"What?"
"Him?!"
"Oh, enough already! He looks white as a sheet…"
"Serves him right!"
"He's a cheat!"
"CHEAT!"
"Wait, really? WOOT!" Josie screamed, punching her fist in the air.
Voices buzzed around me, disconnected bits of conversation. Distrustful whispers, wary stares and angry looks filled the hall like a sickness. Outrage radiated from the Hufflepuff's with such vehement force you couldn't have cut the tension with a severing charm. This…was…not…right.
"Findabhair? Take deep, calming breaths-" I didn't realize I'd been hyperventilating until I was sitting on the ground with my head between my knees and Valerie exaggerating her breathing for me.
"Val, she's not in labor!" Someone smacked me in the face. Hard.
"AOW! HEY!" I lashed out with a fist and connected with Jedda's stomach.
"OUCH! Nice right hook, Ms. Hysterical." She coughed, staggering sideways into James Connery and Roger, clutching Anastasia's tiny neck in a effort to stay standing. The four of them went down in a writhing mass of arms and legs.
They weren't alone: Our entire house was on their feet, shouting and shoving and looking ready to leap at the Gryffindors. I caught a glimpse of Josie rolling up her sleeves and like she was going to get up on the table and body-slam Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, both of whom were screaming abuse at the rippling sea of gold and scarlet.
"I'll dismiss you all by house-" Professor Sprout was trying to recapture the mob's attention with little success.
"Where's Dumbledore? Quick, before Josie starts throwing punches!" Danica shouted over the din, helping James to his feet.
"CHEATERS! BLOODY GRYFFINDOR CHEATS!! With your famous lackey Potter! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, WOOD!" Roger screamed, spittle flying from his lips as he yanked out his wand. Oliver was jumping down from the table shoving up his sleeves as the defensive fury of the entire Gryffindor house was turned on us.
"You Ravenclaw swots! It's none of your business!" Fred roared back, knocking over a bench as he stood up.
"Yeah! Come over here Davies and say that to our faces, eh?" George catcalled, standing beside his brother.
"We're all behind him Gryffindork!" Jedda yelled, eyes alight with the anticipation of battle. It had been a poor choice made by the headmasters to leave us all alone to start a House War.
"Somebody do something before Roger gets himself expelled!" I shouted desperately clawing at my Quidditch Captains sleeves.
"All of vou are ze cheeter's!" Some Beaxbatons girl spat at me. " 'Ogwartz school!"
"Oh, shush, you silly little frog." I snapped, glaring at her and losing my hold on Roger.
"JAMES!" I pleaded, gesturing frantically.
"Got it!" He called, tackling Roger to the floor before he could get more than three feet in Oliver's direction.
"SILENCE!!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, her voice magically amplified so the sound was twice as piercing. Everyone froze, even Roger from where he squirmed madly under James, trying to get at a Durmstrang's ankle with his teeth.
"I am appalled at the behaviour of not only my own students, but those of the other schools as well! I assure you that our Headmaster's and Mistress will take care of this unexpected complication in due course. Now I order you to return to your places of residence immediately." She snapped in her severe, no-nonsense voice. "If I see any of you behave in a way that is anything less than civil, you'll find yourself out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Triwizard Tournament'."
"Sounds fair to me." Roger grumbled but got reluctantly to his feet and slunk back to the benches, James behind him like a buffer as we all stood up and I got ready to help James escort our house back to the common room.
"You take the front?" James asked, already moving in behind to round up some of the reluctant and more belligerent stragglers.
"Might as well," I sighed and waved my unhappy housemates forward. "It's not like it can get any worse."
But I was wrong. As soon as classes began again 'belligerent' was the nicest way to describe the attitude Ravenclaw's felt towards Potter. Personally, I'd never really minded him. But the feelings I felt towards him now were entirely different. Cedric had one more competitor, one more person to fight against. This made me furious, the injustice of the entire scenario. Besides, if it had been any other under-aged wizard, they would have found a way around it. They wouldn't have let Summerby or Orla compete, it was with colossal unfairness that Gryffindor's always seemed to get by on nerve. And so, my feeling of irritation with the house of Godric Gryffindor festered and grew.
However, it didn't even come close to how aggressive I felt toward Cedric's suddenly budding entourage of annoyingly prideful twits and their less than courteous treatment of me. Girls flittered about him like moths to the flame, more persistent than usual. And with the parade of pretty girls came a horde of obnoxious Hufflepuff seventh year boys who gravitated toward Ced, hoping to share in just some of the glory. If I could just transfigure them all into toads and not get caught…
"Hey, O'Brien." Oh no.
"Flint? What do you want?" I whirled, glaring at the hulking Slytherin boy as he ran towards me down the hallway. He tossed me a package which I caught reflexively, green wrapping shimmering in the faint sunlight from a stained glass window. I dropped it like a hot coal and shook my hand in disgust.
"That's from Malfoy." Oh, lovely. I really wanted a gift from that annoying little twit.
"And what makes you think I'd want it?" I sneered, turning away in disgust.
"It's about Diggory-" He began.
"What do you mean, it's about Diggory!?" I turned back but he was already running in the other direction. I stared down at the offending package before reaching to snatch it up and tear the wrapping off. I pulled out a badge, kind of like the S.P.E.W. ones that bushy little Hermione Granger had tried to pin on me. Only this one said: Support Cedric Diggory--the REAL Hogwarts Champion in large red letters. I rubbed my thumb over the words and they changed to POTTER STINKS.
"What's that, Fin?" Anastasia asked, coming down the hallway towards me. I tossed it towards her and feigned indifference.
"A button that Malfoy thought I was interested in…you can have it." I was mean, but I wouldn't sink so low as petty. And I certainly wasn't about to show any of the Slytherin's I'd accepted a gift from Malfoy.
"I'll wear it with pride…stupid Gryffindors." She laughed and walked down the hallway, her robes fluttering around her ankles delicately. Apparently, the animosity still held fresh.
"Is that another one of those damn things?" Josie Morong sidled up beside me, glaring at the back of Anastasia's head. I shifted a little bit away from her as a tiny, poisonous little voice in the back of my head spit Gryffindor cheat! in an obnoxious tone. An ache dashed through my tattoo but I shook it off.
"It's Malfoy who's been dishing them out." I murmured, disgusted.
"Yeah, but no Slytherin's clever enough to come up with such a powerful charm by themselves." She gave me a sidelong look. "The Creevey brothers have been trying to fix those for a few days now and it keeps coming up as POTTER REALLY STINKS. Don't think I can't guess whose sense of humour that is."
"Wait," I turned towards her, appalled. "Are you accusing me?! Josie, I'm not that petty!"
"Yeah, well, you care about your foster-brother. That's not a crime. I mean, Hufflepuff's are losers-"
"JOSIE!" How could she say that to me? She was my friend!
"Well, if the shoe fits-" She began, shrugging her shoulders with feigned nonchalance. She was raring for a fight.
"Hufflepuff's are NOT losers!" I shouted in the middle of the hallway, glaring at her. Several Hufflepuff's turned around with vicious looks on their faces. There, if she wanted to fight dirty, I'd give her the fury of an entire house to deal with. "And Potter should never have been allowed to compete! Besides, you submitted your name and I don't see you waltzing around as a Triwizard Champion-"
"Findabhair, chill out, dude." Val grabbed my shoulder and smiled at a fuming Josie. "Don't worry, Jose."
"Yeah, Fin's just edgy." Jedda muttered, trying to crowd me so I couldn't see Ced coming down the hallway.
"Cedric!" I called, pushing past Josie, who was still muttering mutinously about something she called 'Gryffindor pride'.
"There she goes again." Val sighed, watching me take off. Cedric turned around in surprise and stopped to wait for me to catch up. His mob did the same, though rather grudgingly.
"Hey, Findabhair. What is it?" He asked lightly, looking a little nervous. The seventh year pack of boys was looking at me out of the corner of their eyes, nudging each other and guffawing. The girls hung back and twittered in an irritated and disdainful way. He wasn't nervous because he cared what they thought, he was nervous because I had a temper to rival the meanest veela's.
"Do I need a reason to be included in your little group?" I asked cuttingly and glared at the Hufflepuff girl who was giving me a dirty look from behind Ced's back. She shrunk away with her eyes down. Speaking of house pride, a little do-gooder, hard-working, goofy misfit girl should not be giving me that kind of crap. Cedric looked surprised and I didn't give him a chance to think about it: "Hey, so, have you given any thought to the tournament?"
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that, actually." He replied eagerly, "Maybe a couple of extra study sessions or something to prepare, you know?"
"I think that sounds like a great plan." I smiled, surprised to find how much I was enjoying the jealous look his popular gaggle of girls were giving me. There were some new additions to his fan club this year, but the classics remained: Raine Dynman, Hannah Abbott, Lisa Turpin…all giving me that green-with-envy look. "Want to meet me in the library after supper?"
"Alright. Or you could just come down to the common room and we could practice there." He shrugged, smiling. My heart fluttered a little, Ced had a great smile.
"Whatever you prefer." I grinned back. Personally, I'd rather we have gone up to the library. Hufflepuff had a cozy little common room, but the fact that it was underground made me anxious. It wasn't very open, either.
"How about the common room?" Damn, I knew he'd say that. "I'll meet you after dinner, then?"
"Definitely! C'ya, Cedric!" And with that, he turned to take the stairs up to Flitwick's. I ran to catch up with Jedda, Josie and Val.
"Hey, guys! So, what have we got for Transfiguration today?" I asked brightly, punching Jedda in the shoulder playfully. Val bit her lip and groaned.
"We've got full transfiguration today, and not even from a similar object. Complete and utter, seat-of-your -trousers, random object to live creature. It'll be brutal." Jedda groaned as we walked into McGonagall's classroom.
"Aw, it'll be okay!" I giggled, inexplicably overjoyed. Val laughed and turned to Josie, a triumphant expression on her face.
"In your face! You owe me three knuts."
"Dammit, I don't have my purse with me."
"What?" I asked, nonplussed.
"Hey, at least you didn't bet high, Jose." Jedda smirked and as we took our seats at the back.
"What are you guys talking about? Is it about me and transfiguration?"
"Nope, it's about you and pretty boy puffle." Josie sighed wearily.
"What?!"
"Miss O'Brien, if you please!" McGonagall snapped, scowling at me. We were so busy working on our spells for the entire period we barely got a chance to talk. Which left me so distracted that instead of transfiguring my eraser into a titmouse, I transfigured my entire desk into a badger. It was a good badger, at least(even if it did try and eat Jedda's quill turned finch.).
"Usually when your distracted, you don't turn things into badgers. I mean, why a badger?" Jedda mused as we packed up our books.
"Hang on." I was concentrating hard on trying to rid my desk of black and white stripes. I tapped my wand to the surface and they faded.
"I know why." Val grinned conspiratorially, green blue eyes alight with an intuitive understanding of my slip up. The badger incident was a result of my scattered subconscious using Hufflepuff paraphernalia to remind me of my recent case of Cedric Lust. Val knew that without even having to try. After all, who needs Occlumency when you've got best friends?
I practically skipped down the hallway, happier than I'd been in days. Valerie had concocted a suitable cover story and was playing prefect in my stead until I returned(she was overjoyed at a chance to insist that everyone must unconditionally follow her every demand. Terry Boot was probably still doing handstands…). I flew down a flight of stairs and onto the ground floor, already searching the right corridor for the spiral staircase that lead down to the kitchens and Hufflepuff common room.
"Hey! Findabhair!" I turned and saw Oliver hailing me from down the hallway, dressed in full Quidditch regalia. His adorable face was lit with a bright grin, spots of hectic red across his cheek bones. He looked windswept and exhilarated. "What are you doing down here?"
"I'm off to go discuss tournament strategy with Cedric," I responded lightly, eager to be off and yet not wanting to be rude. "You?"
"I just got back in from a practice session." He closed the distance between us and swept me into a tight embrace.
"By yourself?"
"Yeah," He panted and his face fell. "I'd love some company one of these days…istomorrowgoodforou?"
"Huh?" I hadn't been able to make out the last part of that sentence. His eyes were huge and terrified as he gazed down at me in horror. "What?"
"Tomorrow? Go? With me? Quidditch?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure, why not?" I laughed at his expression of relief and looked at my watch. Bollocks! "Oh, hell. I've got to go. See you later?"
"Yeah, bye!" He waved at me as I took off down the spiral staircase we'd come to. Ernie met me halfway, a stricken expression on his face. My heart stopped.
"Ernie, what's wrong?" I gripped his shirt-front and he stared at me with a blank expression. "Ernie?!"
"Drag-Drag-Dra…" His lips shook and he bit them sharply before taking a large breath. "Dragons."
"Oh." I breathed a sigh of relief. "What about them?"
"Dragons is the first task. Cedric fights…dragons." Oh no.
~*~
"YOU CANT!" I shouted, shaking my head. "I'm going up to Dumbledore right now and telling him you cannot-"
"I wasn't even supposed to know, you cant go tell!" Cedric grabbed my shoulders and wrestled me back to the couch. I sat down awkwardly and tried to jump back up, but he was too strong for me.
"Cedric, this is ridiculously dangerous! They cant expect you to-"
"Findabhair-"
"-get yourself killed-"
"Findabhair!"
"I wont let you-"
"YES, MOTHER!!" Cedric gasped exasperatedly, staring at the ceiling. I quieted abruptly and stared at the floor, trying to calm the fear writhing in the pit of my stomach. All I could see was Cedric getting roasted in a pillar of flame, picked up and tore apart by vicious hooked talons while I stood powerless to help him. Ernie sat beside me on the couch, staring dejectedly at the coffee table.
"Please-" I appealed to him.
"Fin, it's bad. But who better to coach Cedric than yourself?" Ernie murmured, fooling with some muggle paraphernalia. It looked like a multicoloured cube.
"But I don't want…Cedric, is this what you want?" I breathed, swallowing my argument.
"To fight a dragon? No. But to win the cup and play this game, yes. I want you to help me Fin, I need you. Please." He took my hands in his and looked pleadingly down at me. I bit my lip and stared up into those silver hazel eyes.
"Alright, I'll help you."
"CEDRIC!!" I roared as he walked into the enclosure, a very worried look on his face. Oh dear god, what was he going to do? I looked at the Swedish Short snout with trepidation . Bugger, bollocks, bugger, bloody hell.
"Fin, your going to rip your robes if you keep twisting them about like that!" Val blathered excitedly and I released my robes and curled my fingers around the arena railing. "Don't worry, he can do this. He's smart, right? He knows what he's doing?"
"I hope so." I groaned and forced myself to watch, terrified. The dragon reared her head and roared, a jet of flame shooting from her nostrils. The great emerald bat wings flapped and a gust of air that nearly blew my scarf away. For a moment, I had the most irrational urge to leap between Cedric and the dragon and snarl my own protective fury to the sky. What an odd thought.
"Don't fret, Fin. If he's nimble enough to be a good seeker, then he'll be able to evade a dragon." Oliver comforted me grudgingly, and arm around my shoulders. I squirmed out from under it, too anxious to bear it's consoling weight. Cedric ducked and stayed out of reach, his expression deadly serious. Then he looked back at the crowd, searching for something, almost. The dragon moved-"CEDRIC!" Everyone screamed as he narrowly avoided being crushed by her tail. Oh no. Please remember what we did in those hours spent in the library, remember what the books said about short snouts…poor eyesight! Ced was searching the crowd again-
"YOU IDIOT!! PAY ATTENTION TO THE BLOODY, FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my heart pounding with terror. I could have sworn, in that moment before he was forced to dodge another jet of flame, he looked up at me and grinned. And then, in a flash, he was back.
With a flourish of his wand, a giant boulder shimmered and transfigured into a dog. A big, black dog.
"Oh my god…is that Bludger?" Valerie cackled at the top of her lungs as the dog raced forward towards the dragon, barking it's head off.
"Nice!" Jedda roared appreciatively, glancing up from her magazine. Cedric ran for it as soon as the dragon was sufficiently distracted, a headlong dash over the jagged rocks of the enclosure.
"RUN!!" I screamed, trying to drown out all the popular idiots who were shrieking his name. How could they distract him like that?! The Swedish Short-snout was very busy with the rock-turned-obnoxious-dog, roaring and trying to snap her jaws shut on the creature. Cedric rushed forward, right under the dragons flailing wing and snatched up the egg. The wrong egg. He was halfway free when he realized and tossed it away. The dragon turned as he scooped up the golden egg and her maw opened wide, a crackling sound like the roar of a forge starting in her throat as the bronze eyes widened with fury.
"AAAAAAH!!" My scream joined with the cacophony of groans and terrified shrieks as Ced dove and just barely caught the jet of flame.
"Oh shit." Oliver muttered, eyes wide with shock. I was trying to scramble out of my seat as he and Val clawed at my arms and dragged me back down. Cedric's right arm was alight and he fumbled for his wand, running back towards the stands as they blew the whistle. The dog curled up and became a rock again as Cedric stumbled, clutching the egg. The stands stood up and applauded, shouting loudly their encouragement. I slumped back against my seat.
"Fin! He's okay! He's alive! Look!" Val urged, pulling on my arm.
"I'm going to be…" I took a gigantic breath. "SICK!"
"Not on me!" Jedda leaped back and out of the way. I shoved by her and ran towards the medical tent. I had to go see him, he'd been burned…how badly?! I smacked right into Filch as I tried to get off the stands.
"I have to go see him!" I tried desperately, waving my arms around uselessly. "PLEASE!?""Nope." The disgusting janitor uttered the p with a popping sound. He sneered at me gleefully. "Can't let any students by, no matter how much they squeal."
In retrospect, I never should have done what I did. It really wasn't nice, or ethical. I yanked my wand out of my pocket and jammed it under his throat, manners be damned.
"LET ME BY!" I snarled, mind racing wildly for a spell strong enough to deter Filch yet not quite strong enough to hurt him. He staggered back a few steps, surprised. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to let me by. Jedda and Valerie came to my rescue.
"Quick! Pull a Luna!" Jedda hissed and I snapped into action pointing over his shoulder and faking a stunned look.
"LOOK! A giant Snortle!"
"Wha-HEY!" But I was already rushing down the steps and into the tent. Madam Pomfrey caught me before I'd gone much farther then a few steps.
"He's alright, O'Brien. Very superficial second degree burns-"
"SECOND DEGREE!? What-OW!" She slapped me across the face. I took a huge breath and exhaled slowly. "Thanks." I muttered and she nodded, gripping my upper arm tightly in her hand and dragging me towards his bed.
"Findabhair?"
"Cedric!" I rushed towards him and threw my arms around him before I realized exactly what I was doing. He was sweaty and gross and bleeding from a cut on his forehead and I just didn't care. I was sobbing, terrified for him. There was sticky, orange goop all over the right side of his face, mending the burn. It smeared across my eyebrow and cheek as he reached up to hug me to him.
"Fin, calm down! Fin, I'm okay." He murmured, bemused by my behavior.
"You great, colossal, fat, ruddy, git!" I hiccupped. "You could've died! DIED! And I had to watch!"
"I know, I know." He muttered hurriedly, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of his tournament uniform. "I'm sorry…Fin, calm down! Your heart, it's pounding!"
He'd pressed his palm to where my heart was battering itself against my ribcage and I felt sure that if I looked down, I would be able to see it beating. His arm! My stomach lurched sickeningly as I looked at it.
"It's fine, really." He muttered, shoving it behind his back. I flicked my attention to the cut on his forehead as Madam Pomfrey bustled back around the corner.
"Oh, Ced." I groaned, reaching out and brushing my fingers across to catch the drizzle of crimson. It stood out sharply against my white skin, sticky and wet.
"How does it feel now, Diggory?" Madam Pomfrey bustled around the curtain, casting me a disapproving glance.
"Oh…much better." Ced nodded vigorously, watching me with a cautious expression. Madam Pomfrey eyed him dubiously before grabbing his injured, orange paste-clad arm in her talons. "OUCH!"
"Yes, certainly feels much better, doesn't it?" She asked severely, releasing his arm.
"I got the egg, at least." He tried to grin at me while Madam Pomfrey fooled around with his arm. He winced and gritted his teeth, but leaned over to pick up the egg and hand it to me.
"You grabbed the wrong one at first, though." I murmured and smiled weakly, reaching out to take it from him. The golden egg was still pleasantly warm from sitting in the dragons clutch and I ran my fingers across it, rubbing away the soot.
"Was it noticeable?" He groaned.
"Nah. Bludger, eh?" I looked up at him and laughed a little. "How'd you figure-?"
"Oh, that. Well, I used female psychology." Cedric muttered sheepishly, grinning up at me through his bangs. With Fred and George, the excess hair was annoying. With Cedric, it was somehow…charming.
"Go on." I urged, not sure if I liked where this conversation was going.
"I remembered that every time you got mad at Fred and George, just when you were mad enough to rip their heads off, they'd distract you with something more upsetting. You'd get so stressed you forgot why you were mad at them in the first place. Also, you hate dogs. I figured the same might work for a female dragon…Don't take that the wrong way!" He muttered hurriedly as I glowered at him.
"Cedric Diggory, are you likening me to a female dragon?" I growled, raising an eyebrow. He winced and flinched away from me. I let him ponder his chances of survival for a minute before letting him off the hook. "That is either the most insulting, foulest thing you have ever said…or the sweetest and most adorable." I flung my arms around his neck and he let out a small gasp of pain but hugged me back.
"Let's make it the sweetest and most adorable." He sniggered, giving my shoulders a little extra squeeze. I laughed and loosened my grip slowly.
"Diggory, they want you out to get your scores. You can help him up if you want, Findabhair." Madam Pomfrey held open the curtain for us and I let Cedric lean on my shoulder as we walked out into the sunlight together.