a/n: I do not own Harry Potter copyrights.
Leaves floated around me in a sort of soft maelstrom, the green flurry tinted with occasional splotches of orange and red. I sighed contentedly, leaning back against the rock I lay on so as to catch the full extent of the sun's rays.
My socks and shoes were strewn absent-mindedly to my side, my bare feet already dangling off and into the cool lake water below. It was serene, relaxing and (best of all in my opinion) completely peaceful. I smiled a wide, lazy smile and closed my eyes lethargically. It was my free lesson, I reasoned, no one would mind if I drifted off for a bit.
"Oi! You over there!"
I cracked an eye open ruefully, only to snap it right back shut when I saw who was coming my way. Crap! It's Cedric! Maybe he'll go away if I ignore him.
In a heartbeat I had flipped myself completely in the other direction, kicking up a bit of water as I curled into a ball and screwed my eyes shut. I'm pretty sure he saw all of this (he wasn't that far away), but I was still hoping he'd either buy the sleeping routine or get the hint and go away.
No such luck, the sound of footsteps got louder and louder until they stopped completely. It wasn't long after that that he began to laugh, and not one of those polite chuckles either, but the kind of laugh that made you know that they were making fun of you. My fake-sleeping face instantly transformed into a scowl.
"You are the worst actor I've ever seen!" He let out between breaths, calming down briefly only to burst out obnoxiously a few seconds later.
I opened my eyes grudgingly; I wasn't fooling anyone anyway. "Is there something you wanted?" I asked coolly, sitting up so that I could get a better look at him. To him I probably looked like an indifferent and rude girl, one who had better things to do with her life than talk to him.
Good, if he thought that then maybe he would leave sooner.
"I was just going to warn you about the lake." Cedric replied with an easy yet cheeky smile. "Sometimes first years forget about the giant squid."
I blinked, forgetting my aloof persona as I processed what he had said. Did he just say. . . Did he think. . . Did Cedric Diggory just call me a first year? I shot him a glare, only this time it wasn't half-hearted or pretend; it was real. But more than that, it was icy. The boy in front of me winced almost instantly; he knew he had said the wrong thing.
"I am NOT a first year!" I growled, standing up so that I could poke him in the chest menacingly, an effect that was only scary for the amount of time it took us both to realize that I only came up to his prefects badge. I scowled, he laughed, both for the second time today.
Damn. Not only was I flat as a board but I was short too, no wonder he thought I was eleven.
"You're not?" He asked once he had once more regained the ability to speak in complete sentences (the sad part about this is that he actually sounded surprised). "Really?"
"Yeah," I mumbled, still glaring. "Really," Turning around, I began gathering up my things; doing my best to ignore the guy behind me. He was on the list after all; I couldn't afford to have any more contact with him.
"What are you doing?" Cedric asked curiously, leaning over my shoulder to get a better look.
"Going to the dorms for my nap," I replied curtly, going to move past him but frowning when I saw that he had blocked my way. I looked at him pointedly, "Can you move please?"
"Wait, I didn't catch your name." His expression turned hopeful as he looked at me. I sighed. Why is it that one of the people whom I didn't want to speak to, wouldn't shut up?
"That's because I didn't tell you." There was a certain weariness to my voice. I was still trying to get past him. "Now can you move? I want to go to my dorm."
"I'll go with you," He replied cheerfully as he wrenched my bag away from me, ignoring my protests. He gave one look at my yellow and black tie and smiled big. "We're both in Hufflepuff right? I need to go to the dorms too."
I stifled a groan, resisting the urge to slap my forehead. "No." I told him as I attempted and failed to get my bag back. "I want to walk alone."
He pouted, shooting me a look that probably would have had any other girl melting where she stood. He probably had had plenty of practice with it, if you considered Cho and the other fan girls that fawned after him. To tell the truth, I kind of half expected him to bat his eyelashes at me. It wouldn't have been too far off from what he was already doing.
"I have an idea," Cedric abandoned his pout once it became clear that it wasn't having the effect he was going for. "How 'bout, if I don't guess your age by the time we get to the barrels, I'll leave you alone?"
I considered for a moment; it was actually a pretty tempting offer considering that he already called me a first year. I gave him a long look and then I smiled, quite slyly if I might add. "Deal," I told him, that smile never wavering, "On one condition."
"Anything." He sounded confident, not wavering even as my smirk grew wider.
"If you don't get it by the time we get there, you have to tap the wrong barrel. And you can't have a shower until the end of the day."
Cedric's smile vanished almost instantly. I almost laughed, even as I knew I was being a bit cruel. From what I knew of Cedric, both from reading and seeing, he viewed his personal image highly. By choosing a punishment that would hurt his ego, I increased the chance that he would come to dislike me. It would, since I highly doubted that he'd guess it, act as an insurance to keep him away from me in the long run.
"Fine," He said firmly, shooting me a stubborn look as he began to march back up to the castle. "But I get to start now. 12."
I made sure to step on his foot hard as I fell into step beside him. (it was on purpose, I mean 12? Really?) "Nope!" I sang, smirking. "Too low!"
We walked in silence as he took the time to think, the guy even going as far as caressing his chin in the classic 'thinker' pose. I couldn't help it; I snickered, if only at how ridiculous he looked.
"13?" He guessed seriously, chuckling when I tripped him in retaliation. "Guess not."
We were at the castle now, so I'm not quite sure if he caught me roll my eyes at him before I slipped inside, though he probably did notice that I didn't hold the door for him. To tell the truth, his guesses were insulting me more than I let on. I mean, just how young did this guy think I was? Sure I was shorter than most people, and yeah I had no chest but that didn't mean I looked like a first year! I had curves dammit!
"14?" Came the second guess as we descended the stairs to the kitchens, getting ever so closer to Cedric's fate.
"You can't just keep guessing in order until you get it." I told him seriously; adding in: "And no, that's not it." when his face temporarily lit up.
"There are not many ages you can be at this school." He countered with a chuckle. "Unless you're a teacher." He pretended to peer at me skeptically. "And you're not a teacher. Are you?"
I ignored him, settling instead with answering his first statement (even though he hadn't quite phrased it as a question). "Go with the ages that make sense." I told him before tacking on a "And give me your reasons!" at the end.
"This is too hard, you already said no to the ones that made sense!" He whined, yelping loudly when I 'accidentally' stomped his foot again. His half-hearted glare only lasted seconds before he was all smiles again. "At least give me a hint."
"No."
The barrels were in sight now and my scowl disappeared the moment I saw them. Cedric noticed and adopted a scowl of his own. "Oh come on!" He begged piteously. "I'm going to lose!"
"That's kind of the point." I gloated shamelessly, ecstatic at the prospect of once more avoiding this guy in peace. Of course that had to be the moment that the barrel two from the bottom chose to open (those things are more than large enough to walk through comfortably); sending none other than Kara Jafton flying straight into me.
There was a muffled crash as the girl knocked all three of us to the ground, followed shortly after by my own groan at seeing who it was that had done so.
Kara was a year-mate of mine; infamous for her big feet, big heart and (most unfortunately) her big mouth. She was also one of the few friends I had acquired since coming to Hogwarts. We weren't close, not really, but she knew enough about me to answer any of Cedric's questions comfortably. She also (like most of the girls in my House) had a huge crush on the guy.
Well crap.
"Julia!" Kara exclaimed rather loudly only moments after we all had returned from the floor, her voice alone more than enough for both Cedric and I to wince. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry; I can't believe I didn't see you. I was just so late, and McGonagall was so going to kill me! You know how she gets. I mean, you fall asleep in her class one time and the world's on fire! She totally overreac-"
"Kara!" I cried once she had paused enough for me to get a breath in. Years of experience with the girl meant I knew to cut her off before she got too far along. She could talk for hours. Well, that and I knew I had to get her moving. She had already placed me in a rather dangerous territory just by saying my name. Cedric was grinning, that was never good.
"It's fine, Kara. We should have been watching where we were going too. And I know exactly what you mean with McGonagall, she hates me enough for not taking Transfiguration this year. You should probably get going before you're later than you already are."
I meant the last part. Just what had Kara been doing to miss half the lesson before even realizing that she was late?
"Julia?" Cedric slid into the conversation smoothly before I could successfully shoo her away. He, it seemed, must have realized that Kara was probably his best chance in getting information that I would never have told him otherwise. He shot her his best 'perfect guy' smile. "Are you in the same year?"
Kara nearly swooned. In focusing on me, she hadn't realized that I wasn't exactly alone. Now that she had, the Hufflepuff looked both awestruck and thrilled. I wanted to smash my head, or maybe even her head, into a wall. In the span of a single moment Kara had reminded me what people (specifically those in my House) would do if Cedric Diggory, the Superstar of Hufflepuff, so much as glanced their way.
Ridiculous. Bloody Idiotic. At this rate, Kara would probably give him my birthdate and blood type too.
"What about Transfiguration?" I asked feebly. "McGonagall? The wonderfully evil lady who's out to get you for sleeping in class? Does any of that ring a bell?" Like a traitor, Kara blatantly ignored me, all the while smiling sparkles and butterflies at the still smirking Cedric.
"Oh yeah me and Jules go way back." She crooned, earning an odd look from me. Never, in all the years that we'd known each other, had she ever called me 'Jules'. Kara was moving closer to Cedric now, edging nearer and nearer in the creepy way that all of his fangirls seemed to move. It was almost sad to watch, like she had been degraded just by being in his presence. Cedric evaded her with a few practiced steps to the side, his perfect smile never slipped.
"Is that so?" He practically purred, still smiling as I watched helplessly. "What year are you two in?"
"Sixth of course!" The traitor cooed happily. She either didn't see or ignored the horror-struck expression slowly creeping upon my face. Nonononono, Shut Up Kara!
"And her birthday? "
Kara frowned, clearly not exactly pleased with a question that wasn't about her. She probably would've been jealous if she didn't already know how I had next to no interest in the golden boy. Even if she was, Kara had never been the type to sabotage someone for her own gain, ridiculous crush or not. "I think it's sometime in April, the. . . 7th? Julia's lucky. I don't turn 17 till July."
I admit it, it wasn't figurative this time; I actually smacked myself on the forehead.
Cedric turned towards me, still grinning that cursed grin. "You're 16!" He crowed, quickly adding in: "And before you say otherwise, you never said I couldn't ask your friend."
I was speechless, mad (mainly at Kara and her shamelessly big mouth), and most of all embarrassed, so rather than defend myself, I did the next best thing; I fled.
Like a child, I ran all the way to the girl's dorm screaming: "It doesn't count! We were already at the common room!" Only when I was safely in my room did I collapse onto my bed with a groan, shoving my head into the pillow with exasperation.
Well crap. How was I supposed to avoid him now?
