Hey, everyone who is still reading this! I love you so much and thank you for reading this. Year 4 has a lot of things in store for everyone, including a few new characters and loads of new plotlines aside Harry's! This chapter is not so very long but merely a summarizer of events that happened in the holidays, how the girls have evolved and how puberty is definetely going on now.
Ch. 1 Revelation
POV JANICE DIGGORY:
"Morning everyone," I yawned when I entered the kitchen.
Uncles Amos and Cedric were sitting at the table, and my mother was frying some bacon. She liked to do it without magic, because she's always loved cooking. Cedric was so excited for today he was practically jumping up and down in his chair.
"What are you going on about, boy?" asked Uncle Amos curiously.
"It's only a birthday, Ced," I giggled, but I thought it was super cute he was so nervous.
"I'm going to meet her mom today," Cedric said. "That's tremendously important."
"Emma Gibbs is an amiable woman," said my mother soothingly, "you'll love her."
"Yeah, if she's Claire's mom she's got to be great," my cousin continued, "but what if she doesn't like me?"
'You're my son, she'll have to like you," Uncle Amos laughed.
"But what if she doesn't?" Cedric retorted.
"Just be yourself, Ced, it's not Claire's mom you're going to have to worry about," I laughed. "I am, however, concerned about how her cousin Lavender will act."
"Why?" inquired Cedric nervously.
"Claire's never had a boyfriend before and Lavender's bound to freak out over it."
Cedric blushed.
"She's really never had a boyfriend before?"
"It's not that odd," I said, "considering she is a few years younger than you are."
My mom passed me toast with three slices of bacon, and my special little black cup. My 'medicine cup.' Uncle Amos had taken it upon himself to make me Wolfsbane every month. He'd had some difficulty with my condition at first, but my mother had convinced him to help me. I drank the horried fluid and wrinkled my nose, sticking out my tongue.
"Pity sugar makes it useless," my mother said.
After breakfast, I went upstairs, to get dressed. I chose a flowery white dress, combed my hair and put on some nude lipstick. I'd never worn make-up before, but I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable and left out without it.
Cedric was still nervously checking himself up in the mirror, and I had to drag him out, to Claire's house.
"Stop fussing," I whispered, "you'll be just fine."
Claire opened the door herself, looking more confident than she had in a while. She wore a light pink dress, had her curls in a braid on her left shoulder; as she liked them, and she wore a little silver infinity necklace that Cedric had given her.
"Hey, you're one of the last ones," she said, "come in."
"Congrats, love," said Cedric, wrapping her in a big hug and giving her a butterfly kiss on the lips.
I absolutely loved the two of them together.
"Janice, I'm so glad you came!" said Claire after, giving me a hug.
Cedric smiled nervously at her so she took his hand and led him towards her mother. I decided to leave them be and enter the living room, where Lexie and Bella were waiting.
Bella had fully recovered and apparently decided to change her appearance drastically. She had dyed her copper-coloured hair jet-black and wore her hair in a high ponytail, so the piercing in her ear was clearly visible.
"What do you think?" said Lexie, eyeing her as well. "She looks like a girl Harry, doesn't she?"
"I do not look like a girl Harry!" Bella objected, but I had to agree, now they had not only similar eyes, but the same hair colour as well.
"You could have passed for his sister," I laughed, looking at Lexie.
Lexie had stayed roughly the same, blonde hair, blue eyes, snow-white skin, only she had made it clear she was no little girl anymore. She was wearing a shirt with a deep cleavage and a miniskirt to show off her feminine, curvy body.
Then the doorbell rang. I grinned, Cedric groaned. That had to be Lavender and her mom.
POV LEXIE JONES:
Claire was laughing and holding Cedric's hand as Lavender entered the room and practically started screaming with delight. It felt good to see Claire so happy.
"Oh my god! Oh my good god! You're dating him! You're dating Cedric!" Lavender had said frantically, as though Cedric wasn't even there.
The lad seemed quite embarrassed. I had almost felt sorry for him, if it hadn't been for the fact this was so incredibly amusing.
I looked at Bella, who was just grinning and toying with the ringlet in her ear. It was quite a change, but I had to admit that it looked good on her. Her parents had tried to kill her, though, but then Bella kindly reminded them of the fact that all they would have had to do was stop giving her her medicine and changing her bandages.
"Shall we go upstairs?" Janice asked suddenly. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Okay, girls, up we go!" Bella said, getting excited already.
She and I were no different when it came to that, we just needed a new juicy story to complain about once in a while.
"We can't leave Cedric down here with Lavender," Claire whispered, so her cousin wouldn't hear her.
"Well, Lav won't mind, will she?" I grinned.
"I wasn't talking about Lavender," Claire said, the corner of her mouth tilting upwards.
Cedric looked like he was struggling through this, his handsome face red and his hands nervously running through his dark curls.
"Shouldn't you be getting to know your future in-laws, Cedric?" I said, just for the fun of it.
Cedric and Claire both turned brick red and Bella burst out laughing.
"That's quite enough for today, don't you think?" Janice muttered. "By the way, it's okay if Ced comes along, he knows already."
Bella fake-gasped and laid a hand on her heart in mock-indignancy.
"After all we've been through-"
"I- he was there, that's all!" said Janice, taking the jape as a personal insult.
Her angular face took the expression it usually wore; fear. Her hair had brushed her shoulder before the end of last term but she'd cut it again in the holidays.
I had grown taller and more shapely, Claire had gained a little weight again and was starting to regain some of her confidence as well, with which Cedric had helped immensely, of course. She was wearing a bit of mascara as well and her curls shone, a sign she was taking care of herself again.
Bella had changed even more drastically, and not only on the outside. Yes, she'd dyed her hair black, yes, she'd gotten a piercing, but she was more mature than ever. (Though that didn't make much difference as she was still probably the most childish and irresponsible of all of us.)
I think her chats with Sirius in the woods last year were a contributing factor, even whilst never knowing what he told her. I was sure of one thing; the words had made an impact on her. Bella had jumped in to save the man, but even impulsive as she was, she wouldn't have given her life for anyone.
It was like Sirius had given her a wake-up call of some sort and she knew- well, I don't know what she knew but she had grown a lot wiser. I could see it in her eyes. Not even her eyes had stayed the same.
But Janice was practically the same. Still plain old, sweet old Janice Diggory. Her face was still tanned, the same angular face with frankly gorgeous bone structure and a shiny sleek black bob one could compare to Cho Chang. Besides from the fact that Cho's hair brushed her lower back, same as mine own hair.
Only since Janice was bitten, an immense sadness haunted the almond-shaped brown eyes I had always loved so much. I had always been able to read Janice like a book. Especially because of her eyes. But now her chocolate orbs told the story of agony.
POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:
"Now, get it off your chest, then!" I demanded, letting my piercing go.
The piercer had told me to keep moving it every once in a while.
"You can't promise us a story and then don't tell it!"
"Not here," Janice hissed, pointing at Claire's family.
"Let's all go upstairs then," Claire suggested. "Cedric too," she added pointedly to Lexie, who smirked at her.
Lexie still was the arrogant Slytherin snake as she had always been, but more than ever I knew I never wanted to lose her.
Malfoy's scheme had wounded her dearly, her pride as much as her heart, though she would never let us show it, no. I had once thought her emotionless, but now I knew how strong she really was.
But I bet she had also known there was no place for her grief next to Claire's still partly unresolved misery, Janice's wolf-doom, Harry's godfather-issues, my near-fatal accident, Hermione's busy year or Ron's pet trouble. Sometimes it was almost like she was ashamed to show that she cared, that she wanted to be above that. Emotions are for normal people, something like that.
Claire's room had- like herself- been restyled and looked much better now. The walls were a light purple, the floor fluffy and white, the curtains flowery and everything smelled like lavenders. I flopped down on her bed and lay down. Then I heard a gasp.
"What?" I said, not bothering to get up.
"Bella-" Janice stuttered. "Bella, the scar- oh my, did I do that?"
My shirt had gone upward slightly, revealing my belly and also the ugly scar across it.
"Uh, nope," I said quickly, dismissing it with a wave of my hand, "I'm pretty sure that was Lupin."
"Sure," laughed Lexie, sitting down on the bed too and smiling at me.
Claire and Cedric took the big dark purple loveseat so Janice was stuck with just walking in circles nervously.
"Well?" I said impatiently, spreading my arms and making little bed angles.
"Well…" started Janice nervously, suddenly giggling. "Well, I don't know when to start."
"Start with when you met him," said Lexie boredly.
"W-what?" Janice uttered, shocked. "How did you know it was about a him?"
I sat up straight and grinned at my blonde friend.
"Yes, how did you know, Sherlock?"
She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but then started explaining, "Janice, you're walking around like a madman. Oscillation always means there's a love affair. Plus, your pupils have dilated, and your breathing has quickened, suggesting you've got a higher pulse, which means you like this guy, whoever he is."
"Are you serious?" Cedric said before he could stop himself.
"She's always been like this," Claire explained. "She was the Sherlock, I was the unsociable nerd, Janice was the sweet, innocent little girl and Bella was the rebel. That's how it's always been, our little clan of four."
"Only, know we've adopted another nerd, her ginger boyfriend and a celebrity," Lexie stated, "exactly."
"Well, if it's about a guy I'm even more curious," I said to Janice. "So get on with it."
Janice blushed brightly, but she was still smiling.
"Well, because of my condition, my mom and uncle decided it maybe was a good idea to take me someplace quiet for the holidays, to get my mind off of things," she explained. "We went to this small, nearly abandoned village somewhere in Germany. It was a pretty place, really, but there were only 300 inhabitants. Then I met this guy, Martin."
"What does he look like?" Lexie interrupted her.
"He was my age, thought a lot taller than me," Janice said. "He was short-chopped dark blonde hair, green-greyish eyes and freckles on and around his nose."
"Sounds all right," I said, nearly inaudible.
"He plays piano, you see," she continued, "and because it was such a small village, it meant a lot of interaction with the civilians. I met him in a sort of community centre, and he was playing there. I knew the song, and before I knew it I had sort of started singing along with it."
"And then?" Claire said, obviously liking where this story was going.
She wouldn't want us to know, but I knew she was a hopeless romantic. But, according to Janice, so was Cedric, so they were just fine together.
"Martin stopped playing suddenly," Janice said. "He started walking toward the noise and I was so scared I was frozen on the spot. When he found me he started saying something in German, but when he noticed I didn't understand him, he-"
"So wait a second," I interrupted. "You obviously don't speak German. But how did you two communicate? Did he speak English?"
"Barely," Janice admitted. "The town was a small one, as I said, with hardly any tourists. But, you know, it didn't matter that much in the end. That moment he just shrugged, took my hand and seated me next to him at the piano. When he played songs that I knew I sang along, and when he played old German songs I would just listen and stare into his eyes."
POV CLAIRE GIBBS:
Cedric and I looked at each other. I knew we thought the same. That story was so beautiful, so romantic. Before I knew it, Cedric leant in and kissed me, and I kissed him back, forgetting there were others present, that is, until Bella coughed. I glared at her, but she just gave me a very smug smile.
"Get a room, you two."
Luckily Lexie jumped to my defence.
"Is Ickle Bella an itty bitty jealous?" she pouted.
"Shut up," Bella just said, getting red.
"Did I miss anything?" Janice said, clueless as ever.
"Bella got friendzoned-"
"Lexie was fooled by Malfoy-"
It took very little time for them to realize they had gotten too far. Both of them.
"Will you please stop this child's play and think before you say something like that?" I said, the undertone in my voice so threatening I could have shouted it as well. "Every year you fight, you make up and then fight again. Enough's enough. God, I thought you'd grown past this, especially last year."
Bella and Lexie were both too proud to look guilty or apologetic, but Bella's face showed it whilst Lexie's mask showed nothing.
"Apologize," I demanded.
"I shouldn't have said that," said Lexie, oddly enough she was the one to start. "You never said anything about me and Draco, I shouldn't have said anything about you and- you know. I was just as bad as Michael at that point."
"Well, you did kick his ass last summer," Bella said to her. "And I'm sorry too."
"Finally," I sighed, my gaze going back to Janice. "What happened after?"
"Martin and I played together every day, and I was really starting to like him. Then, suddenly, he laid his hand upon mine and said in his best English that he liked me. I didn't know what to say, so…"
"So… what?" Bella said. "Jan, you're making me real curious here."
"So I kissed him."
Lexie and I looked at each other and started to laugh. When I saw that Janice looked puzzled I gathered my breath and asked, "Oh my- you were being serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Janice folded her arms and her face was flushed.
"It doesn't very much sound like the Janice we know," Lexie said. "It doesn't sound like you to do something as bold as that."
"You are a little shy when it comes to boys," Cedric said.
"How can you say that?" said Janice indignantly. "He was the first guy I liked. Ever."
"What happened after you kissed him?" I said. "Did he kiss you back?"
"He did kiss me back," said Janice, smiling again. "He held me very close, and he was very sweet. In the end I had him teach me to say 'Ich liebe dich' and he repeated it too me."
"Janice, that is so sweet!" I cooed.
"Janice, just to be sure, okay? You kissed him?" Bella repeated. "I can't even-"
"She's grown older too, Bells, like all of us," I said. "As we grow older, we grow bolder with things like that. You've grown, I have, Lexie has, Janice has, Mione had, Ron and Harry have, too…"
"Ugh, I just can't imagine Harry or Ron telling me something like Janice just did," Lexie said. "I mean, Harry practically still blushes whenever I call him darling. I mean, Merlin, shouldn't he be used to that by now?"
"Why would you call him-?" Cedric started, but then he just said, "I probably won't get an answer that makes sense."
Lexie laughed.
"And funny too are you?" she smirked. "Aren't you damn perfect, handsome? Claire, you have my blessing."
Cedric blushed only slightly, though knowing he shouldn't take anything but the last sentence seriously, so he drew closer and kissed me on the forehead. I smiled. This would be a much better year than the last.
1. Thoughts on ClairexCedric? Now it's canon and official and all I was just curious.
2. Thoughts on JanicexMartin? It's not going to be mentioned a lot of times after this, just to show Janice had grown older as well.
3. Favorite OC?