Chapter 7: Hufflepuff Parties

On the night before the task, Cedric invited me to a party Hufflepuff was throwing in celebration of the Third Task. He said there would be booze and fun, so who was I to say no? George, on the other hand, didn't seem quite as thrilled.

"That'll be weird," George groaned. "I'd rather not."

I pouted. My stomach did an odd swoop; I was disappointed he had said no. "Come on, support your champion. There will be booze and games and—"

"Harry is my champion," George said coolly.

Fred interjected, "George is the jealous type. Can't you tell?"

The feeling in my stomach grew stronger. I rolled my eyes. "Clearly. Well, I'm going anyway. Do you want to come Fred?"

Fred considered it. "Maybe I'll make an appearance. Are Kelly and Kim going?"

"Kim lives in Hufflepuff, so of course. Kelly said she might be hanging out with some guy she met."

Fred's features tightened. After a moment, he relented, "Alright. I'll have to see."

George's face was reddening at his twin's acceptance. I touched George's hand, which he instinctively wove around my shoulder.

"I don't want you to be mad at me," I told him. I wanted him to come have fun with me, but I knew it was a losing battle.

George kissed my cheek. "I'm not. Fred's right—I'm being stupid. Go and have fun."

My heart leapt a little. I pressed my lips against his; I could feel him smiling beneath our kiss.

Something wasn't sitting quite right in my heart. I was a little annoyed at George for being so weird about Cedric. On the other hand, his feelings weren't completely unfounded. My mind kept revisiting the conversation Cedric and I had had those few nights ago, and it made me wonder if he was lying. Did Cedric Diggory still love me? Did I still love him?

I had resigned myself to the fact that yes, a part of me would always be in love with my ex-boyfriend. This recognition made it a little easier to accept the way my heart raced whenever someone talked about Cedric, the way my lips spread in a smile any time I thought about him, and the way my face reddened every time I caught him looking at me. It couldn't have been more than the fact that Cedric was my very good friend—the boy who took my virginity, my first love.

The party was in full swing when I arrived. Kim quickly flanked me and handed me a fire whiskey. It had been forever since I had hung out in Hufflepuff common room, and the thought made my heart feel a little sore. I drank whiskey to make the pain go away.

Luckily, Kim was in Cedric's inner circle. We found Cedric and a few of his friends sitting in an oval on the ground playing drinking games. Cedric stood, a little wobblier than normal, and gave me a tight embrace when he saw me. Cho, who had been sitting next to her boyfriend, averted her eyes. She bit her lip and played with the frayed edges of her shirt.

"Back from the dead!" Owen Cauldwell, Cedric's best friend, ran over to me. He hugged me tightly and said, his breath full of rum, "Missed you, girl."

"We have almost every class together," I laughed.

"It's not the same," he muttered. Owen glanced over at Cho, who was speaking to Cedric in a serious tone.

I made a noise of understanding. Kim and I sat next to Owen, who then filled us in on the rules of the game: Kings.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know how to play," Kim cut off Owen just as he began to explain the rules. "We've only been drinking together since when, fourth year?"

Owen said bitingly, a playful smile on his lips, "Sorry. Was explaining for the newcomer."

"I'm not that drunk yet, Owen," I joked.

Owen shook his head. "No, her." He pointed at Cho. Cho met my eyes, and she smiled weakly.

Kings was a classic drinking game at Hogwarts. You played with a deck of cards, and each card had a rule. The most dreaded game was Ten, wherein we had to automatically play a game a Never Have I Ever. It was a fast and fun way to get drunk, and somehow I always lost.

Whiskey made the party way more fun; it was nice to be welcomed back into my old Hufflepuff family without any awkwardness or hard feelings. If anything, Cho seemed to be getting all of the bad vibes. Even though Cho and Cedric had been together for almost six months, Cedric's friends all but ignored her. I was drinking too much too quickly to feel bad for her though. By the time we ran through the deck of cards, I was already past tipsy. Part of me was glad that George had chosen to stay home; me being a massive light weight was embarrassing. Plus, George would have resented all of the male attention I was suddenly getting. George got weirdly jealous about other guys, even though he knew he could trust me. I swallowed the thought with another gulp of whiskey, but the bitterness burned my throat.

"Never have I ever!" Cedric cried; he had drawn the Ten card. Automatically, three fingers flew into the air. "Never have I ever… Blacked out drunk."

One finger down for me, Kim, Owen, and another boy named Blake.

"Never have I ever…" Blake scrunched up his face. "Kissed a guy."

Another finger down for me and Kim. Cho put her first finger down.

"Never have I ever…" Owen's eyes glittered evilly. "Fucked a Quidditch captain."

"Oh, fuck you!" I hollered a little too loudly. Whiskey made me feel like I had cotton in my ears, and it was hard to control my volume. Owen prompted me to drink, so I did, all while flipping him the bird.

The group burst into laughter; Cedric especially, since he knew he was the reason I had lost the round. But Cho didn't find the prompt very amusing. She leaned over to her boyfriend and whispered something in his ear. Cedric nodded, and then stood slowly, holding her waist.

"Cho's gonna go," Cedric announced.

"Already?" I moaned. My vision blurred when I tried to make eye contact with Cho, so I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Yup," Cedric answered for her. Cho smiled uncomfortably.

We all choired goodbye as Cedric and Cho disappeared into the crowd, but Cho didn't even look back in acknowledgment.

"She's so uptight," Owen complained as soon as they were out of earshot. He took a sip of booze and continued, "She's not nearly as fun as you are, Michie. Not sure how on earth Ced went from you to her. You're like… one hundred million. She's a four."

I blushed at his drunk compliment. "You think?"

Kim cut off Owen. She slurred, draping her arm around my neck, "Hey, that's my lady you're talking about!"

"You're drunk," Owen accused.

"Yes!" Kim agreed, and took another sip.

Cedric stumbled his way back over to the circle. After he sat back down, he asked, "Shall we keep playing?"

"Is Cho okay?" I asked, not really thinking about what I was saying. My brain felt funny, like it was floating. And I had absolutely no filter.

"No, she'll be alright," Cedric waved off my concern with a flick of his hand. "She doesn't like you is all."

The rest of the group "ooh-ed." I narrowed my eyes.

"She's a cunt!" I said, unnecessarily angry.

Cedric bobbed his head. I felt a strong sense of satisfaction from his agreement, and took another drink.

We played another round of Kings before some other partiers invited us to play Flip Cup. Owen, Kim, and Cedric's other friends rushed off to join the festivities. Only Cedric and I remained in the broken circle, opposite from each other.

Cedric really was very attractive. His chestnut colored hair fell into his eyes; he had his knees drawn to his chest, like he was thinking too hard. But if he felt as drunk as I was, I knew he couldn't be thinking about much.

"Are you gonna go play?" I asked. I slowly climbed to my feet, and offered my ex-boyfriend a hand.

"I want to show you something upstairs," Cedric told me. "Will you come with me?"

I looked over my shoulder to the crowd of drunk Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws playing Flip Cup. Kim was currently working her way down a row of drinks. I wondered what Cedric wanted to show me.

"Yes," I smiled.

Cedric grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. His bedroom was shockingly quiet compared to the noise of the party downstairs. I put my cup on Cedric's nightstand, and turned to face my ex, my friend.

Cedric approached me slowly. He put his cup next to mine, and put his hands on my waist.

I started to laugh. "I forgot why we came up here."

But Cedric didn't laugh. His face got really close to mine. He said, "I love you." And then he kissed me.

His lips were warm and he tasted like fire whiskey. Cedric was a strong kisser. He wrapped his arms around me tighter, and together we fell onto his bed.

A/N: Review and let me know what you think.