look of pity and takes a quick glance at my wrists. Fred does the same but I ignore those stares.
"Yeah. It feels a bit familiar." Fred jokes in return, easing the tension a bit.
"I wonder why." Ron says bitterly. I ignore him and grab some food.
I try to ignore all of the stares but each one feels like a needle pricking my skin. On the outside, I'm not letting it bother me, but after sitting here for a couple minutes it starts to actually bother me. I engage myself in any conversation I can to distract myself, but just like last year, I can feel the weight of it.
Cedric walks up to the table a few minutes later. He talks with Harry first, then turns to me.
"I'm sorry." I say, before he can say anything.
"Don't worry about it. Rita will get what's coming to her." I give him a small smile, before he walks back to his friends.
The rest of dinner goes quietly. I didn't see Draco at dinner, so I head to his dorm instead of my own. His door is closed, just like earlier. I test the handle and find that it's not locked so I shove the door open. I find his room in complete disarray. There are ripped up pieces of paper scattered across the floor. Things that are supposed to be on his desk are on the ground. It looks like a tornado went through here. His bathroom door is open and light spills out of there. I hear the sink running but that's it.
Slowly, I walk towards the bathroom and peer through the door. Draco is at the sink, looking at the running water. Not at himself, like he will in 6th year. The image looks similar though.
I push the door open slowly, so I don't startle him.
"Draco?" I say as gently as possible.
"I don't want to talk to you." He mumbles.
"I know." I whisper, with a sigh of regret. "I just came here to tell you goodnight." He freezes. He doesn't follow me when I walk away, nor when I walk out of his dorm to mine. We aren't going to last very long and I don't know how I feel about that.