A/n: I don't own any Harry Potter copyrights.
Standing to the side in the dark Entrance Hall, I watched as Cedric strode towards the crackling goblet. He stopped to toe the edge of Dumbledore's golden age line. There was a deep breath and I could see his hand tighten.
The slip of parchment he held, the same one he'd shown me in the kitchens, crackled under the pressure.
For a different, entirely more terrifying reason than the confident Hufflepuff before me, I took a breath as well.
This was the moment of truth . . . for him . . . for me . . . and for the story I had sworn to never change.
Cedric stepped over the line, looked back to make sure I was watching, and shot me a nervous grin when he saw I was. He took the steps necessary and raised his hand to hover briefly over the goblet's rim.
"This is it." His words were whispered and I found myself unsure if it was the effect that made the moment hauntingly eerie, or if the eerie effect of the moment was what caused him to whisper at all.
The parchment fell, and the written 'Cedric Diggory – Hogwarts' disappeared. The blue flames sparked red and I found that I couldn't look away.
Horror.
Guilt.
Fear.
I felt like I had watched someone hang their own noose.
"Well, I guess that's that then." Cedric reappeared at my side and only then did I realize that I was still staring at the Goblet of Fire. He shot me a worried look. "You alright, Julia? You look a bit pale."
Pale? Yeah, that sounded about right . . .
"I'm fine." I tried to smile, to look encouraging, but my current mood made it fall flat. I'd feel better later, when I could push the guilt of this moment aside again.
It was hard, sticking to a resolve I'd made nearly two decades ago. Sometimes . . . especially with the more recent development that was Cedric . . . I found myself slipping.
And yet . . .
Screaming masses, flashes of green, people with familiar faces lying too still, skulls and snakes in the sky, little girl eyes taking it all in, a much older mind balking at the horror of it all.
And yet I knew what lay on the wrong side of this war.
What cou- would happen again if I slipped . . . if I made so much as one mistake. Dark times were right around the corner after all. I knew who's attention I'd have to avoid.
Cedric eyed me and I knew he wasn't fooled. However whatever comment he could've made went unsaid. Perhaps he could tell I didn't want to talk about it, or maybe he could just hear the footsteps. Whatever the reason, he said nothing and we were suddenly no longer alone.
Anthony Goldstein, a Ravenclaw prefect in my year, came to a running halt not far from where we stood. He looked somewhat harassed.
"Cedric! Thank Merlin, I've been looking for another prefect everywhere!"
And just like that, the serious silence broke. Cedric turned towards Goldstein in a way that almost made me want to giggle, despite my mood. He was in 'Prefect Mode'.
"Goldstein? What's the matter? Has there been an emergency?"
The Ravenclaw rubbed at the bags forming beneath his eyes. "No, nothing like that. A group of Durmstrang students somehow got separated and ended up wandering the dungeons. I need someone to help me herd them back to their ship."
This time I really did let out a laugh, though it was more of a snort than a giggle. It really did figure that the foreigners would get lost on the very first day.
"I'm on it." Cedric turned back to me and offered me a sheepish smile. "Sorry Julia but you're going to have to head back alone. Here-" There was a brief pause as he unclasped his Prefect's badge and pressed it into my palm. "Take this. It's almost curfew so this will help if you don't make it back in time."
"Cedric, I don't need-" I stopped when I realized that I probably did need the badge. The windows to the hall were dark and we'd been here long enough that I'd get a detention if I was caught without it. Protesting just for the sake of protesting was silly. "Right, thanks then."
"Don't mention it."
There was a wave, and then Cedric was off to the Dungeons' stairwell. Goldstein, already there and impatient, waved him forward hurriedly.
For a brief moment after they'd left, I just stood there, alone in the Entrance Hall with no particular rush to be anywhere else. And then it hit me . . .
Great, now I'm going to have to find another way back.
Because the quickest way back to the dorms was . . . the way Cedric had just gone.
Not that he wouldn't understand if I followed them for a bit, he would, I knew that. It was just that, after all that guilt and heavy, weighty emotion that had gone unsaid between us, I found that I really didn't mind the thought of getting some air away from Cedric for a while.
And it wasn't like there weren't other entrances to the dungeons.
The closest, the one that usually lead to the Potions' classrooms, wasn't too far away so I headed in that direction. Sure, I would have to trek around both Snape's office and the Slytherin Common Room and sure, it would most likely keep me out well past curfew . . .
But hey, Cedric had given me his badge. Might as well use it.
So I walked, and, since there was no one else still out, I did so in silence. And then, a few hallways short of the Slytherin's dungeon, the silence broke. In the distance I could hear something and though I could recognize that, whatever it was, it was foreign, I didn't actually hear it for what it was until I'd drawn closer to the noise.
Curses, and not the magical- or English for that matter- kind. Was that Russian?
Was this where the Durmstrang students had gotten lost? No, it couldn't be, Cedric and Goldstein wouldn't have taken the Kitchen Stairwell if it was.
The cursing was getting louder, accompanied frequently by a muffled but consistent banging. Was someone thumping their head against the wall?
An angry faced, red robed boy with food stains down his front marched around the corner, clearly frustrated. And though he had been stomping and dragging his feet, he stopped dead when he saw me standing in the hallway.
Recognizing the robes for what they were, I suddenly came to the conclusion that I had been wrong. This boy was from Durmstrang. Judging by the fact that he was currently on the other side of the school from both the Entrance Hall and his Ship, he was also very, very lost.
I stared, he stared, and a fly nearly flew into his openly gaping mouth. Finally he spoke.
"Hogvarts student! Finally! I vandered maze school for hours!"
Suddenly there were two large, heavy hands pressing down on my shoulders as the Durmstrang boy drew much too far into my personal bubble. Too close, he's much too close.
"Please, Hogvarts student! Please help me! I am afraid I am very lost."
He leaned forward and, briefly, I felt horribly trapped. He was bigger than me, in both height and muscle, it was only natural.
Then I saw his face, saw the overwhelming relief, and realized that what he was doing was only natural too. If it was me, the poor stranger would have been glomped the moment the 'Oh Merlin I'm Saved!' feeling kicked in.
"Hogvarts student?"
"Oh, right." Shaking my head, I forced myself to focus on the distressed Durmstrang student in front of me. He was actually kind of cute, what with the shaggy brown-black hair and shallow grey eyes. "You need someone to show you the way back?"
He nodded eagerly, actually letting go of me so that he could shake my hand dead with sheer excitement. Coupled with his bulk and over-exuberant personality, he was vaguely reminiscent of an overly friendly bear.
"Oh yes, yes very much so! Thank you! Thank you Hogvarts studen-"
"Julia." I interrupted with just a bit of my slight irritation shining through. Being called 'Hogwarts Student' was beginning to get old.
"Vhat?"
"My name isn't 'Hogwarts Student'." I clarified. "It's Julia, Julia Whitman. If I'm going to show you around, at least call me by my name."
"Of course Hogvarts- no, Jule-ya." He said my name almost like he was testing it. With his thick accent, it came out a bit warped. "I mean no offence. How rude of me to not offer my name upon our meeting. I am Mikhail Poliakoff."
The boy-bear before me bowed low, and I found myself pondering if this was common courtesy where he was from. When he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips I decided that, if his manners were common, they were decidedly on the Pureblood's side of etiquette. I'd never seen a muggle, polite or otherwise, do something so old-fashioned.
That didn't mean I didn't blush to my toes though.
"Okay! That's enough of that!" I all but squeaked as my hand was unceremoniously wrenched from his grip. Quickly, before he could get offended, I coughed and forced my voice back to a more normal pitch. "Uh . . . I mean, why spend time on niceties? We need to get you back to your ship, right?"
"Oh yes, yes you are quite right Jule-ya." His confusion melted away, though at the same time he didn't look happy at the reminder. That was . . . odd. He'd practically jumped for joy when I'd offered to help him before.
"Right . . ." I shook my head and decided that whatever the reason behind his odd behavior was, it wasn't really any of my business. "Follow me then."
After that I think I slipped into a mode much like Cedric's 'Prefect Mode' from earlier. Only this was something that'd probably be better classified as 'Guide Mode'. It wasn't intentional, not exactly. It was just that, as we walked, I found myself compelled to point out whatever I could remember about our surroundings.
Of course, the effect fell a bit flat when the best I could really do was 'Oh and that's another empty classroom . . . we don't really do much in there.'
Thankfully, Mikhail didn't seem to suffer from the same brand of social awkwardness that I did. He loved to talk, but not in a way that was self-absorbed, arrogant or even particularly annoying. The way he talked reminded me of a little kid giving a stranger a hug.
Like he simply had something to say and didn't understand why you shouldn't have it too.
Eventually, after a few more awkward attempts on my end, I just gave up and let him have the reins of the conversation. He didn't seem to mind doing all the talking, in fact it was more like he reveled in it. To fill in the spaces left by me, he began broadening his stories, adding more detail and adventure.
And what he spoke of, his country, his school, his family, were nowhere near as boring as I'd feared they be. Even the mundane stuff, such as his sister pushing him into a lake when he was three, was somehow made exciting by him.
I was so engrossed actually, that I barely noticed where we had ended until I looked up. The towering doors of the Entrance Hall were right there.
A trip that was nearly ten minutes of walking, made into a blink of an eye through sheer power of voice. This guy . . . I thought as I shot the grinning boy a somewhat dazed look. Should become a storyteller.
"So . . . this is the way out. Just go down the grounds a little ways and you should see your ship." I said after the silence had stretched a little too long. For the second time tonight I noticed the nearly perpetual grin of the other boy falter a bit and, also for the second time, I found myself extremely curious as to why.
Only this time the curiosity wasn't held back.
"Is something wrong?"
"Vhat?" Mikhail blinked at me. "Nothing is vrong."
"Oh." Why did I feel slightly disappointed? Had I really expected a complete stranger to tell me, of all people, his secrets? "You just looked worried, is all. I thought you'd be more excited."
Surprisingly, Mikhail laughed. The sound, much like his stories, came out in a richly deep baritone. "Voodn't you be vorried Jule-ya? You forget that I am in trouble. Did you not vonder vhy I vas in dungeons?"
Of course I'd wondered, briefly, before I'd dismissed it as just the foreign students getting lost. But hadn't their Headmaster already lead them all back to their ship hours ago? Why was Mikhail in the dungeons at all? And, for that matter, where were the others that Goldstein had hinted at?
Suddenly I understood exactly why Mikhail seemed so put off at the thought of returning. I would be too if I was about to be caught doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. And he would be caught, there was no denying that. He'd be sneaking back at too late an hour for it not to raise an eyebrow or two.
My eyebrow was certainly raised and I had a distinct feeling I was adapting the 'incredulous pose' that I'd long associated with Cedric. "So that's why. Out of curiosity's sake, what did you do?"
He laughed again and this time I could detect the traces of mischief present in his eyes. "I vondered vhen you vood ask. Ve vere looking for your Kitchens."
"The Kitchens?" Eyeing the foodstains on Mikhail's robes, I wondered if it was physically possible for him to still be hungry after that feast. I sure wasn't, and I didn't look like I'd inhaled half the main course. "You wanted more food?"
"No, no more food. Ve had plenty. Vhat ve vanted vas vine. Mulled vine."
Mulled . . . vines? Maybe I misheard him, which was always a possibility with that accent. I couldn't have heard him right, mulled vines sounded anything but appetizing.
That aside, there was something else about his words that bothered me . . . "Who's 'we'?" Goldstein had said there was a group. "Who else was with you? Are they still down there?"
Because even though I had long since hardened my conscience, leaving foreign students to be lost all night didn't quite sit right.
"'Ve' vas myself and friends. I do not think they are lost. It vas I vho vas lost. They are in ship by now."
Translation: He wandered off and they gave up looking. By the tone of his voice, that wasn't an uncommon occurrence either. Just how much did this guy get lost?
I looked at my watch and realized with a low whistle that it was actually past midnight, well past the Hufflepuff curfew. If I was caught now, badge or no, there might be some serious consequences. Ending this . . . whatever it was moment with Mikhail however . . .
Well . . . I wasn't sure quite how to do that.
Thankfully the Durmstrang boy seemed to read my mind. Without so much as a 'if I may' I was suddenly wrapped up in a sheer Russian bear hug, complete with feet being lifted from the ground and everything. I might have made a strangled 'eep'-like sound but, to be honest, I can't quite say for sure if I did.
After all, the fact that my personal bubble was being horribly violated was a bit more pressing at the moment.
He released me just as suddenly as he'd hugged me, and it was only then that I realized that the hug itself really hadn't been all that long. Barely long enough for me to process what had happened, actually.
"Thank you for your velp, Jule-ya." Mikhail had his hand on the door. Had I really not noticed him moving? Then again, that hug of his had made it somewhat hard to think.
"You are one of Badgers, am I right?"
Badgers? Oh he means Hufflepuffs, I didn't know he knew the houses. I nodded dumbly and a large grin split his face in two. Mikhail didn't seem to mind that he'd rendered me speechless, in fact, I think he enjoyed it.
"Good, good I vill sit with you."
The door closed behind him and I, left standing in the Entrance Hall alone for the second time that night, still took a fair bit longer than I should've to process that he'd left at all.
Finally I shook my head to clear it and turned to head back to the dorms. It wasn't until I was back in my own bed that I found myself thinking clearly again. Even then, there was only one thing that really stayed in my head for long.
Durmstrang boys- if they were all the constantly chattering, directionally challenged, and personal space invading types- were very odd indeed.
oOoOoOoOo
The next day, a Saturday, didn't really see me in the daylight until well past noon. I'd had a very late night, one that resulted with me practically dropping dead when I'd finally crawled beneath my covers. It was only reasonable that I'd sleep in, just as it was reasonable for both Cedric and Kara to take one look at me and allow me to do so.
That didn't mean that, after waking up well after both breakfast and lunch, I was in a particularly good mood about it.
But I have good, reliable friends who know only too well how I can be when I don't get my breakfast. So good, actually, that Kara somehow smuggled Cedric into the Girls dorms with her so that they could deliver my breakfast together.
Which, of course, led to the two of them bursting into the room. Kara practically dragged Cedric behind her. Of course, as logic dictates, they happened to catch me right as I was returning from the shower. As logic also dictates, the door opened the moment I began to take off my towel. . .
Kara was the first one through, but I doubt she really registered what the problem was. We were roommates, after all. Kara, myself, and even timid little Eloise had all gotten accidental glimpses every now and again. Not that it mattered really, we were all girls. It wasn't like we hadn't seen it before.
Cedric . . . was not a girl.
He was also slowly turning very, very red.
When I hurriedly fixed my towel, the first to react, it was like some sort of intangible 'deer in the headlights' moment had shattered. In short, that was when all hell broke loose.
There was screaming, a lot of screaming, and mostly on my part. I wasn't thinking, not really, I was just acting on instinct. Something told me to get the male as far away from me as possible, so I did. Shoes, and anything I could get my hands on for that matter, were beamed Cedric's direction in a near constant hailstorm.
One, a silver 6-inch heel that was definitely Kara's, nearly reamed Ceric in the head.
Fortunately for him, Cedric fled the room faster than I could run in a towel.
I calmed down once he left, enough to stop throwing things and get dressed anyhow. Kara uncurled from where she had nearly bust a gut laughing about then, so rather than throw something at her for laughing, I sent her after Cedric.
I did it in the spirit of apology, because even I would never be dense enough to believe that had somehow been planned. Cedric was a perpetually nice guy, I'd have gone after him myself if I didn't think he'd bolt the moment he saw me coming.
There was a knock on the door and Kara entered, this time all but throwing a reluctant Cedric in first so she could slam and lock the door behind them.
With the audible 'click', Cedric got a lot paler.
Nice job Kara, you just made this into a horror movie.
"It's alright Cedric," Like he had somehow morphed into a wary animal, I held my palms up in the universal 'I mean no harm' gesture. "I'm not mad anymore."
"Oh," Cedric blinked. He glanced at me and, for a brief second I thought he would say something more. Then his eyes widened and suddenly he was looking anywhere but at me. No longer pale, he was now fast becoming redder than before.
I flushed too. It didn't take a genius to guess what he was remembering.
Silence, gloriously awkward, mortifying, embarrassing silence. And then . . .
"I'msosorryIsawthatIdidn'tmeantoo. . ."
"Ididn'tmeantothrowshoesatyouIwasjustsooo . . ."
We stopped at the same time and, also at the same time, realized that what we'd spoken was in sinc.
I took a large, calming breath. When I was once again capable of speaking sentences that had separate words and pauses, I tried again. "You first."
Well . . . at least it was intelligible. The apology itself should probably be the next step.
Cedric scratched his nose and somehow made the gesture look incredibly sheepish. "I'm sorry." He said at last. "For looking, I mean. I didn't mean to, I swear! They were just there and- no, wait I didn't mean that! I meant that I'm sorry, so very, very, very sorry!" He trailed off again.
Was it even humanly possible to blush that much?
Still, I laughed a little, despite the awkward conversation. He really was just too funny when he got all riled up like this. "When I said it's alright Cedric, I meant it. It's alright. It was an accident, there was no way you could've known and, if anything it's Kara's fault for not knocking in the first place."
"Hey, I resent that!"
"Anyway, you have nothing to apologize for. I should be the one apologizing. I nearly skewered you with a heel. Imagine what would've happened if I'd actually hit you! Those things can do some serious damage!"
This time it was Cedric who had a laugh to spare. The color was actually fading now, something that had to be a good sign. He even smiled, if only just a little. "You have really bad aim."
"As far as you know. Lucky for you I wasn't really trying to hit you. Drive you out of the room, yes. Maim you brutally, not really." The laughter between us had evolved into a sort of giggle/snort fest that, for the life of me, I just couldn't stop. Cedric was certainly faring no better.
Finally, after we'd both calmed down to the occasional giggle, I stuck out my hand.
"Sorry you had to see that. Friends?"
He took it. "Were we ever not?"
"No, I guess not."
He grinned at me, I grinned at him, and Kara gathered both of us into a sort of impromptu group hug.
"Great!" Kara was studiously ignoring our struggles. Struggles that, may I add, weren't really getting us far. I'd never noticed before, but Kara was stronger than she looked. "Now let's skip all the awkward boring talk and get to the best part!"
With a very wicked grin, Kara was pushing off from our weird huddle in one quick, fluid like movement. The sheer force from her push sent both Cedric and I staggering. She said something, but it was only as I realized that Cedric was falling towards me that I processed what it was.
"Time for the make-up Kiss!"
God-Dammit Kara!
Seconds before he got too close, before his face got too close, I ducked.
I still got hit by the full force that was Cedric, mind you, it was just more of the me head-butting his stomach kind. There was no lip-on-lip action anyhow. Kara looked disappointed. Cedric just groaned in pain.
Then again, I don't think he'd caught Kara's declaration. If he had, there would definitely be a whole lot more blushing than what was currently going on.
"Hmph," Kara really did look upset with me. "Never mind then. I'm going to go see who put their name in the Goblet of Fire. I'll see you at dinner."
She spun on her heel, faltered a bit when she had to unlock the door, and strode out with a flourish.
Cedric, halfway through the process of hauling himself off the floor, gave her a weird look as she left. Pulling me up with him, he brushed me almost subconsciously.
"What's her problem?"
Her problem, I thought but most definitely didn't say. Is that she constantly sees romance where none exists.
"I'm not really sure. You know Kara."
The knowing sort of noise and nod Cedric gave me spoke wonders. He really did know, though in reality we'd only really became friends a week ago.
Just when, I wonder, had he became such a firm part of our group?
