Triwizard Champion
The rest of the week was horribly dull. The sun had decided to shield itself from the world behind foggy grey clouds and unnerving, unending rain. For whatever reason, Harry and Ron’s sudden fascination with the Goblet of Fire exploded, and Y/N and Hermione had no other choice but to accompany the two boys every day to the hall in which it was held. Often, the girls would be found reading off on a bench in the corner, their respective books being shed with the dim blue glow of the fire.
Y/N especially disliked the rain. It made everything at Hogwarts gloomy and cold, and the girl hated getting cold. The standard Hogwarts uniform did little to ease the shivers that ran violently through the girl every few minutes, and her teeth were chattering so loudly, Snape had taken off five bloody house points from Gryffindor for "disrupting the class."
Y/N had been fuming profusely that afternoon. She'd complain about it to whoever would listen. Because honestly, who holds a classroom underground in a fireless dungeon where the sun does not shine, yet expect every single student to be completely warm.
Harry and Ron agreed that hating on Snape in any form was fair, while Hermione scolded the girl for not wearing extra layers. The rest of that day was spent arguing with Hermione over how the dress code jumper wasn't enough for protection and Hermione arguing back that she could've gotten a thicker one at Diagon alley during the summer if she hadn’t been so busy ogling at the bookstore. Y/N swore she saw a popular muggle book, and Hermione told her it was simply impossible.
When the twins caught onto the argument, they only laughed and threw their jumpers at the girl, who then stuck her tongue out at them and threw it back. Though it did spark an insight moment in the girl, who then took to wearing Fred's sweater all week when out of school uniform as it was much warmer than anything she had. Props to Molly Weasley's knitting skills. (Yes the very sweater he'd given her at the start of school, which she never returned because it got lost in the bottom of her messy little trunk).
Naturally, the twins had much to comment on Y/N’s choice of wardrobe, but let the girl keep the sweater without any complaints. Something about “looking cute.”
Aside from the little adjustments to her clothing choices, the girl had to make a regrettably large adjustment to her schedule. No more sauntering to her little corner of the library to hide in whatever novel she could find. Instead, she contented to sit beside her friends in front of the common room fireplace to dry herself from splashing into puddles all day or running from the rain.
She did break her anti-library streak on Monday when she parted herself from staring at the blue flame of the goblet to meet up with the foul snake for the "last" time to finish their essay on the effects of the wit-sharpening potion. Hermione had suggested that the girl could copy her essay, but Y/N refused and cried about how embarrassing it would be to never show up to the last meeting.
Draco Malfoy was early as always. He always had to be the first one there and the last one to leave. Or it could be that the Gryffindor was just unconditionally late. Either way, it was unnerving. The boy was always sitting on that stupid old chair and staring out that stupid old window. If Y/N didn't know better, she would've said he was daydreaming.
"Boo," she voiced monotonously after squeezing through the book ridden entrance.
The boy's pretty steel eyes lazily glanced over at the intruder. "Hilarious."
"Forsooth so valorous sir," she replied cheerfully, knowing fully well that Malfoy was now one of the few students in the entire castle to understand her Shakespearean slang. The girl was actually quite sad when her two firey haired friends had glazed over being called saucy boys days ago.
"Brilliant. You've gone looney," he scoffed.
"That was mean Malfoy," Y/N falsely pouted as she pulled out several pieces of parchment as well as her messy notes to write down her dreaded essay. Her partner rolled his eyes and got to work as well because honestly, neither student could care less about who said what or who was mean.
There really was no reason to be writing their essays together in the first place, aside from fact-checking with one another to make sure they didn't write something completely different. It was definitely Draco's idea. Shocking really. The first and only time he'd suggested it, Y/N thought he'd finally lost his bloody mind. Turned out, Draco Malfoy was sort of a control freak when it came to his work in class. Seemed like he was Snape's favorite student for a reason.
If she wasn't Snape's favorite pupil, then at the very least Y/N was brilliant at writing essays. The greasy, mean-spirited teacher would never applaud the girl on her writing skills, but the other professors certainly did. Unfortunately, excelling at writing a few essays would get the L/N nowhere in the wizarding world and her few merits were overlooked by Harry's sheer existence and Hermione's all rounded brilliance.
The more she mindlessly jotted down, the more her mind drifted to the blonde sitting across from her. It was rather unfortunate for Malfoy too. He seemed to excel at all levels of schooling and wizardry yet he was also on the same rocking dingy boat in the sea, watching as the magnificent cruise line sailed by, catching the eyes of all who looked. Only difference was that Y/N didn't mind. Malfoy had grown up on unfettered attention and needed it to survive.
"You did not just write twenty," he suddenly leered, causing a jolt to run through the girl and her quill to drag an ugly line at the end of the "y".
"Oops, sorry bout that," she apologized sheepishly before scribbling out the word. Y/N probably would've made a comment about how Malfoy was watching her-or more importantly NOT ignoring her-, but she was indeed grateful for the comment.
The two didn't speak until Y/N was nearly done writing, and she had slowed down to think about how to summarize her work for the conclusion. Y/N, being one of those "never edit your work and leave it up to fate" type of students, was just about ready to slam her book close and beeline right out of the library in a few minutes.
She suspected her partner to do the exact same thing. But the unpredictable boy put down his quill and opened his hand, eyes waiting expectantly. "Hand it over," he demanded monotonously.
"What?" the girl spluttered with wide eyes. Her paper? Why? Was Malfoy just looking for an excuse to make fun of her writing now too?
He scoffed and crossed his arms in that arrogant way that made Y/N want to slap him right across his pretty face. "Snape says your essays have too much information and not enough at the same time," he revealed.
"Is that all he says?" she asked curiously, leaning forward a bit without realizing it.
"No, but that's what he says about your assignments. Now hand it over before you drag down my grade," said Malfoy.
"Fine," she sighed as she shoved her papers across the table. Wordlessly, the boy picked up her essay and began scanning the work. "So you're going to read mine, but I'm not allowed to read yours?" she snapped, a bit desperate to find a comeback in any way against the boy.
"You won't find any mistakes," he announced confidently, angering the girl.
'What a pompous arse,' she'd grumbled in her mind. 'wAiT tIlL MY fATheR hEarS aBoUt tHis.'
When the boy dipped his ink and began to scribble notes all over her work, the girl swore she was going to hurl the cruciatus curse right at him. Her precious work! How dare that git ruin her paper?! Now she'd have to completely rewrite the essay.
With a deep frown plastered across her lips, the girl snatched the boy's own work and began to read through it. He didn't say a single word and only continued to scan through her writing as if he knew there were no mistakes. She gripped harshly onto the parchment in frustration and resisted the urge to rip it to shreds.
"Could you at least pretend to be gentle you oaf! You'll smudge the ink," he snapped.
Y/N rolled her eyes and then really began to read his paper. Halfway through, she decided that if given the faintest bit of a chance, she'd burn the boy into a pile of ashes. Not fair in the least! He was smart and he wrote better than she did!
The girl had gone through word for word and hadn't found a single mistake. Not even a misplaced comma or grammatically incorrect sentence. At least Harry's or Ron's had two or three misspelled words. Malfoy could've easily rivaled Hermione.
With a very Malfoy-like sneer, the girl threw down the papers across the desk. "Not a single mistake," she grumbled begrudgingly while Draco smirked arrogantly and tossed her papers at her end of the desk.
"Not bad," he replied.
The sheer amount of tiny comments on the side of her paper made Y/N want to cry. Malfoy wasn't even trying and yet he was worse than any professor she'd ever had. "Thanks," she spat with an irked expression on her pretty face. Suddenly, Y/N no longer had the motivation to write. Not in front of Malfoy. Never in a million years.
Lazily, she took out another piece of parchment and slammed it onto the desk. 'I hate it here,' she thought.
But thank god for the two fiery red heads of hair that popped out of the bookshelf nearest the entrance. Their two scruffy tresses standing out against the dull grey and brown leather books and dim candles. "Afternoon!" the twins chimed simultaneously, causing their friend to knock over her jar of ink.
In the midst of fixing her toppled ink and turning to peer at the two uninvited guests, the girl caught a glimpse of Draco's unsatisfied face. If looks could kill, Y/N and her friends would have been six feet under by now.
"What are you doing here?" Malfoy sneered.
"We'd ask the same question mate, but we've got some business with Y/N," Fred said.
"We do?" Y/N questioned, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to retrieve any memory of this "business."
"We do," George mirrored as he and Fred squeezed into the stacked books.
Malfoy, still looking ready to murder, was about to open his mouth to speak until Y/N sent a harsh kick to his shin from under the table. The boy hissed at the sudden pain and sent the harshest glare she had ever seen at Y/N. Brilliant, now she was on the chopping block too. "Come on, we've got something to show you," the twins insisted as they took a knee beside the girl's chair to level with her eye line.
"You can't just leave in the middle of our project," Malfoy pointed out angrily. "Not with those bloody gingers."
Y/N, who had yet to come to a decision began to rethink her possibilities. It wasn't like she wanted to spend time with the blonde brat, but she needed to get her portion of the work done. However, she really wanted to see what idiotic thing the twins had done now. "Hate to say it, but Malfoy's sort of right." She paused. "About the project thing, not the ginger thing!" she hurriedly added. "Also, walking's sort of a hassle anyways."
The two boys rose to their feet, a blank look on their faces. Strange. Almost as quick as Harry's firebolt, the Weasley twins' expression then shifted to one of mischief. "Suit yourself, princess," they chimed before George leaned right over to haul Y/N off her chair and over his shoulder like a potato sack.
Having expected this, the girl sighed, her hair flipping wildly over her head and swaying with every movement. "Oh no, I've been kidnapped, stolen, nicked....," she called out monotonously as she hung from George's broad shoulder. "...Any other words?"
"Captured," Fred suggested.
"Seized," George offered.
"Hijacked," the two said.
"Snatched," all three chorused, almost as if their little scene were rehearsed beforehand.
Malfoy's less than pleased scowl didn't make its way to Y/N's line of sight but did catch the attention of the ginger twins who couldn't help but smile at the blonde's discomfort. "You've got to be kidding me," the boy sighed as he aggressively face palmed into his hands.
"Right, we'll be off then," Fred called.
"Wait wait wait! Hold on a minute," Y/N yelped, her legs kicking around the air and nearly kicking George in the face as her arms wiggled for freedom. The twins stopped walking, looking at their flailing friend. "You'll take care of my stuff right Malfoy?" she asked, almost jokingly though still putting trust into her partner.
"I'm not some filthy house elf," he spat viciously. "Do it yourself."
"That's not very kind," George muttered, not bothering to confront the bully.
His twin, on the other hand, flexed his jaw unknowingly as he clenched his teeth together and pivoted around immediately. Fred didn't very well care too intensely on the subject of Malfoy mistreating his workers, but the implication involving Y/N made him boil with anger. George, taking note of his twin's abrupt fury, nudged Fred's arm with his free elbow and nodded towards the exit.
"Whatever," Y/N scoffed. "I'll come get my stuff later. If anything goes missing, I'll just spike your pumpkin juice," she cheerily threatened, still hanging downwards and quickly becoming uncomfortable with a forming headache. "Off to victory now horsie!"
George grabbed onto his brother's forearm and quickly forced him to the entrance. "You did not just call me a horse," George chuckled as he walked down the skinny path between the library's bookshelves.
"Oh she did Georgie," Fred answered with an amused glint to his voice.
"Seeing as you carry me everywhere, why not just accept it. See even your name rhymes with horsie," Y/N noted thoughtfully as she stared at the moving carpet.
Out of nowhere, the carpet was suddenly coming much closer to her face and George's hand was no longer keeping his steady on his shoulder. The girl landed with a thump and a groan, having just barely avoided a nasty carpet burn to her face by deflecting to her elbows.
"That was rather mean don't you think?" she pouted. The two boys extended their hands toward the girl who took them both but suffered an even worse fate when she was flung forward with the force of them pulling her up. Attempting to seem casual, Y/N then fumbled into a walk and continued walking without looking back at the twins.
The twins, with their ever long legs and blessed athleticism, easily caught up to the girl and settled into a walking pace with each boy on either side of Y/N. "Didn't know you spent your library time with Malfoy," Fred started, putting an emphasis on the hated boy.
"I don't," Y/N replied softly as the trio passed by Madam Pince's watchful eagle eyes and observant ears. George hummed, shoving his hands into his robe pockets. "He's my potions partner you dimwits," she stated, louder now that they were outside the library.
The twins shrugged and slung their arms around the girl's shoulder as they walked, passing through several castle corridors. "By the way," Y/N began. "What's so important that you had to come to the library to get me?"
"Glad you asked, "they both chimed. And out of both the boys' pockets came a vial filled with a suspicious potion. Aging potion as it would seem.
"I see..."
"Well you're gonna see more than that love, come on," they both said as they grabbed onto their younger friend's hands and ran off.
"What're you doing?! Why are we running!" The poor girl screeched as she was being dragged off into an unknown location. Oh, how she wished to be back with Malfoy in the library, NOT running.
"We've got an appointment with glory and we're late. What best friends would we be if you weren't there to see?" They yelled back as they sped onwards even faster.
The displeased girl despised running with her entire being. Yet here she was, one foot after another, racing through the corridors. Truly, horrendous. With a groan, the girl had no choice but to attempt to keep up with the ungodly pace of her two partners in crime.
Finally, the trio burst through the doors of the great hall accompanied by shouts of victory from the twins and cheers of encouragement from the students within the hall itself. Feeling embarrassed by the number of stares in her general direction, the girl slipped her hands out of the grasps of Fred and George and stalked off towards where Hermione had been sitting when she left.
"I thought you were supposed to be in the library," said the bushy-haired girl as Y/N plopped down onto the seat beside her.
"We rescued her from a boring study session! Much thanks for saving our Y/N a front-row seat to the show," the twins interrupted.
"Ready Fred?"
"Ready George."
Initially, Y/N was set on watching her friends initiate their little scheme and possibly fail miserably, but her eyes quickly drifted from the two boys' linked arms to the boy standing farther behind them in her peripheral vision. A choked gasp left the girl's lips as she scrambled to hide closer to Hermione.
"What are you doing?!" Hermione asked in a hurried whisper, trying not to steal attention away from the twins' moment of glory.
"Since when did Cedric get here?" Y/N whispered back harshly. Suddenly, her hands felt clammy with the ghost sensation of being in the hold of Fred and George just moments ago. Did Cedric see that? Did he think that she and the twins were something closer than friends?
The twins now looked back at Y/N like kids asking permission from their mother to unleash all hell on a playground. In turn, the girl gave them two nervous thumbs up, signaling the ginger-haired boys to jump confidently into the circle.
"Yeahhh!" they shouted, hyping up the crowd of students. Unlike the displeased Hermione, Y/N clapped when her two identical friends dropped their slips of paper into the goblet of fire.
"What'd got your wand in a knot?" the girl asked.
"Dumbledore drew that age line. There's no way Fred and George should've been able to put their names in, let alone get in the line," she huffed, turning another page of the heavy book she'd been reading.
"I mean, it worked though didn't-oh." Just as the girl was about to finish defending her mischievous friends, the goblet exploded into life, letting out a swirl of dancing flames and knocking the twins onto the ground several feet away. Ouch. That had to hurt.
Hermione chuckled as Y/N let out a string of "Damn it" and scurried to check on her friends only to be greeted by two ancient men sporting wispy white beards tackling each other to the ground. She couldn't help but laugh along with the other students and egg the two on. Alongside Ron and Harry, the girl chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight," as the twins wrestled each other on the ground. Y/N at this point was in near hysterics as the blur of entangled bodies began to pull at each other's beards.
Then, the crowd seemed to disperse out of nowhere, giving way to the trio of Durmstrangs striding confidently into the hall. Even the two old geezers struggling on the floor seemed to stop their antics. Quietly as to not disturb the scene, Y/N snuck up to the twins to check on them, though still keeping an eye on the intimidating trio.
"You two have really done it this time," she chuckled, extending her hand to the boys.
"Hey, at least we're old enough to drink now. What do you say? Break into Professor Moody's storage?" Fred suggested as Y/N helped him up.
"I bet he's got fire whiskey in that flask," George inputted.
"Please, You two are old enough to be my grandparents. The only place we're going is Madam Pomfrey's," she retorted, grabbing them by their cloak sleeves and dragging them to the door. On her way, the girl planned to send a silent message to Hermione to tell her friend she'd be in the infirmary, but the bushy-haired girl seemed to be occupied with making questionable eye contact with none other than Viktor Krum himself.
The girl looked back at the twins as soon as she felt a nudge on her side. "Don't think they're-" George paused to send a wink, "-do you?"
"I'm going to pretend you did not just say that...but I'll ask Hermione about it later," the girl groaned, finally leaving the scene of Fred and George's crime.
~
Madam Pomfrey's didn't have a cure for Fred and George's curious case of "old geezer syndrome." In fact, she'd only given the boys some typical remedies for their sudden infliction of arthritis and back pains. It took all of Y/N’s will to hold in her laugh when Madam Pomfrey had told them that they could stay in the medical wing if they felt too weak to move.
The two lazy twins of course decided that they were on the brink of death and would need to spend their time alone on the beds yelling like an old married couple along with the other kids who also thought it'd be a brilliant plan to grow old. Expectedly, Fred and George weren't the only eager students to enter the Triwizard tournament.
Thank Merlin that there wasn't a large number of injured students at the moment or Y/N, Fred, and George would have been kicked out. Especially since they weren't exactly doing anything productive or remotely respectful. Instead, the trio found the worst ways to be loud or downright annoying. Eventually, though, they did manage to settle down and shut up at the behest of Madame Pomfrey, but not until it was nearly curfew.
Sat on the end of Fred's bed, the girl had been tousling her friend's new beard with much enjoyment. At some point, the girl had begun braiding the hair and laughing. "No, I swear you'll look brilliant. When you turn normal again, they won't even be there anymore," she stated as her fingers wove the strands into the simple pattern.
"You look dashing Freddie," George commented from the other bed.
"You're next George," she threatened, pointing an accusing finger at the boy.
"I for one, think I'll look rather nice with a braid. Can't say the same about Georgie. I'd hate to be born with that face," Fred joked.
With an amused grin on her face, the girl facepalmed. Boys.
"Done!" She tied off the beard with a cute little bow and wiggled her fingers, making little jazz hands. "You're like a viking now!"
"Or a princess," George snorted as the girl slid off of Fred's bed and onto his.
She lightly slapped his arm before taking in the long strands of white hair protruding unnaturally out of his chin. "This is mostly just so you two don't start hiding things in your beard like Dumbledore."
"Why didn't we think of that?" the two questioned.
"Too late now. You can't ruin my hard work," she huffed, fingers running through George's beard to separate it into three parts.
"So," Fred started.
The girl paused, her fingers still holding onto her mini-project before continuing. "So what?"
"Since we've got beards-," started George.
"Do you think we're attractive now?" Fred finished, sending one of his famous winks at the girl.
Flabbergasted, the girl's words seemed to stick to her throat. Speechless really. "I uh what the?! Where'd you get that crazy idea?"
"Well you said the other day you liked scruffy beards," George stated. Y/N's eyebrows only furrowed as she tried to recall when she'd said such a preposterous statement. George snickered at the girl's cute, confused expression before reaching over to close her previously open jaw.
"You know when you said you fancied Fil-" With a wild look in her eyes, the girl lunged over to Fred's bed, falling off of George's and scrambling over to slap her hand over the boy's mouth.
"I remember," she hissed, slipping her hand back into her robe's pockets and scanning the medical wing for prying ears. Much to her discomfort, their quarrel had caught the attention of some nearby students who'd quieted down in their own conversations to gain some juicy gossip.
'You don't need beards to look attractive,' she almost said but slapped her hand over her own mouth once she realized the implications. The twins gave the girl questioning glances but said nothing in wait of her words. "It's past curfew. I'll see you nincompoops tomorrow," she rushed, swiveling on her feet and speed walking out the door, not without sending Madame Pomfrey a polite "goodnight."
"What do you think she was going to say, George?" Fred questioned.
His twin shrugged. It could've been anything. Who knows.
~
The halls were especially dark that night, with the torches flickering dully against the all-consuming shadows that lurked at every edge of the corridor. Unfortunately for the girl, the trip from the medical wing to the library required an amount of walking that the girl could never have wished on her greatest enemy. Truly, why did Hogwarts have to be such a big school?
With her hands tucked into her pockets for protection against the biting cold, Y/N strolled leisurely down the dark hallways knowing that Filch would have been patrolling the fourth flour at this moment and wouldn't be anywhere close to where she was headed. Up until she saw the dim glow of an approaching lantern.
"Shit, no, damn it," Y/N cursed furiously under her breath as she began scanning the hallways for an exist. Only windows. Was she really going to take that risk? Sudden death or detention? Well that depended on detention with which teacher.
Huffing angrily, the girl simply decided to turn back and head to the medical wing. If anything, she could crash at one of the beds for the night and leave before dawn the next morning. The girl could already hear the comments from her older friends but decided it was better than detention.
"Y/N?"
Damn it. Of course, it had to be him. Wait. Why is that such a bad thing? Oh maybe because she might've started to come across as a delinquent.
"Heyyyy Cedric. Fancy meeting you here," she chirped awkwardly, her body stiffening and curling into itself.
"Out past curfew again? I'm starting to think you sneak out just to see me," he joked lightheartedly, to which the girl grimaced a bit. It felt weird to joke about wanting to see her crush that way for some reason. "What are you doing here though?" He asked as he walked up to Y/N, shining the lantern's dim glow on the girl.
"I left my stuff at the library and I need it for class tomorrow," she explained.
"Oh, I guess I'll have to let you off the hook this time."
"I was on the hook last time?" She asked, eyes wide with worry.
"Uh not really," he chuckled.
"Oh," she muttered, mouth formed into an O shape as her jaw dropped.
"I guess I shouldn't just let students wander the halls after curfew." The girl grimaced, thinking about her house points. "But I know you're a trustworthy student, right?"
"Mhm, yup. Perfectly trustworthy," she muttered.
"In any case, I should accompany you to the library," he offered.
Internally, the girl screamed a very long string of incomprehensible excitement, but outside she nodded and followed the prefect to the library. Surprisingly, Y/N found that she wasn't as much of a mess around the boy as she thought she would be. Maybe it was the constant meetings. Speaking of, when was the last time she had seen or hung out with the boy?
Unfortunately, the girl's question would have to be answered later as they'd just arrived in front of the grand doors of the library. Luckily for the out-past-curfew girl and the prefect, Madam Pince never locked up the library. All the books worth taking were either sealed away or deep within the restriction section. Y/N only knew this information from Harry as the poor boy had to find out the hard way of the consequences of opening up restricted books.
While that was a good tidbit of information to know, the girl was merely looking for her books and papers. "I never knew the library got so dark at night," Cedric muttered as he followed the girl through the dark, his shoes padding softly against the wood as opposed to his companion's completely silent footsteps. If he didn't know any better, the boy would've thought Y/N was gliding down the walkway like a ghost.
"I'm surprised you're okay with sneaking into the library," the girl whispered as she passed rows and rows of bookshelves to get to the farthest end of the room.
"Filch is across the school right now, we have plenty of time," he answered back quietly, the warmth from his body noticeably radiating off of him from the close distance at which the boy was following Y/N. It was at this point that the girl realized she was way too warm for her liking. Was it the glowing lantern's fault? Cedric's? Or the heavy blush creeping from her neck, attacking her ears, and eventually spreading its rosy redness to her cheeks?
A strange gurgled noise presented itself to the room as the girl tried to clear her throat and find a reply to keep the conversation going. The urge to slam her head into the side of a nearby bookshelf out of sheer embarrassment viciously surged through the girl. Now, her blush had intensified from embarrassment and embarrassment alone.
"I-uh," she paused to think. "Wait how do you know about that?"
"I've been patrolling after hours for a while now. Filch kind of scares me sometimes, so I like to stay away," he chuckled.
Drat! If Cedric had been patrolling since the last term, that meant Y/N's sneaking skills were slipping. Especially since she hadn't once encountered the boy on her nightly adventures until this year. Or it could've been fate. No, that was too ridiculous.
"He is sort of scary sometimes. Especially when he runs."
"If I saw Filch running toward me in the dark, I'd be completely petrified," he added.
"Yeah," Y/N muttered, now too immersed in slipping in between the books that hid her alcove from the rest of the school. The boy, though less agile in fitting through tight spaces than the girl, effectively made it through with little casualties- casualties being the toppled books that could fall at any stray arm movements in a given direction.
"I didn't know anyone came in here," Cedric commented as he shined the lantern's dim light across the space.
"They don't. That's why I come," Y/N replied, scanning the table for her supplies. A frown and scrunched brows adorned the girl's face at the sight of the empty wood table. Her breath caught haphazardly in her throat while her heart dropped to her gut. What happened to her stuff? Her essay?
"Y/N," Cedric spoke as he turned off the lantern. The girl, still shocked and running through the whereabouts of her essay stood rooted in her spot as she stared at the empty desk.
"Y/N," The brunette called again, now at a harsh whisper. His hand gripped her shoulder hurriedly. "Y/N, I think someone's coming."
The girl's eyes widened as she turned to face the boy. Just as she opened her mouth to let out a slew of quiet curses, her companion clamped a hand around her mouth and made a shushing motion with his finger. Cedric gestured to the bookshelf closest to the entrance and as soon as his hand was off of her face, Y/N followed him to the dark corner, crouching down to steady herself.
"Hearing students Mrs. Norris?" The croaky voice of the school's caretaker grew louder, his own lantern casting light around the library.
Nervousness crept into the two students' systems as the glow drew closer and closer, even piercing through some of the books that kept their hiding spot concealed. Both Cedric's and Y/N's eyes narrowed at the entrance as the duo pressed their backs into the jutting shelves. Every breath the girl took felt as if it were echoing off all the library walls and threatening to expose the two.
The light was at its brightest now. It glided left once and then over to the right. Cedric and Y/N held their breaths, making eye contact with each other and sharing a silent nod in acknowledgment of their fate.
Then it was gone. The menacing yellow light had finally receded from the area accompanied by grumblings of how Mrs. Norris must've been growing old or "those damn students always leaving their stuff in the library."
When Y/N heard the library door click shut, she finally felt as if she could breathe again. If the heaving breaths of anxiety were any indicator, the girl was extremely relieved to be free of the Filch. "I'm never doing that again," she huffed quietly, placing a hand over her still fast-beating heart.
"That was terrifying," said Cedric, also recovering from the sheer anxiety that was nearly being exposed. "But your uh," he started, gesturing to the empty table.
"Honestly I can borrow Hermione's books or ask for another set. Right now, I just want to get as far away from Filch as possible," she sighed.
"Agreed."
After Cedric had kindly offered his hand for assistance, the two teens scurried out of the library as stealthily as possible. Still, despite the caretaker's departure, both Y/N and Cedric were on edge. Y/N decided she wasn't going to encounter anyone else that night and stalked over to the nearest accessible passageway.
The school heartthrob watched in awe as the girl pressed on a stone brick within a nearby wall and activated a sliding door. "I can take it from here so you don't get in trouble," Y/N suggested, feeling guilty for the close call just earlier.
"No it's okay, I'll come along," Cedric insisted as he relit the lantern.
"Are you just saying that so you can check out the cool passageway?" she asked almost teasingly, which was a strange feeling as she usually never acted so confident around the attractive boy.
"I think you've caught me red-handed," he laughed, stepping into the secret corridor after the girl. The wall slid back in place easily and allowed for a normal volume conversation. "It's been a while since we last saw each other hasn't it."
"Yeah. The professors have gone absolutely mad this term with homework. It's not even like we're taking OWLs either," she huffed in exasperation because truly, she did sort of miss seeing the pretty boy's face around.
"You're a great student and witch, I'm sure you've got it handled. You could also come to me if you're ever stuck. I'd be glad to help," he offered, causing the girl's heart to do a back handspring into a flip that landed into a heap of mush.
"That'd-That'd be great, thanks," she muttered shyly, looking down at the floor as she wondered how else to keep up the conversation. "How about you? Anything new?"
"I entered the Triwizard tournament."
Oh. Well, that was unexpected. The girl didn't even know her crush was seventeen already, but that was her mistake for unconsciously assuming everyone had their birthdays around or after the twins' as theirs were the only birthday she'd ever bother to remember.
"That'd brilliant," she cheered enthusiastically. "I hope you end up as the Triwizard champion. You'd be the best at representing Hogwarts."
"I hope so too," he replied honestly and a bit quietly, almost looking determined in a way that suggested some other hidden factor.
"It's a bit...Dangerous isn't it?"
"Yeah," he muttered grimly. "But I have to win. My dad is expecting something great and I can't disappoint him," he spoke again, though slightly louder and much more determined.
"I think you'll do brilliantly," the girl encouraged, sending Cedric the most sincere smile she could muster, hoping that the boy understood she was supporting him. He too then flashed a dazzling smile back at the girl.
"Well, now I've gotta become the Triwizard champion for sure. With you cheering me on, it's impossible not to," the Hufflepuff mused as he nudged the girl playfully.
Y/N would have said more had she not reached the opening that would take her right to the painting of the fat lady. Sighing, she pushed open the wall, wishing that she'd magically gotten lost alone in those passageways with the Cedric Diggory.
"I guess I'll see you next time then," she said sadly as the two stepped out of the corridor. With a small wave, the girl then began to shuffle back to the painting of the fat lady which waited for her expectantly.
"Y/N," Cedric called softly. To which the girl turned around both with expectancy and an air of surprise at the same time. "As much as I enjoy your company. Let's not make this a habit yeah? I'd really hate for you to get in trouble one of these days."
"Don't worry Cedric, you won't catch me next time," she said, almost as is challenging the boy to catch her in her nighttime escapades. "Good night."
"Good night."
Y/N was quick to spout the password at the painted lady and hurry into the mostly empty common room. To be expected as most students were already preparing for bed. With a heavy sigh, the girl trudged up the stairs and into her dorm.
She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad sigh. Sure she was tired and worried about her missing essay, but she also got to spend time with Cedric Diggory of all people. Not to mention, the Hufflepuff had opened up about something that she was sure wasn't exactly common knowledge.
The old door of her dorm creaked open as the girl slipped inside. Wait a second. Something was different. Not different in a bad way, but different in a "I don't remember putting this here" way. Y/N scrambled over to her trunk to make sure her weak, desperately in need of glasses, eyes weren't deceiving her.
Sitting right on top of her trunk was her textbook, quill and ink, and the essay she had so dreaded rewriting.
"Lavender," Y/N called, knowing the Gryffindor girl who bunked in the bed to her right was always in the dorm rooms when possible.
"Hm?"
"How'd this get here?" Y/N asked, almost nonchalantly as she shed herself of her school robe and loosened her tie.
"Oh yeah that. Some first year Slytherin was waiting outside the common with it. Wouldn't tell us who sent him, but he did look bloody terrified," Lavender explained, rolling over in her bed to face the girl.
"Thanks," Y/N said quietly as she collapsed on her bed in thought.
It was almost comical. Of course, Malfoy wouldn't be caught dead loitering outside of the Gryffindor common. And of course, only Malfoy would probably threaten a scared first year into such a trivial task. But she did revel in one fact alone: Draco Malfoy actually did something nice for once.
~
In about a week, it was time for the students of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbaton to shuffle into the great hall and squeeze into seats alongside one another in an effort to watch the choosing of champions. Naturally, with Dumbledore's flair for the dramatics, the great hall just had to be lit up almost solely through the goblet of fire. The flickering torches hanging from the ceiling really did nothing against the dreadfully dark night.
"Sit down, please," their headmaster commanded as the students milled about.
It wasn't like it was such an inconveniencing eyesore that students stumbled over each other if they were in the farthest corner from the light source. Not at all! Y/N tripping over Hermione's feet and nearly sitting on Harry's hand as she squinted for her life was simply a byproduct of some other factor.
Eventually, though, the great hall did finally calm down and the murmur of students chatting away quietly about whom they thought would compete from each school died out. Y/N sat anxiously beside Harry, who looked normal as usual. Obviously the tournament didn't affect either friend as they couldn't compete in it in the first place, but the two were still excited to see who from their school would be the lucky draw.
"Fred and George look pretty bummed out about not competing," Harry noted.
"Yeah, but they're just disappointed they have to find a way to earn money for their joke shop another way," Y/N replied, leaning on the table with her chin propped up in her hand.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for. The champion selection," Dumbledore announced before dimming all the lights aside from the Goblet.
Harry and Y/N gave each other a look of excitement before focusing their eyes back on Dumbledore, who was still slowly reaching toward the grey goblet in the middle of the hall. It sputtered and flickered violently before turning a vibrant shade of magenta and spouting a burnt piece of paper at the headmaster.
Y/N held her breath in anticipation. The first champion.
"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" The audience then burst out into a chorus of cheers and claps as the Bulgarian rose from his seat and strode towards the champion's area.
"I expected that," the girl heard Ron say proudly from somewhere behind her. Ah, that boy's love for the quidditch player.
Again, the fire erupted into a display of brilliant colors before throwing out what appeared to be a circular piece of paper. Y/N had to squint to tell, so she wasn't so sure. At least they were at lucky champion number two.
"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" The hall filled with cheers once again as the pretty girl dressed in blue rose from her seat and practically glided over to the champion's area. Y/N heard a scoff come from Hermione as the pretty champion left.
Well, it was no secret the bushy-haired girl didn't quite like Mrs. Delacour. She'd claimed it was because Fluer was too pompous or vain, but Y/N swore on her life it was because their ginger-haired dork of a friend was paying a little too much attention to the French girl. One could never be too sure though.
But nevermind that. Now that the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton champions had been announced, it was time for the Hogwarts champion. Y/N crossed her fingers under the table and bit on her lips in anticipation as the fire sputtered to life once more.
"The Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory!"
Y/N swore she had never clapped so hard in her life. Sure it may have attracted the unwanted attention of Hermione as well as Ginny who sat a few seats away, but the girl was just so ecstatic. Y/N just about swooned internally as Cedric scanned the room and sent a captivating smile at the girl before he left.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore bellowed. "We now have our three champions, but in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions. This vessel of victory, the Triwizard cup!"
Despite the wonderful, dramatic declaration from the Hogwarts Headmaster, the room's attention was slowly drawn back to the Goblet of Fire. The swirling flames dazzled the crowd yet scared them at the same time. Y/N once again looked to her friends with confusion. Was this supposed to happen?
For the last time that evening, the goblet gave away one more slip of paper. "Harry Potter," Dumbledore said quietly. "Harry Potter?" he repeated slightly louder, causing the poor boy to sink into his chair in fright.
Y/N, just as confused as the other kids, stared at her friend with the widest eyes known to man. No way. There was no way that Harry would have put his name in the Goblet. She swore to Merlin that boy had told her he desired nothing from the tournament but to simply watch it.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouted much louder this time, eliciting two completely opposite reactions from the girls sitting next to the new Triwizard champion.
Y/N clung onto her friend's arm, keeping him rooted to her side out of fear, while Hermione pushed the boy out to the front. The young L/N's grip loosened as Harry slowly moved into action. He sent one last, fearful look at his friends before shuffling past Dumbledore and disappearing past the door.
A grim expression presented itself on Hermione's and Y/N's faces as they looked to one another for some shred of understanding. The girl took a hoarse gulp, feeling as if her throat were painfully dry. One of her best friends was a Triwizard champion now. Harry Potter was going to compete in the Triwizard tournament. What if he got injured? What if he died? As soon as the boy was out of whatever meeting was happening outside of her visage, Y/N would need some explanations from Harry.