A/N: When this idea came to me I was actually kind of shocked, especially since I've only read like 10 Harry Potter stories. Anywho; this is my latest project, and I hope you like it. I will post a link to how she looks (basically) on my profile, so feel free the check it out. Criticism is always welcomed, but no flames please. I'm still new to the whole world of Harry Potter fan fiction. Enjoy :)

Dislcaimer: I don't own anything but my original characters.

Falling at my own Pace

Chapter 1

"Ava get up, you're going to miss breakfast,"

I groaned and tried to push away the hand that was shoving on my shoulder. "5 more minutes," I mumbled, snuggling deeper into my pillow.

"Get up now or I'll dump a bucket of water on your head!"

I sighed, knowing very well that Tara wasn't joking, and I really didn't want cold water on my head. "Bloody hell," I groaned and sat up, dragging my hands through my hair. "I'm up, I'm up," I looked up at the tall blonde standing in front of my bed, her hands on her hips and her green eyes looking menacing at me.

"I'm going down for breakfast in 10 minutes, be ready by then," she said, and then disappeared down into the common room. I stood up and stretched my muscles, wincing as my limbs cracked.

Grabbing my uniform I walked to the bathroom to freshen up before breakfast. I washed my face and then took a moment to reflect my reflection in the mirror. I'd never considered myself beautiful, only shy of pretty. An oddball, my mum used to call me. My dark blue eyes were a bit too big for my liking, and my nose was slightly crooked. My hair was bone straight and waist long, with bangs that covered my right eye. It was russet coloured, the same colour as my mother's hair was. I looked a lot like her, even thought she was more beautiful than me.

I brushed out my hair and put it in a messy bun before putting on my uniform. When I was finished I walked back to the dorm and dropped my sleep-wear on the bed. I shared the dorm with four other girls; all of them in their 6th year like me.

I grabbed my book bag and went down to the common room, which was empty except for Tara. I smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

She gave me a dark look. "I was ready half an hour ago," I glanced up at the clock and noticed that it was only little after 8; there was no reason to hurry.

"Let's go then," I said, and we crawled out of the portrait hole and went towards the Great Hall. It was only the second day on the semester, and the room was buzzing with exited talk about the summer, and also on the Triwizard Tournament. Tara had her mind set on entering having just turned 17, and I cheered her on for that. Another big subject was the Quidditch World Cup, which it seemed like every student had been to. Even I, who had little interest in the sport, had been there, going with my mum and older brother.

When we got into the Great Hall and all the different food aromas hit me, I felt my stomach rumble and my mouth water. I was famished. We sat down close to the middle, and I started to load up food on my plate, pushing back my bangs as they disturbed my vision.

"Ava," Tara whispered suddenly, leaning over close to me and almost dipping her hair in my orange juice. I looked up at her, still eating at my toast. "Cedric Diggory is looking at you,"

I looked over her shoulder, and looked straight into a pair of grey eyes. When he saw that I was looking, he smiled. His smile, a beautifully crooked one, was contagious and I gave a small smile before I looked back at my piece of toast, ignoring the feeling I'd gotten in my stomach. What was his deal anyway?

"I've gotta go, I've got McGonagall, and she'll kill me if I'm late," I said and stood up, taking the last piece of my toast. I started to walk towards the doors, my hand in my book bag trying to find my timetable. Suddenly I felt myself trip over something, and the floor came closer to my vision. Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited for my body to make impact with the floor. Instead, I felt two strong arms around my waist, catching me only mere inches from the hard stone floor.

I looked up and was once again met by a pair of grey eyes, now looking concerned at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling me up to my feet. I straightened out my skirt and nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks," I picked up my book bag, which had fallen to the floor and then glanced at my watch. "I've gotta run, but thanks again," I smiled before continuing on towards my class, feeling my face fluster. I tried to ignore the way his hands on my waist had felt, but I couldn't. Then I felt angry with myself. I had spent so much time building up my walls, I was not going to let some boy break them down. I had them for a reason.

--

As I got back down for lunch, I looked around for Tara, but didn't see her anywhere. There was a line at the doors, and I waited impatiently. I was so busy looking for her that I crashed into the person standing in front of me.

"Sorry," I grimaced and the boy turned around. I recognized his flame red hair immediately. Ah, this is a Weasley kid I reckon.

"No problem," he squeaked, and then rushed to the Gyffindor table, sitting down next to a girl with bushy brown hair and a black haired boy with glasses. Harry Potter. I knew of him, like everybody else in the wizarding world, but had rarely paid any attention to him.

I sat down at the table and started to eat very slowly, knowing that I didn't have any classes after lunch. I planned to spend the afternoon in the library, doing homework. I was just sinking my teeth in a delicious piece of Yorkshire pudding when someone spoke.

"Hello,"

I choked on my food when I heard the voice, and went into a coughing fit. I could feel my face start to get red and I took a big swig of my pumpkin juice. Then I became aware of the fact that a hand was rubbing smooth circles on my back. Once the coughing went down I pulled back, and stared right into the eyes of Cedric Diggory. I must have looked pretty shocked because he chuckled, his eyes gleaming as he removed his hand.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he sounded generally concerned, and I couldn't help but being surprised. Before today, I'd always thought of him as a bit arrogant. But then again, I'd never spend time with him before, only seen him from a distance or in class. I guess you could say he was one of the most popular kids in this place. Girls fell at his feet, the younger boys wanted to be like him. Prefect, quidditch captain, all around good handsome guy.

"No, it's okay," I assured him. Why, I had no idea. "Did you want something?" I asked, narrowing my eyes a bit as I tried to size up what his intention was.

He looked at me for a few seconds, his mouth open as if he was gonna say something, before he actually spoke. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you if you knew how many pages Professor Vector wanted the homework on?"

"I don't take Arithmancy," I replied, finding it odd that he thought I did. His face fell a bit, but then he smiled.

"Okay then, I'll leave you to your lunch then. Bye," he stood up and walked away, his hands stuck in his pockets. I only stared after him.

"Okay, that was...weird," I mumbled to myself before collecting my book bag and standing up. I could see three fifth-years looking rudely at me, and I figured they were Cedric's 'fan club'. Laughing silently I went to the library, wanting to get my homework over and done with as soon as possible. The summer's warmth still lingered in the air until nightfall, and I wanted some time to sit in the sun before dinner.

I liked the library, it was quiet and you weren't disturbed. I went to a table in the back, and unpacked my things. The first homework I had was a three parchment essay on the Unforgivable Curses in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and I was dreading it. Professor Moody had demonstrated the curses on three spiders, and I felt disgusted just thinking about it.

I was almost done with the essay when I realized that I needed a different book than the one I had for that particular section. Sighing, I stood up and went down the long corridor of bookcases, reading the titles silently to myself as I searched for the book.

"Oh crap," I silently cursed when I realized that the book I needed was on the top shelf, and I wasn't tall enough to reach it. My wand was, off course, in my bag on the table, and I was too tired to walk over and get it and then walk back, so I looked around for another option. I saw a stool not far away, and a went over and grabbed it.

"Now we're talking," I smiled as carefully I stood up on the stool and reached for the book. I had to stand on my tip toes to reach it, and for a moment I thought I was going to fall, but then I grabbed hold of it and pulled it down from the shelf.

Unfortunately, it was covered in dust, and as I breathed in, I could feel it tickle my nose. I let out a loud sneeze, and the force made my already crappy balance become worse, and I could feel myself fall backwards. Everything went in slow motion, and I couldn't make a sound, I was so shocked. This is it, I'm going to fall down and crack my head open on the floor. I wonder if Dumbledore will contact my mum.

I felt my body fall, but instead of the hard floor connecting with my body, I fell into something soft. Wait, soft? I turned my head, and thought I was going to die from embarrassment. For who was holding my body in his arms with a smirk on his face but Cedric Diggory.

"You've got to be more careful, you could've split your head open," he said, his voice low and devoid of any emotion as he sat me down on the floor.

"I wasn't planning on falling if that's what you're thinking. I just happen to be a very clumsy person with a crappy balance," my voice was hushed too, I didn't want Madame Pince after me.

He laughed silently. "Well it's lucky that I always seem to be around to catch you, isn't there?"

I started to walk back to my table, and was mildly surprised when he followed. "Yeah, and why is that exactly? Are you stalking me or something?"

He smiled, crookedly, and I could feel my heart start to beat faster. No, stupid heart, calm down. He's just a guy. "Trust me, if I was stalking you, you'd never know,"

"That's a bit creepy," I admitted, sitting down and putting the book down in front of me.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable..." he trailed off, sitting down as he spoke, and I realized he didn't know my name. Typical.

"Oh, I'm Ava Roxley,"

"Cedric Diggory," he said like I wouldn't know that, and held out his hand for me to shake. I took it, grasping his warm hand in my own.

"Nice to officially meet you Cedric Diggory," I smirked, and he smiled again. Damn it heart, stop flutter.

"It's nice to officially meet you too Ava Roxley,"

I let go of his hand, and reached to open my ink bottle. Trying very hard not to be too aware of his eyes on me, I fumbled a bit and the ink bottle nearly fell out of my hands before I got a hold of it again.

"Which subjects are you reading this year?" he asked, and I looked up at him.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic and Charms. How about you?"

"I read the same as you, and Arithmancy,"

I was impressed. Arithmancy was a tough subject.

"You like academics then?" I asked, and he chuckled before running a hand through his hair.

"Not that much, but I'm a fast learner,"

"Then why did you choose do many subjects if you're not that into studying?" he looked uncomfortable, and I mentally slapped myself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry,"

"No, that's okay. It's just..." he sighed, and suddenly looked very tired. "It's complicated,"

"That's okay," I smiled. "I'm really not one for school work either,"

"You're not British, right? I'm trying to figure out your accent, but I'm at loss,"

"My mother's an American, so I have some American accent left, even though I've lived here almost my entire life,"

He smiled, but his smiled faded when he noticed my open books. "I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from your studies," he started to stand up, and strangely enough I didn't want that.

"No!" I called out, a bit too loud, and Madame Pince appeared from behind a bookcase.

"Sch," she snapped at me, and I smiled sheepishly at her, before turning back to Cedric, who had froze in his actions. I felt my face go red.

"I mean, you're not keeping me from my studies, I was almost finished anyway,"

He smiled. "Okay. I have to go, but I guess I'll see you around?"

I nodded. "Yeah, see you around," he left, and I looked after him, extremely confused by the feeling in my stomach. Shaking it off, I walked back to the dorm to drop off my book bag. I entered the common room, and went towards the tunnel that led to the dormitories.

"Roxley, looking good. When are you going to get over yourself and let me date you?" came an Irish voice from the corner, and I looked over to see Martin Garner, another sixth-year, smirking at me.

"Bite me Garner," I snapped back and walked up to my dorm. It was empty, and I dumped my bag on my bed before grabbing my black hoodie in case I got cold. I let my hair down and zipped up my black hoodie and then I was ready to go.

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