"Today is the big day " Ron erupted while he was swallowing down his breakfast instead of chewing food because he probably considered it was a waste of time. He then grabbed a toast and put in on Harry's plate who widened his eyes in surprise. "Eat Harry, you'll need all your strength".
Reading the Daily Prophet in silence, I rolled my eyes when I heard Ron's words. I put down my newspaper and sighed. "Calm down Ron, it's just a Quidditch match. And stop fattening Harry, he's just going to throw up everything during the game."
Ron huffed and waved a hand to me with a desperate look. "Just a Quidditch match? Are you kidding? That's the first match of the season for Gryffindor"
"Yeah, and we absolutely need to beat the Hufflepuffs" Fred and George exclaimed. The twins were wearing the Gryffindor's colours on their faces, and were carrying little flags of the House's blazon.
"It's going to be so easy" Fred added, smug. "A piece of cake" George chimed in with a smirk. They high-fived and started singing a new song in honour to Gryffindor. All the Hufflepuffs were glaring at them, and some other students were huffing.
"Hey, isn't it too early to sing the winners' song?" Scott intervened with a smirk. "I hope you also prepared one for your defeat, it'll be very helpful". He stepped closer and stood by the Gryffindor table, just next to the twins and Ronald. "No dice" Fred and George hissed in a same offended voice. "It's going to be very painful for you..." George said. Fred nodded in agreement. "Harry's going to make you bite the dust" he proudly exclaimed pointing at my friend.
I turned to see his face. Harry was shyly looking down, silently eating his toast. He gave me the impression that all he wanted at this second was to take a shove, dig a hole in the ground, and hide in it.
"Yeah, definitely. It's going to be a real slaughter" The twins continued " Isn't it, Harry? " Scott and all the Gryffindors who had gathered around the table during the arguing looked at Harry. So did I.
Harry sighed and put down his piece of toast. He slowly looked up, and glanced at Scott, then at his friends.
"I'm not planning to kill anyone. It's a game, not a war" he murmured.
I huffed in satisfaction and listeneed to the long silence around the table. Then, Fred and George looked at each other and exclaimed.
"Harry, you old devil! Always joking around" Fred feigned a laugh while he shook his shoulder. I still wasn't sure if it was a friendly gesture or a subtle threat.
George turned serious and glanced at Scott. "He's going to slay you all". Scott smiled in a non-convinced way and left the Great Hall. I turned to the twins and shot them a hard look.
"What's wrong with you? Scott is a nice guy".
"Fraternizing with the enemy, Granger?" Fred shot back with an evil smirk. "..again" George added. I rolled my eyes. I felt like I was in my fourth year again, when Ron and the twins were always using the word "fraternize" whenever they were talking about Viktor and me. "I'm not" I sighed.
"So, who you are for? Your team, Gryffindor? Or Scott's, Hufflepuff?" they asked with an inquisitive look. I shook my head and rubbed my temples. All this situation was so childish it made me want to grab a book and read. I glanced at my watch and sighed in relief when I saw the hour.
"Quidditch time" I exclaimed standing up. "You should go if you don't want to miss the 'slaughter'". The twins looked me up and down and finally rushed out of the Hall, followed by Ron and the rest of the boys.
Only Harry remained on his seat, quiet. He glanced at me with a neutral look.
"It's not time yet, is it?" he asked.
I smirked and sat back on the bench. "No" I said with a grin when I opened the newspaper "I wanted to read my article in peace during the rest of the breakfast".
Harry was already gone when I left the Gryffindor table. I slowly walked out of the Great Hall, absolutely not feeling in any sort of hurry. I didn't like Quidditch, this wasn't a secret for anyone. I would have rather studied in the library than go watch the game. But unfortunately, I didn't have any schoolwork, and I knew that I couldn't find the right book to help Cedric in there. It was close December now, and it had been a month since I had started to search for a book which could explain what had happened to Cedric. I had supposed that when Cedric had been hit the second time by the wand graveyard, he had turned into another type of ghost.
In the other hand, during all this month, Cedric and I have got closer. Our relationship had grown into a friendship. Cedric was a very interesting, brilliant and sweet boy. His good-looking guy's reputation didn't do justice to his complex and profound personality. And I had felt very delighted to discover this part of the Hufflepuff Prefect.
Cedric was always with me, and now, he would even come with me in some classes. We were having lot of fun in Snape's and Umbridge's classes, and it had put me in a lot of troubles with the professors. Cedric was a funny boy who was always making jokes, it was pretty hard for me to keep from laughing.
When he wasn't waiting for me, I would just have to go to the Hufflepuff corridor, always sure that I would always find him standing in front of the frame.
So I wasn't surprised to find Cedric waiting for me next to the exit. He grinned at me.
"Good morning" I said.
"Good morning, yourself" he answered. "How was the breakfast?"
I sighed. "Horrible"
Cedric smiled and took a wondering look.
"Oh and I suppose this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you're afraid to see your team lose?"
"Don't you also begin with this idiot childishness"
Cedric laughed. He teasingly looked at me.
"I guess you're for Gryffindor. I'm with Hufflepuff"
"No way!" I replied sarcastically "It must have been a torture for you to admit it".
He smiled at me and shook his head.
"I mean Hufflepuff deserves to win" he earnestly said.
I shrugged: after all, all the supporters think that their team deserve to win. Actually, I had heard it so often that I thought that this argument had lost its truthfulness. I made my way in the park. The air was cold, and the trees had lost all their leaves. The sky was grey and I guessed that it wasn't so far from snowing.
I pulled my wool gloves out of my pocket and wore them. I groaned as I tightened my scarf a little more. Cedric glanced at me and smirked.
"You don't like winter, do you?" I shook my head and moaned in answer while I rubbed my hands.
"I don't like cold"
"I like it" Cedric responded..
"That's cheating. It's because you can't feel it." I mumbled.
"I've always liked winter" he defended with a laugh. "The landscapes are beautiful...so natural, so pure and so innocent in a way, completely naked and powerless".
After a minute watching the forest, he turned to me and grinned. I smiled when I saw his eyes: they were like a child's ones, so full of excitment and enthusiasm.
When we finally reached the field, the students were already waiting for the beginning of the match. Cedric turned to the right and exclaimed. "Let's go to the Hufflepuff's side".
"Do you want me to be lynched by your House during the game, then by my own when I get back to the castle?" I asked "Unlike me, you won't be seen if you stand in the Gryffindor's alley".
Cedric seemed to musing over pros and cons of my suggestion.
"Alright, but I've planned to clap and support my team."
I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, just do it. Only my ears will suffer"
Cedric proudly grinned and winked at me in a teasing way.
I stood as far as I could from the Weasley's. I scowled though when I saw that they didn't even notice or seemed annoyed with my absence. All the Quidditch players took off from the floor and began their lap of honour. While professor Hooch was penetrating the field, Scott flied closer to the audience and loudly said.
"We play this match in memory of our captain and friend". I saw in his face pride but also sorrow. I turned to Cedric and noticed that he was sharing the same feelings. "I trust you all. You'll win this match" he whispered back.
Hooch whisthled and threw the quaffle up. I sighed and glanced at my watch in despair.
Twenty minutes later, the score was close even if Hufflepuff gain on Gryffindor with 20 points. Before I could catch a glimpse of Ron to see his sadden face, I heard Scott score again. It was quite weird to hear in all our wordless alley only one person shout proudly. I turned to Cedric and short him a very violent glare. The latter just glanced at me and smiled.
"150 points for Hufflepuff !" Lee Jordan exclaimed "Scott Logan is close to beat his personal record".
Cedric took a wondering look and like if he had an inspiration, he leaned in.
"Hermione, I need your help, now"
"What kind of help?" I asked confused.
"We need to go back to Hogwarts, I'll explain everything on the way"
Waiting for nothing more than a good reason to leave the match, I nodded and followed through the crowd.
We were quickly walking across the park when Cedric finally started telling his story. He looked a bit embarrassed but excited.
"Two years ago, when Scott just learned that he was joining in the team one year after me, he bought a magical gauntlet that improves the player's skills like speed and strength" he paused "I kind of swiped it from him "
I stopped and looked at him.
"Cedric Diggory, what a shame!" I exclaimed. He had an apologetic grimace. "I did this to help him" he defended "Anyway, Scott discovered it and I promised him that I would give it back to him if he scored 200 points during a match."
I shook my head. "And why do you need my help exactly?"
"I hid it where I could be sure Scott could never find it, and it worked...a little too well, actually. I'd like you to pick it up and give it to him. I'm sure that today, he's going to reach the score." I shrugged in a nonchalant way. This didn't sound neither risky nor forbidden. "Okay, where is it?" I asked.
"I can't believe you convinced me to do this" I whispered. I had just sneaked into the room, slowly pacing around. Cedric sighed.
"It's fine, you're safe" he replied "Everybody is in the field watching the match".
Cedric had asked me to go to the Hufflepuff common room when all the castle was empty to get the gauntlet back. Unable to resist his poppy-dog eyes, I had said yes, and here I was doing something forbidden and risky.
I was stunned by the common room's decorations as I discovered the place where no Gryffindor had come before. It was filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs. "That's over there" Cedric said bringing me back to the real matter. I felt a hint of panic. "You're not going to ask me to go to the boys' dormitories, right?".
Cedric chuckled, amused.
"And what if I did? You would find nothing more than empty beds"
"...and an apocalyptic mess" I finished off.
He pointed me a little piece of furniture, put on the corner of the room. I walked to it and knelt down. It was made in a beautiful, soft and bright deep brown wood. It was was smooth and had no crack. It looked like the most regular occasional table.
"Take your wand" Cedric said "and cast the haloomora's spell on it". I glanced at Cedric with a skeptical look. "I can't believe I'm doing this" I grumbled. Cedric smiled. "You're doing this because I'm your favourite non-complete ghost" I rolled my eyes and cast the spell. To my great surprise, the piece of furniture softly cracked and a very thin little drawer opened. Looking at it, I couldn't hold back a grin. "This is fabulous!" I exclaimed.
Cedric knelt down behind me.
"A seven-year student who was leaving the school gave me the secret when I was in my first year. The drawer is magical, you can hide everything you want. I even tried to put my broomstick in it, and it worked" he said smiling.
"I need to try the cast on all the furniture of my common room" I excitedly murmured. I plunged my hand in the drawer till the elbow and grabbed the gauntlet.
I examined it with a skeptical look. It was a red leather fingerless glove. "It looks like all the other regular Quidditch's gauntlets, though" I said. "Most often, its the most ordinary things that are the most special" he murmured in a soft voice. He looked at me deep in the eye when he said this. I flushed and shyly glanced away, aware that Cedric was also talking about me.
When we got back to the field, Harry had just caught the snitch but the Hufflepuffs were the winners with 270 points. All the Hufflepuffs were cheering while the Gryffindors were groaning with disappointment.
Scott and his team made a last lap of honour and flied back in. "It's time" Cedric said, souding particularly nervous.
I nodded and walked towards the back of the stands. Scott was being acclaimed by his players who, one after the other, exultantly patted on his hand. Then, they all left and made their way towards the park. I waited till I saw Scott.
"Excuse me" I called "Could I talk to you a minute?". Scott's smile changed into a surprised look.
"Go ahead, guys. I'll meet you in the common room" he yelled at the rest of the team. "May I help you?" he asked turning his attention back to me. I nervously itched my cheek and glanced at Cedric who gave me a comforting nod. "You probably don't know me" I mumbled "I'm..."
"Hermione Granger" Scott cut me in "You're Potter's friend, right?" I was wordless. People would recognize me a lot more easily than I had assumed, I was so sure to be invisible to the rest of the students. "Yes" I answered after a pause. Scott crossed his arms, obviously waiting for me to continue.
"There's something I'd like to give you...back". Scott had a big frown " I'm sorry but I don't remember giving you anything..."
I didn't let him finish that I pulled the gauntlet out of my pocket and showed it to him. Scott's eyes widened in surprise. "Where did you find this?" he asked with a trembling voice uncapable of moving forward. I took a deep breath, searching for the best words to use.
"Cedric had asked me to give it to you when it would be the best time" I murmured. I held my hand towards him "And I think it is". Scott eyed it longly, wondering if it was actually his gauntlet. He then finally stretched out his arm and cautiously took it from my palm. "Why? I mean how?" he trailed off.
I shook my head. "How I got it isn't the most important. You just need to know that Cedric hid it to help you. He...wanted you to learn to be a great player without the help of this magical gauntlet"
" I was sure he would succeed " Cedric murmured gazing Scott.
"He never doubted your game player skills" I said. Scott looked particularly moved, and so was I. "I never used it" Cedric exclaimed, justifying. I smiled. "He never used it" I repeated. Scott laughed even though his eyes had become bright. "I'm sure he did". Judging by Cedric's face, I assumed Scott was right.
I looked at the Hufflepuff winner and kept silent. Scott slipped his hand into the gauntlet and looked at me.
"Thank you" he said, trying to contain his emotions. After a few seconds of silence, Cedric stood between his best friend and me. He then took a serious and nostalgic look. "Please...tell him I miss him" he murmured without breaking his gaze from his friend
I rubbed my cheek. "Cedric loves..." I bit my lower lip " loved you...like his own brother".
Scott glanced away and discreetly snuffled. He looked back at me, and to my surprise, hugged me tight. "I don't know much about you and how you knew him, but I am sure that Cedric trusted you and liked you enough to share all those things with you. This confirms to me that you must certainly be a wonderful girl."
He broke apart, smiled at me and left. While I watched him go away I felt a tear run down my cheek. I turned to Cedric who was smiling, the yes full of emotions.
"You were right" I murmured to him while I wiped my tear away "Hufflepuff deserved to win".