A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for clicking on this story! Please excuse the technicalities of the magical world. I am trying to make this thing as accurate as possible, but writing it will take up enough time. Therefore, I apologize ahead for anything I jack up. I got really excited about this story, and wanted to write the whole thing before I posted it, but I can't wait that long. Plus, some reviews might be the thing to motivate me. Well, I hope you enjoy!
Oh, I don't own Harry Potter.
A little side note, the title of this comes from a Dashboard Confessional song, "Turpentine Chaser" :
"And the frightening facts we've been facing our backs to for so long now are begging for eyes to bear witness to lies and indifference. Now we're saying aloud the things we've declared in our silence, but these new coats of paint will not reacquaint broken hearts to broken homes."
I just really like that lyric, and who knows, it might be applicable later on… shifty eyebrows…
Frightening Facts
Snow was falling relentlessly on the age-old structure of Hogwarts in the bitter winter air. Hufflepuff sixth years were returning from their evening charms lesson, chatting away about the unusual events at Hogwarts that year. The Triwizard Tournament was topic of conversation for the majority of the time, but news of the upcoming Yule Ball brought new things to gossip about.
The group dispersed into their different directions, some to the Great Hall and others to the dormitories. Cedric Diggory walked a bit behind the crowd, his brow furrowed in thought.
He knew where to find her; Thursday was her library day. The same old musty chair among the age-old volumes would definitely be occupied, with the same ragged and tattered black bag next to it.
Cedric trotted to the library, wove between the shelves and found himself one turn away from being face to face with her. He inhaled deeply, made the final turn, and blurted out, "Go to the Ball with me?"
The occupant of the chair looked up, an undeniable look of disappointment on her face. She swept her long blonde hair off her face, and replied, "That was more dreadful than last time."
"Gwen!" Cedric sighed, frustrated, collapsing into a chair, burying his discouraged face in his hands.
"Let's try it again," she replied, pretending to be absorbed in her book as Cedric rethought his approach method.
Pages turning were the only noise. Cedric's chair creaked loudly as he adjusted himself.
"So…" he began, shaking his brown locks out of his face, doing his best to be seductive.
Gwen laughed. "Ok, stop right there. No self-respecting girl is even going to CONSIDER going out with someone who starts off like that."
"Well maybe she isn't self-respecting?" Cedric asked desperately. As he looked up, he couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Gwen's face. "If I can't ask YOU out, then how am I going to be able to ask Cho?" His eyes looked up at her.
The already gray afternoon sky grew dimmer, signaling it was time for dinner. Gwen stuffed her belongings into her tattered bag and stood up. "Just keep practicing. You need to be comfortable with what you're going to say."
The gray sky grew darker with each step they took towards Madam Pince, sitting behind her desk. Gwen placed the book on the counter and signed her name on the parchment. "805 Things You Should Know About Salamanders," Cedric read, idly thumbing through the book. "You do know you are the first person in the history of Hogwarts to check this book out?"
Gwen scowled and shoved the book into her bag. "If you're just going to make fun of me, I'll go to the Owlery myself."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Cedric laughed. "I'm in no position to rag on your interests."
"I'm only reading it because I don't have Care of Magical Creatures anymore," Gwen defended. She received an Outstanding OWL in that class, but unfortunately, not enough students wanted to continue on to NEWT levels, and the class was canceled. However, her love for strange and dangerous creatures was shared by Hagrid, who regularly invited her for tea to show the latest black market creature he picked up.
Cedric knew of Gwen's obsession with all living things; she had nearly fallen down the stairs when word of Hagrid having a hippogriff got out last year. Her arm had countless burn scars from the blast-ended skrewts she helped Hagrid breed earlier that year. Cedric just shrugged this off; to each his own. They graciously accepted their differences.
The two had known each other since First year, when the Sorting Hat found them to be of similar Houses. Cedric had shyly sat down next to a tall and lanky third year, with a mop of messy blonde hair. This boy had congratulated Cedric on being in Hufflepuff, but quickly stopped the conversation, being as the next first year to be sorted was his younger sister. Gwendolyn Dunleavy had been placed in Hufflepuff, as well, and took a seat next to her older brother, Isaac.
They shared their golden locks with the rest of the Dunleavy household. They had a younger brother, who was in his third year while Gwen was in her sixth. Oscar was rather tall for his age and a bit scrawny.
The pair reached the top of the West Tower as Monroe, Gwen's inherited owl, had just returned. Monroe had been Isaac's, but upon his graduation from Hogwarts the year before, his parents had given him an owl of his own.
A scroll of parchment was tied to the gray owl's foot.
"Gwendolyn," she read aloud. "Your father and I have been reading about the Triwizard Tournament in the Daily Prophet, but it is nice to get details from someone other than a reporter. Please tell Cedric congratulations for us." Gwen paused. "Hey, Ced," she said nudging him with a laugh. "My parents say congratulations!"
Cedric smiled as he was petting a nearby barn owl. Gwen continued. "Isaac is making progress with the Falmoth Falcons… he thinks he might make the reserve team as beater… I must admit, I am a bit disappointed you and Oscar won't be home for Christmas, but I do hope you enjoy the Yule Ball (Details to follow, I hope?). Love always, Mom."
Andora Dunleavy worked at St. Mungo's, and her husband, Phineas, worked in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which was surely where Gwen's passion had risen. The family was very close-knit, willing to do anything for each other. That was where the Hufflepuff gene came in. They were loyal to the end, and even more. For the most part, the Dunleavy's were mild mannered, but they all had their moments. To them, family was everything, with friends coming in at a close second.
However, at the moment, food took precedence over everything as Cedric and Gwen decided it was time to return to the Great Hall for their meal.
The following morning brought the Yule Ball one day closer, as well as the weekend. Gwen decided to use the night to catch up on homework, while Cedric kept her company. The fireplace in the Hufflepuff common room glowed bright as another log was thrown in. The oak table in the corner was occupied as Gwen was composing her latest potions essay on veritaserum. Cedric was sprawled on the couch, sluggishly turning pages to his charms book. He had continued onto NEWT levels, while Gwen was deemed 'dreadful' at the art of charms. She was quite fond of potions, herself. Maybe 'fond' was too strong a word; she was on her seventh inch of her 18 inch potions essay and was nearing the point of setting the room on fire.
"Just a few drops of this powerful potion…" she drearily wrote. The room was quiet; the scratching of her quill and Cedric's occasional turning of a page was all that could be heard.
The silence was broken as an unbearable urge came over Cedric. "For all these years that I've known you, I've always noticed your crooked nose, but I don't know the story behind it." His words seemed to echo in the room. His face popped up from the couch and looked at Gwen intently. Her green eyes rose from her parchment and she placed her quill carefully on the table "So, Gwendolyn Aurora Dunleavy, why is your nose crooked?"
Gwen looked at him. "Quidditch. I was ten, Isaac was twelve and he wanted to make the team… I was watching him practice, then bam, bludger right in the face." She shrugged, sorry that the story wasn't more interesting, but hey, he asked for it. Her mind was returned to her essay.
It was obvious Cedric was in a certain mood and that Gwen's fair load of homework would not snuff it. "And then what?" he asked earnestly, total interest visible on his face.
"Well, my parents weren't home and there was no way I was going to let him try and fix it, so we used some Spellotape until-"
"You used Spellotape on a broken nose?" Cedric asked incredulously.
"…that's why it's crooked." Gwen sighed. "Anyway, I'm busy. Go ask someone else to tell you boring stories."
"Okay, okay," Cedric replied, getting up from the couch. His tall frame approached the table, and he stood across from her. He placed his hands on the table and leaned across. "What I'm trying to get at is… I've done a lot of thinking and decided that it had to be you… come to the Yule Ball with me?"
Gwen looked up at his face silhouetted by the glowing flames of the fireplace. The earnestness remained on his face as he stared. A crooked smile danced on her lips, and she slowly nodded. "Yeah… that would, that would be great…" A rush of excitement raced through her body. She was thankful for the shield of darkness the night casted, hiding her flushed cheeks.
Cedric remained in his hunched over position. He quietly said, "So, that's a yes? You'll go to the ball with me?" He smiled hopefully.
"Yeah," Gwen repeated, "I'll go to the ball with you."
In a second's time, Cedric shot up straight. He raised his arms in triumph. "You finally said yes!"
Gwen contorted her face in thought for moment, wondering when Cedric had asked her to the ball before when it hit her: He was practicing for when he asked Cho for real. She mentally punched herself for losing her foothold in reality for those few strange moments.
A forced smile replaced Gwen's genuine one. The excitement was ripped back out of her and thrown into Cedric. "I can finally ask Cho now! I have a method!"
"What's your method? Annoy the wand out of her hand then swoop in all romantic like?" Gwen questioned, masking her now disheartened attitude with sour humor.
Cedric shrugged, still visibly elated. "It worked for you, didn't it?" He flashed a smile and began heading up to his dormitory.
"Hey," he said before disappearing in the dark hall. "Thanks… for everything." She just answered with a smile.
As soon as his footsteps dissolved again into silence, it seemed Gwen let out her breath.
"What was that all about?!" she asked herself. "Did I just say yes to him!?" Her thoughts raced about in her head as she tried to ignore the nagging feeling in her gut that wanted to be Cedric's date to the Yule Ball. She quickly returned to her dorm.
Maura Lurmont was still awake when Gwen entered the room. Their other two roommates, Lucille Ermstead and Roberta Marsh, slept silently beside them. The room was your typical Hogwarts dormitory. Four post beds, trunks, school robes, spell books…
As Gwen collapsed onto her bed, Maura looked at her questioningly. "Finish your essay?" The grunt Gwen let out answered Maura's question as she pushed her glasses up her nose. Her freckled face was sprinkled with concern over Gwen's attitude. "Okay, what happened?" Maura asked adamantly.
Gwen inhaled, "Well, Cedric asked me to the ball, and I said yes, but then realized he was practicing for when he asks Cho, and now I feel like an idiot and don't know why I said yes, well I know why I said yes- Cedric's a lot of fun- but I don't know why when I realized he was practicing that I felt so down all of a sudden."
The moment's silence that followed was broken by a 'Hmm' as Maura responded.
"Well, I think it can be deduced that you like him."
Once again Gwen's face scrunched up in a questioning fashion. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, it makes perfect sense, actually," Maura continued, reaching into her stash of chocolate frogs. "You've only been best friends since… what, forever? You only hang out all the time. It's really just a matter of time before one of you fell for the other." She took a bite of the candy and looked up to see Gwen gaping at her, adding a roll of her eyes for dramatic effect.
"You're full of dragon dung, ya know that, right?" Gwen said, pulling down her sheets and crawling into her warm bed.
"Oh sure, if by 'dragon dung' you mean cold hard facts!" Maura exclaimed, throwing a frog onto her friend's bed. "You just admitted that you wanted to go to the ball with him."
"I… I guess I did." Gwen's expression turned pensive as she thought about the last few moments with Cedric. "But just because I want to go to the ball with him doesn't mean I'd go off snogging him anytime soon-"
"So if he were to lean in to kiss you, would you run the other way screaming?"
"No, that's extreme, don't ya think?" Gwen responded, avoiding the question at hand. "Okay, I'm not talking to you anymore tonight. You're making me delirious." And with that, she turned on her side and put the light out. Maura giggled and settled into her own bed.
As Gwen tried to sleep, Maura's words drifted through her head. It was true- she and Cedric did hang out a lot… but all that meant was that they enjoyed each other's company. They were best friends since first year… but that simply was because they found each other interesting. And if Cedric were to lean in and kiss her, Gwen would, in fact, NOT run in the other direction screaming… which meant…
"Oh my gosh!" Gwen said, sitting up, horrified at her realization. "I've got a thing for my best friend!"
Maura mumbled into the darkness, "Frightening, isn't it?"