"Well someone is in a good mood today, what happened to the stomach ache?" Asked Beverly over breakfast in the Great Hall.
"I must have slept it off." Grinned Robin after she was done humming at her porridge. It took everything she had not to look in Cedric's direction. He never changed his seating during meal times so she knew exactly where he was and she could feel his stare burning a hole through her body but she refused to be caught looking back.
"Well that's good because I heard Snape is on the war path today so we all might be in his line of fire."
"How's that different from any other day?"
"Today he's filling in for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"That's nice." Robin replied while smiling down at her breakfast.
Beverly paused and took in her friend's appearance. She looked rested and vibrant, her hazel eyes looked lively, she looked like she couldn't have been bothered any less by trivial things such as professors and classes. She only sat there and rotated around her meal with a spoon. Beverly only came to one conclusion.
"Robin," she said delicately while grabbing her wrists from across the table, "Do you have a problem with food?"
Robin looked back at her friend as if she had grown three heads, "No what makes you think that?"
"Well yesterday you were starved, then at dinner you were eating everything in sight and now your having pleasantries with the food." She accused.
Robin only rolled her eyes, "Lets get to class."
Beverly relinquished the issue temporarily and followed her friend out of the Great Hall. Both ladies completely unaware that most of the boys in the Hufflepuff table were focused on them as they made their exit. They too seemed to noticed how the demeanor of the sad American had quickly transformed as well.
John, the Hufflepuff beater spoke first,"Is she related to the Wesleys?"
"I thought that same thing when I first saw her, it's the..."
"Hair." Both John and George said at the same time. They were both acquaintances of Cedric but although they all sat in the same table he always had trouble getting along with the two. They were the most destructive boys in their house, always looking for trouble and girls to keep them on edge. The three of them didn't share many of the same interests but Cedric never allowed that to stop him from hanging out with his real friends who for some reason loved having them around.
"She's American. She just arrived here and is of no relation to the Wesleys, she's in our year." Added William, Cedric's roommate and closest friend.
"And she's mighty good-looking!" Exclaimed another Hufflepuff guy on the far side of their table.
Cedric took a deep breath and hoped that William could steer the conversation away from Robin. His friend did love talking about sports and today more than ever he wanted to hear about matches that involved the Belgium and Scottish instead of hearing all the Hufflepuff guys banter about Robin. He had noticed how beautiful she looked this morning, she was glowing and it looked like her smile could infect all of Hogwarts with its allure.
"I heard that she sleeps in her knickers for comfort and that she walked around the Gryffindor common room naked looking for the showers." Grinned Scott, a notable boy in their house.
"Perhaps she was lost." Reasoned William.
Cedric nodded, "It's a big school, people get lost easily but don't we have class really soon? Maybe we should get going."
"We can't all be prefects Cedric, class starts in ten minutes relax." Said Scott.
But he couldn't relax not when John and George wouldn't let talk of Robin cease.
"I heard that she's a pure blood and related to Malfoy, her parents left Britain when you-know-who was beginning his attacks." Said Miller, one of the popular boys adding fuel to the fire.
"I love pure bloods." Said George with his most serious expression.
John nudged him, "Well they don't like you." He said referring to his muggle born mother.
"Doesn't make what I said any less true." George said defiantly.
Some boys at the table chuckled and Cedric tried to think of anything else but his currently predicament. He looked around the Great Hall for inspiration.
"I heard she likes to blast the music in her dorm and dance before she starts on her studies."
Everyone near their section of the table seemed to consider this for a second.
Finally, a Hufflepuff girl interceded, "Well I for one heard that she has a boyfriend back in America."
John reacted at the news by glaring at his food and George banged his fist on the table. The rest of the guys laughed with Cedric being the only exception.
"And how did you come across that bit of knowledge?" Asked an interested William.
"Girls talk." Winked the Hufflepuff girl before leaving the table and heading out of the Great Hall.
"Maybe we should go now." Urged an already tired Cedric.
George gave him the strangest look, "What's wrong with you today?"
John rolled his eyes, "He's probably just late to walk Cho to class."
The whole table seemed to groan at this, they didn't seem to think that he was setting a good example for all the guys in relationships.
"I'm sure Cho would understand if you decided graced us with your presences today. Besides, you've been spending every minute with that girl lately and sometimes we don't even know where you run off too. So come on, class is nearly starting."
The boys made exited the great hall and Cedric braced himself for the longest day of his life.
Robin felt disgusting. Herbology always managed to leave her feeling dirty and smelling foul. She simply wasn't an outdoors girl and the dark layered Hogwarts uniform didn't help her endurance of such things. It made her feel heavier and hotter. All she wanted to do was go back into her common room and bathe before her next class but that wouldn't be possible all year. She had Professor Mcgonagall next and she already knew how the old witch felt about tardiness. At that moment she couldn't help but resent the old professor, she was going to have to drag her unclean self to the class that Gryffindors shared with the Hufflepuffs. She was going to have to sit in a classroom with a handsome Cedric while she smelled like all the most terrible elements of earth wrapped into one.
Nevertheless, she walked at a steady pace to the class. She had to stay focused on Mcgonagall today in order to remain on track in the class. Sometimes the small language barrier staggered her ability to continue on a subject with the rest of the class. However, lately, the small differences in language wasn't what was staggering her attention. It was Cedric Diggory. Of course he was too good for her. He was everything a well brought up man would be. He was athletic and intelligent and beautiful, he was the favored boy of their class and this was because he simply had no flaw. Although Cedric sat on the Hufflepuff side in the classroom in the far back of the room, she knew he was staring. He was always staring and even though the attention she was getting from him was largely flattering most of the time it was also frightening. What if he was thinking that her head was irregularly shaped or that her hair looked like the ends of a broom?
She felt like she was running late but Herbology was too far from the Hogwarts classrooms to actually make it on time. She had no idea how her classmates managed to always beat her there everytime but they didn't exactly seem ready to share any help with the new American. She practically jogged all the way to Mcgonagall's classroom. Her copper hair whipping everywhere and her complexion reddening with the physical exertion. She was sure that to anyone around her she looked an absolute mess.
Finally, with no time to spare and trying to avoid the wrath of Mcgonagall she emerged right into the class and earned a look from all her seated classmates. She had never felt so embarrassed in her life.
"Ms. Whitley, do you think yourself superior of your classmates?" Asked Mcgonagall, emerging from her desk.
"No professor, look I'm sorry it's just been a long day and Herbology is too far from this classroom."
A couple of the girls in the room snorted at her excuse.
"I deeply apologize for the fact that your class schedule wasn't designed to meet your standards. Perhaps we should change the location of all classrooms within this school to be able to accommodate your distance from Herbology."
Mcgonagall officially hated her.
"No that's not necessary." She couldn't look the intimidating professor in the eye so she just focused on Beverly's anxious expression in the far front of the room.
"Do not disrupt my classroom with your tardiness again Ms. Whitley."
"Yes professor." She nodded and quickly scattered to the empty seat near Beverly.
All of her classmates managed to stay quiet, watching her move quickly and deliberately but there was one Hufflepuff girl who mumbled "brat" under her breath but loud enough to be heard by the people in her row. Her friends seemed to nod in agreement with their wicked smiles. This was why Robin typically never got along with people of her same gender. At least the boys had enough logic to not make things worse with their comments.
She had to walk near Cedric to get to her seat but with so many people looking her way their was no room to slip up with him. There would be enough time for them later...at least she hoped. Her body reacted to him in ways that she never thought possible and merely walking passed him made her nerves a mess, so much so that when she smelled his glorious musky scent only inches away from her she dropped her books, this earned her multiple laughs from around the room but Cedric detached himself from his seat to help her.
"Is there a another problem Ms. Whitley?" Asked the impatient professor.
"No, sorry again."
Low to the ground and both trying to gather books, Cedric whispered in her ear.
"Your room after class?" He asked as steadily as he could.
Robin momentarily froze before she glanced up to meet his stunning green eyes. They looked like they were in a terrible pain and if she focused closer she could see herself in them. The word "no" did not exist to her then. She nodded and they quickly separated once her books had been gathered.
"Cedric is such a gentleman." Cooed Beverly when she had taken a seat next to her.
"That's who that was?" She asked staring behind her at the boy with the auburn hair that was openly gazing back.
Beverly rolled her eyes at the clueless American and the class finally began.
"When did things get this ruined?" Asked Robin.
She spread her arm across Cedric's bare chest and used the other to steady her chin and look up at green orbs.
"You call that ruined?" He asked in utter disbelief of how they had just wrinkled and completely unmade her bed.
She changed the subject, "What did Cho want yesterday?"
He let out the deepest sigh and begin playing with her her red locks.
"She only wanted me to walk her to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner."
"So your an escort now?"
The hand dropped, "I'm her boyfriend Robin and that's a fact that is completely of your doing."
"So now it's my fault that this is happening."
He grabbed a hold of her cheek and brought her closer.
"Don't do this Robin...your my oasis in this mess of a problem. We didn't want this to happen. We didn't plan it. Just please, enjoy it with me while it lasts because pretty soon you will have to sneak me out of here as if we're common criminals and we will only be able to look at each other. I don't know how you feel about the situation but there's only so much I can do of that before I feel like sprinting through the tables of the Great Hall and attacking you. You," he said never breaking eye contact, "are the most perfect human being I've ever seen and I only have you for this short time. So please, let's not talk." His eyes were pleading and it would have been a crime not to succumb.
He laid one long heartbreaking kiss on her lips before she promised herself not to speak for the remaining minutes they had left. His hands clung to her naked body under the sheets as if she'd slip away into thin air and never be found again.
Cho never got to have him in this way and as far as she was concerned Cho never would. They were both pure before this began, no string of problematic sexual relationships followed them. She had always promised herself that she would save herself until marriage but who was to say when that would be? Her parents were married and yet remained unhappy. So did it really matter who and when you gave yourself to someone as long as they were decent and respectful? Cedric was far more than decent. Before she had met him she assumed that all males were genetically created to disappoint her. They were all the same with their brute jokes, hormones and fake personalities just to get in your pants.
However, in the months that she had known Cedric she never sensed anything morally wrong with him. There were no secrets or porn magazines. He wasn't the type to ever not act as anything less than a gentleman. When she had met him he had been single, Cho was no where near the horizon and the only reason he had held off on a relationship for so long was because he was old fashioned. He didn't believe in chasing girls. He believed in admiring one, the one that he knew he would eventually want to make a grand effort for.
Robin could still remember the day she had met him. His shyness was never something she foresaw but it was always fun to remind herself that it was there nonetheless.
She hated how humongous Hogwarts was. What ever happened to smaller schools with simple corridors and rooms that didn't all appear similar? She was getting frustrated and tired. She had come to do one simple thing and now she probably looked like the world's biggest idiot. She prayed to Merlin that no one caught her in her present state because there would have no explanation that didn't make her sound clueless.
She had been in Hogwarts only a day in a half and she was already in a desperate need for a hot shower to relax her tense muscles and ease her into a second day of the school. She heard that Europeans preferred to bathe rather than shower and she hoped that she could find a tub somewhere in the massive school but after an hour of searching for a tub she was willing to settle for anything that looked remotely similar to a place that offered a curtain and running water. Surely they had to have that in this school, right?
Twenty minutes later she breathed a sigh of relief when she found a shower stall. She eagerly undressed and entered the stall, closing the curtain behind her. Her enthusiasm was at an all time high but quickly came crashing down when she turned the knob and water didn't run out. She was going to have to write Dumbledore a very serious letter regarding the hygiene of the school. She cursed herself for being too proud to ask anyone where the tubs and showers were. Now she was going to have to put it off longer and have her hair get nastier, she wrapped it up in a bun before exiting the shower stall and covering herself with a towel. She was determined to walk the whole school in a towel if it meant she would get clean today.
She had finished tightening the towel around her breasts when she noticed movement in front of her.
"Oh God I'm so sorry!"
She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the Hogwart's golden boy stammer and quickly turn around so that he wasn't facing the practically naked girl.
"I didn't think anyone came in here, forgive me." He said again, this time with his back facing her while he ran an anxious hand through his hair.
"It's the ladies room!" She said incredulously.
"Yes but this is Moaning Murtle's bathroom."
"That explains nothing." She said crossing her arms.
"It's an abandoned bathroom," he explained, " I come here to think."
"Or strategize about how best to sneak up on a girl!" She accused.
He turned to look at her, "I'm not a peeping tom!"
Her eyebrows rose at the statement and he quickly turned back around when he realize that he was looking the wrong direction again.
"Are you the American?"
"Actually go by Robin or Whitley."
He mentally kicked himself.
"Yes I know, your in most of my classes."
He didn't need to mention this. She knew him already with only a day of class. He was the guy that no one could shut up about, the one that every girl wanted. It was quite annoying, if only they could see him now.
"How are you liking it here so far?" He asked in her disbelief. He obviously wanted to end this on a good note so that she wouldn't mention this mishap to anyone but was it really necessary to keep up a conversation while she was in this condition?
She decided to be honest, "I think I would like it better if I could find the showers."
Still facing away from her, "You won't find them in here...this is not exactly the place for showers."
"Then what is it a place for?" She said rolling her eyes.
"Thinking."
She snorted and tried to think of a pleasant way to tell him to leave so that she could redress and have better luck elsewhere.
"If your looking for a place to get cleaned up I know where the showers are. They're just past those two back doors and if you take a left and pass a long corridor then make your first right before opening the left double doors."
She considered this and a moment passed before she told him he could turn around.
When he did his green eyes could knock the wind out of any living thing and she noticed him blush once he took in her appearance again. Something told her he had never seen a girl in her state of dress before. She was only happy that the towel could hide all that was important so that she wouldn't melt into a puddle of embarrassment.
His redness hadn't subsided when he reached his hand out while staring only at the floor now like a perfect gentlemen, "I'm Cedric Diggory."
The warmth of his hands surprised her. She was almost naked and the floors were freezing which caused an insane amount of goosebumps but his hand felt like it was changing everything. When she didn't let go he looked back up again.
"Perhaps you need help getting there?"
She had almost forgotten about the showers.
Still holding onto each others' hands she smiled, "Perhaps."
"Where are you going?" Asked a panicked Cedric when he noticed Robin began to fasten her bra and pull on her pants.
"Gryffindor has Quidditch practice today." She said as if it was the twentieth time she'd told him.
"Let them wait a little longer." He sat up and his toned chest almost made her drool in front of him but she refused to be the star-struck girl, at least in front of him.
"For what?" She said stomping into her boots.
"For this," she giggled when he grabbed her hand and yanked her back to bed where he laid her down with the most excruciating slow kisses before snapping her bra back off.