Chapter 4

"Hey Rose, everything okay?" Cedric asked as she jumped out of her seat.

"Merlin's, Ced, you scared me! Don't do that again!" She said smacking him in the arm.

Cedric chuckled at his best friend as she regained her composure. "You okay?" He asked as he stared at the trees in the courtyard.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She lied.

She silently prayed that he wouldn't notice but Cedric didn't believe her one bit. He had known her for way too long to know when she was lying. "You're lying." He said as he turned to look at her.

"No I'm not." She lied again.

"You did it again." He said.

"Ced, I don't want to talk about it right now." She truthfully stated.

"Oh so it's okay for you to talk about it with Harry? Who by the way is a Gryffindor and two years younger than you." He said as she looked at him.

"Ced, please don't do this right now." She said as he huffed.

"No Rose, I don't understand why it's okay for you to talk to Harry and not to me? I've been your best friend since we were in diapers." He said becoming irritated with her.

"Look Ced, I trust Harry right now because he understands what I'm going through. What is your problem? Are you jealous that for once I turned to someone else who isn't you?" She whispered looking at him with sad eyes.

"Jealous? Me? Jealous of Harry? No, I think you're the one that's jealous." Cedric said.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" Rosella asked becoming somewhat angry with him.

"Because I don't pay as much attention to you as I do to the other girls around here who by the way, Rose, care a lot about me." He said.

Rosella felt as if someone was tugging at her heart. 'No! There was no way this was happening to her! Not now! He was her best friend but couldn't he just understand that she wasn't ready to tell him what was going on with her life? She just wanted him to get through the first weeks of school without having to worry about her. He didn't need to constantly have to worry about her.' She thought to herself.

"Okay, I'll admit that. So what I do get jealous of the girls that always have your attention, Cedric, but the only reason that I'm jealous is because I'm your best friend. I shouldn't have to compete with them for your attention. The least you could is at least be there with me physically and emotionally. But all the times that you and I have talked, there's always been a girl in the way. I'm sorry that I trust Harry with my problems right now. I think it's quite obvious why I even trust him more than I trust you right now. But thanks a lot, Cedric. You really do know how to make a girl feel especially when she's going through something tough." Rosella whispered standing up.

Cedric looked at her with such disdain right now. He didn't know where the anger was coming from or why he was even jealous. He was just angry that she had gone crying to Harry instead of him. He wanted to be the one to console her and to tell her that everything was going to be all right. Despite how he really felt, he found enough courage to tell her, "I'm entering myself in the Triwizard Tournament."

Rosella froze in her spot as she processed what he just said. Was he being serious right now? Did he realize how dangerous this could be? Did he realize that there was a possibility that she may never see him again if he did this? 'No Rosella, this is what he wants! He wants you to feel sorry for him. Stay strong, Rose.' She told herself. Looking back at him, she responded, "Good for you! Just don't expect me to be cheering for you!"

Cedric took in the words that Rosella said as he watched her walk away. He felt so stupid. He hadn't meant to overreact but in the end, he was the one that was stupid for starting the fight. He hadn't meant to hurt her by saying that. His anger had simply taken over from being jealous. He would give her space for now so that they could both cool down.

Rosella made her way to her first class of the day, Ancient Runes. She stepped into the classroom and took a seat in her usual seat. She shook her head when noticed that Cedric was in her class as well. It was definitely bound to happen sometime. It might as well have been that this year was the year where they shared the same classes. She let out a sigh of relief when Adisa came into the classroom and sat down next to her. Their lesson in class was the same as usual which was to break down what spells and words meant. Class always flew by quickly for Rosella and before she knew it, class was over. Standing up and packing up her belongings, she felt Cedric's eyes on her as she avoided meeting his eyes. She ignored him and rushed out of the room to head to her next class.

Adisa and her made their way towards the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. Walking into the classroom, they picked seats that were in the middle. They were definitely nervous because they didn't know what to expect in class with Professor Snape. Rosella had always made sure to stay on his good side no matter what the situation was. Adisa pulled out her notebook while Rosella began to scribble the date on her notebook. Neither of the two girls realized Cedric coming into the classroom and taking a seat next to Rosella. Rosella looked over and noticed Cedric. 'Great. Just great. Now he wants to sit next to me in class?' She thought to herself.

Cedric looked over at her and watched as she avoided meeting his gaze. His choosing where to sit in class wasn't unintentional. He had meant to sit there even though he was in class with some of his other friends from the Hufflepuff house. He had just wanted to try and talk to her. Possibly apologize for the way he was acting earlier in the morning. Before he could say anything though, Professor Snape had begun his lecture. All three had been busy taking notes and focused on the lecture that they didn't even realize how fast time was working. Before they realized it, Professor Snape was already excusing them out of class.

Rosella and Adisa left the classroom to wait for their next class. With the break that they had, they were both pretty thankful. It somewhat allowed them to catch their breath before they headed into their next class. They chose to wait for their next class in the courtyard where Rosella sat on the grass and pulled her Confronting the Faceless textbook and began to read the chapter that Professor Snape had gone over.

Later that day…

For Rosella, the rest of the day moved swiftly that by the end of her last class, she felt exhausted. During lunch, she was too angry and hurt by what Cedric had said to her that she couldn't even eat at all. Her mind still wasn't with her and she knew that she wouldn't be able to survive anything at the moment. All she wanted to do right now was go to the library and hide from everyone. As she walked out of Potions with Hailey and Noel, they saw Cedric talking to a girl with long black hair. From the back it almost looked like her but it was definitely not her nor did she have a sister.

"Hey, who's the girl with Cedric?" Noel asked reading Rosella's mind.

"That's Cho Chang. She's a fifth-year from the Ravenclaw house." They heard someone say as the three girls turned around to see Adisa standing there.

"She's really pretty." Rosella said admiring the girl.

"Oh please, the girl's pretty clingy if you let me tell you." Adisa said.

"What do you mean?" Hailey asked.

Rosella drowned out the voices of her three friends. Her mind wandered back to what Cedric had told her in the courtyard: 'I'm entering myself in the Triwizard Tournament'. Rosella couldn't believe what he was saying. She was already afraid to tell him that she was scared to death that she was going to lose her father and now for him to choose to tell her this at this very moment. Now she had to worry about losing him too. In which, she couldn't lose him. Because he meant the whole world to her. Rosella knew she wasn't going to get better at all. All she could do right now was pray that if he did put his name in that his name wouldn't come out. She was pulled back to reality when Hailey tugged on her robe. What happened?" She asked.

"We're heading up to the common room to put our stuff away. Then we're going to hang out for a while there. You okay with that?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah that's fine." She said as they made their way to their common room.

While walking towards their common room, Rosella caught Cedric looking at her but she quickly looked away. She didn't want him to think she was jealous.

A few weeks later…

Days had passed quietly. Rosella and Cedric had left things alone. Letting things cool down between them. Before either of them knew it, they would cross paths again to celebrate something special. Cedric's Birthday. Well that was with the exception of if they were to fix things before then. But Rosella knew that no matter what happened between them, his birthday was still an important day for her. After all he was her best friend. There was no way that she could forget that. She had to forget about being mad at him for today and be able to talk to him. Grabbing her belongings and Cedric's gifts, she decided to head to the Great Hall. Hailey and Noel were already gone from their room so she figured they were there.

Walking through the common room, she found all of the first year students scrambling to get out the door. She couldn't help but remember her first year. She had been such a nervous mess and Cedric had been there to ease her nerves. She was so thankful to have him then. He had offered to walk her to her classes to make sure that she was okay. She politely accepted his offer because she was scared to death of what to expect. Shaking her head, she smiled at the first years and said a quick good morning before heading off to the Great Hall.

On her way there, she greeted a few people who said good morning to her. Stepping into the Great Hall, she found Hailey and Noel sitting with the guys. Walking over to them, she took her seat next to Hailey and across from Joel. "Good morning, Ella." Hailey said as Noel nodded.

"Good morning." She said before she began to eat her food.

"What do you have planned today besides classes?" Joel asked her as she looked at him.

"Nothing that I really know of. Study and do homework as usual. What about you?" She asked.

"Yeah probably study too. You feel like studying in the library with Mark and me?" He asked.

"No Cedric? That's a little surprising. You three are inseparable." She said, "But sure. Studying after dinner? Or after your classes are done?"

"Well he mentioned something about preparing for putting his name in the Goblet of Fire." Joel said as Rosella nodded her head, "But most likely after our classes are done. We've got a lot of assignments to finish." He said.

"Okay, I'll head to the library when I'm done with classes." She said.

"Great!" Joel said looking back to the rest of the group.

Rosella pushed her food away from her when she finished eating. She looked at Hailey and Noel, who were both deeply engrossed in their conversation with Cedric and Mark. Rosella wanted to sit outside before class started so she looked at the group and excused herself before walking away from the table. When she made her way outside, she walked over to the courtyard to sit on a bench. Sitting down she pulled out Cedric's birthday gift. She hoped that he would like it. It was just a simple gift. Just a photo of them from when they were two years old. Cedric had his arm wrapped around her while she kissed his cheek. It had always been her favorite picture of them.

"Rose?" She heard someone say as she shook her head.

Rosella looked up at Cedric and quickly covered the photo. He gave her a questioning look about the seat next to her. She moved over from her spot to allow him to sit down.

"Thought I might find you here." He said.

"Happy birthday, Cedric." She whispered as he looked at her.

"You remembered." He said as she gave him a questioning look.

"How could I forget?" She asked.

"Well I assumed that since we were fighting you wouldn't remember. Also I assumed that when you came into the Great Hall this morning that you had forgotten what day it was." He said.

"I could never forget your birthday. No matter how angry I am with you." She said as she handed him the gifts that she had gotten him, "I got you some things but it's nothing special."

Cedric held the picture frame in his hand and smiled. He traced his fingers over the image. He remembered this picture oh so well. He picked up the smaller box and opened it before smiling again. It was a little replica golden snitch. He looked up at her.

"The picture is because it's my favorite of us and the golden snitch because of your love for Quidditch." She whispered as he wrapped his arm around her.

"It's perfect, Rose. I appreciate you thinking of me." He said as he kissed her cheek.

"Your welcome." She said.

"Do you remember when our parents used to tell us how when we were babies that we were inseparable?" He asked as she looked at him.

"How when one of us had to go home we would cry because we didn't want to be separated from each other or want to leave. My mother used to tell me all the time that when your family would leave from visiting us, my dad had to take me out of the house to get me to stop wondering where you went." She said.

"My mom told me that she would bribe me with candy just to get me to stop asking where you went or why we had to leave you guys." Cedric said as Rosella laughed.

"Your mother is a beauty. She's a smart woman." Rosella said as Cedric chuckled.

"She's lucky I grew out of liking sweets so much." He said.

"I've always wondered why you never liked eating sweets now that we were older. It makes a lot of sense now." Rosella said as the bell rang.

"Shall we head to class?" He asked as he helped her up and she nodded her head, "Would it be okay to walk with you to class?"

"Sure that would be nice." She said as they walked to their first class.

After lunch, Rosella had no more classes to worry about so she decided that it was best if she went back to the common room first. She wanted to grab some books that she may have needed and to freshen up a bit. Walking towards the Hufflepuff house, she tapped the barrels and watched as the door opened. Hailey and Noel were sitting on the couch in the common room reading and studying. "Hey." She said as the two girls waved.

"You want to join us in studying?" Noel asked.

"Yeah just give me a second. Let me grab my stuff then I'll be back down." Rosella said as she went up to the girls' dorm to grab some books and drop some stuff off.

Walking back down, she sat beside Hailey, who had made room for her on the couch. Opening her notebook, she began to study her notes. Hailey and Noel were discussing an assignment from their class when the common room door opened. The three girls saw Hannah Abbott come into the room. "Hey Rosella." Hannah whispered.

"Hey Hannah, what's going on?" Rosella asked.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you." She said.

"Oh all right. Thank you. I'll talk to you two later." Rosella said as she and Hannah walked out of the common room.

She slowly made her way to Professor Dumbledore's office. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to open the door. The door opened and she stepped inside as Professor Dumbledore looked at her. "Oh hello, Miss Reyes." Professor Dumbledore said.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" She asked.

Author's Note: I do not own any characters from the Harry Potter saga! I only own those who may not appear familiar to you. Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and follows! I really appreciate it!