Hogwarts was in an up roar. There was only 2 days left to the Yule Ball and already partners had broken apart and inter house unity was beginning to become a regular thing to see. So far, Eddie was sure he had never seen this many mixed pairings in years. Ravenclaws going out with Hufflepuffs, Hufflepuffs chatting up Gryffindors and all the while the Slytherins sat in the background dating each other. He wondered if the lot of them were in breed.
He sat at the Hufflepuff table trying to concentrate on getting some food into his stomach but by the way his stomach was twisting its self into knots he was pretty sure that he could not get any food into his stomach. Only a few metres away was one of the most admired bossy girls in Hogwarts. Hermione Granger. What he wouldn't give to go to the Yule Ball with her, to have just one dance with her. He knew that he was one of the last boys left who hadn't asked her and apparently she had turned down all the others bar two and both of them were Triwizard champions. Maybe she liked fame. She was friends with Harry Potter after all, maybe it was being surrounded by fame was what made her so clear, yet… there was something about her that made him think that she wasn't friends with Potter because of his fame or hadn't turned down Diggory and Krum because they were Champions. She wasn't like Lavender Brown or Pansy Parkinson who would date for money, Hermione would have to genuinely like someone before considering to go out with them, even to a rather informal thing such as the Yule Ball.
"You feeling alright?" Forced out of his dazed state Eddie turned to Cedric, nodding madly as though he head was being moved by someone else. The older boy just raised an eyebrow, blatantly not believing that he was all right; but everyone thought that he was a little odd, hence why he was in Hufflepuff.
"Okay then," and Cedric turned back to his breakfast leaving the 'strange boy' to continue staring into space, or more accurately, at the young, petite Gryffindor eating her breakfast of a bacon bun. He could almost taste her eating it.
"It's no big deal Cedric, you do have Cho Chang to go with after all. She seemed rather up for it earlier in the week, and so were you." Cedric chuckled, well it sounded like a chuckle to anyone simply listening but inside Cedric wanted to hit them. He didn't want to go with Cho. She was nice enough, but Hermione was something else entirely, a being unto herself who was so unique she would be a Veela in disguise.
Eddie glanced over his shoulder to where she sat. One of the Weasleys was leaning over he shoulder whispering something in her ear that only she seemed to be able to hear. He wasn't sure which one of the Weasleys it was, one of the older ones by the looks of it, one of the twins, but which twin he wasn't sure.
Cedric and Ernie had gone back to eating their breakfasts, but the silence didn't make him feel any better. All he could think about was Cedric walking into the Great Hall in a few days with Hermione on his arm. Nope, he was going to have a fair shot at the girl and he didn't care who saw him. Well, he did care but at this moment time he didn't really, because he was a Hufflepuff and Hufflepuffs had balls.
Eddie lay on his bed in the Sett, staring up at the ceiling. He was the laughing stock of Hogwarts, just like Rodger Davies had been and Ron Weasley; only Ron was more of a laughing stock than he was. The ginger git tried to ask the Beauxbaton champion Fleur Delacour. He had not been than stupid. He'd just had his honour destroyed by Hermione Granger. She had refused to go with him to the Ball and said that if he tried to ask her again she would make him an example of what happened to boys who didn't understand the word no.
"Yes," he muttered to him self, "She's going to be perfect for Diggory." He'd get over her and he had heard Hannah abbot was looking for a date. A Hufflepuff would be alright for him; after all, they were the loveable house.