A/N: I promised you a chapter today, and here it is :) I hope you like it. The next chapter may come up on Monday or Tuesday
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only my original characters.
Falling at my own Pace
Chapter 20
"Look at this!" Tara exclaimed as she sat down at the breakfast table on Saturday morning. She held the Daily Prophet in her hands, and handed it to me. I looked at it, and back stared a picture of me; the same picture Rita Skeeter's photographer had taken yesterday. The headline made me frown; "Two champions under her spell".
I started to read the article, and my frown got deeper with every sentence I read. 'Ava Roxley, a beautiful sixth-year Hufflepuff girl, says this in the exclusive interview with Rita Skeeter; 'It's a shame for everybody in the wizard world that they are letting Potter compete in the Tournament. He's three years too young, and gets unfairly high scores from the judges because of it. His performance at the second task proved this, when he got almost a full score despite the fact that he was an hour over the time limit'. Roxley also admits to a romantic relationship with none other than the Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory. Diggory, who is the captain and seeker on Hufflepuff's Quidditch team, was spotted on Christmas with Ravenclaw's Cho Chang on his arm. Is this a love triangle? Or maybe there's a fourth party involved. Reliable sources have linked together Roxley and a former Ravenclaw named Dylan Baker. Baker was expelled after the Christmas break, and our source claims it came from a false accusation. 'They hooked up, and when Diggory found out, Roxley cried rape', says our source. Can this be the end of the Roxley/Diggory love?'
I looked up, shock marring my face. "How did she found out about Dylan?" I asked Cedric, and Tara's eyes got wide. Damn. I forgot she didn't knew.
"It's true?" she said, her voice a bit to loud for my liking.
"At the night of the Yule Ball, he tried to rape me in the Astronomy tower," I replied low, making sure that only she heard me. Tears appeared in her eyes, and I squeezed her hand. "Don't fret on it Tara, it was almost three months ago. I'm over it." I looked out over the Great Hall, where most of the students were looking at me. Some with pity in their eyes, some with anger, and some with disgust. I noticed Harry, Hermione and Ron sitting at the Gryffindor table, a Daily Prophet in Harry's hands, and stood up. "I'll be right back."
I walked over to them, and cleared my throat. They looked up at me, and I was surprised to see that none of them looked angry.
"I just wanted to tell you that what Rita Skeeter wrote is completely bull."
Harry nodded. "I know. Hermione said that you'd never say something like that, and I know Rita Skeeter. She'll twist your words and make up things to fit the story." He paused, not sure if he should continue or not. "If anything in that article is true, I'm sorry." I knew he was referring to Dylan, and gave a small nod.
"Thanks Harry. Have fun in Hogsmeade." I went back to join my friends when a wave of nausea hit me. Covering my mouth with my hand, I sprinted out of the Great Hall and towards the nearest bathroom. I found one rather quickly, and emptied the contents of my stomach into the porcelain bowl. As I retched, I could feel someone pulling my hair back and rubbing smooth circles on my back. When there was nothing left to throw up I leaned my sweaty forehead against the cool porcelain, letting it cool me down.
"Are you okay?" Cedric asked, his voice concerned.
"I'm fine. Must have been a stomach bug or something." I looked up at him. "I'm gonna skip Hogsmeade."
"It's probably for the best if you rest. Come on, I'll walk you back to the common room." He helped me stand up, and I rinsed out my mouth before going with him to the common room.
"I'm gonna crash in your room if that's alright with you," I asked, and he nodded.
"Off course. Stay as long as you feel like it." He kissed my forehead. "I'll see you after lunch, okay?"
"Have fun." He left, and I lay down on the bed, fighting the nausea I was still feeling. Bringing out my wand, I transfigured a sock into a bucket, in case I should feel sick again. I would have to go to Madam Pomfrey to see if she could get me something for the nausea later, but at the moment I was too tired to move. Instead, I fell asleep.
--
"Happy anniversary." I was met with a kiss on Tuesday morning, and a smile stretched over my face.
"Happy anniversary," I said back, kissing him properly. Just when the kiss was getting heated, I felt another wave of nausea hit me, and I pushed him away before making a bee-line to the bathroom. When I came back out, Cedric had already gotten dressed.
"You need to go and see Madam Pomfrey about that," were the first words out of his mouth, and I nodded.
"I was planning on doing it after lunch."
"I could go with you if you want," he offered, but I shook my head.
"I'd prefer going alone, actually." I smiled at him. "Let's get down to breakfast, okay?"
My lessons before lunch went by pretty fast. I only felt slight nausea, but not enough to cause me to throw up. Knowing I wouldn't be able to keep anything down, I skipped lunch and went straight to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey greeted me with a smile. "How can I help you dear?"
"I haven't been feeling well lately, and wondered why."
"Come and lie down and we'll figure this out." She led me to an empty bed and pulled the curtains closed around us. "Now dear, could you tell me how you've been feeling?"
"I've been throwing up since Saturday, and I get emotional very easily. I've also missed my period, but I've been stressed lately so it could be that."
Madam Pomfrey looked at me, her brow furrowed, and I instantly wondered what was wrong. When I asked, she said the most unexpected thing ever. "Tell me ms Roxley, are you sexually active?" I blushed, but nodded. "Are you using protection?"
I nodded again. "Yes, contraceptive spells. We've never gone with-" I trailed off, suddenly remembering something. My birthday. We hadn't used protection. Madam Pomfrey must have sensed what I was realizing, because she patted my hand.
"How long ago was that?"
"Two months." The moment the words were out of my mouth, I wished that it wasn't true. Madam Pomfrey told me to pull my shirt up, and I did so, exposing my abdomen.
"I'm going to perform a simple spell to see if you are pregnant or not. This won't hurt or anything, so you can relax."
I tried to make my stiff muscles relax, but it was nearly helpless. She ran her wand over my abdomen, muttering a spell under her breath. The tip of her wand glowed orange, and I looked up at her.
"What does that mean?"
She didn't answer, but instead said another spell, and the light blinked twice. She put down her wand and told me to sit up. "Ms Roxley, it seems that you are in fact pregnant. About two months along."
I looked up at Madam Pomfrey like she was an alien. Was she kidding? "What happens now?" I found myself asking.
"Well, I'd suggest that you first notify the father, and then I'm afraid I'll have to let Dumbledore know since this interferes with your education."
"Am I free to go?"
She nodded. "Yes, but I'd like if you came in here once every two weeks for check ups."
"Thank you," I said absentmindedly and stood up. I walked out of the hospital wing almost in a trance. Pregnant. I was pregnant. Cedric and I were going to have a baby. I touched my stomach gently. There was another person growing inside of me. Without even realizing it, I had reached the common room. I stepped inside and saw Cedric sitting at a table, studying. I went up to stand in front of him, but not saying a word. It didn't take him long to notice me. His crooked grin appeared on his face, but for once it didn't give me the comfort it usually did.
"How did it go with Madam Pomfrey? Did she know what was wrong with you?"
"We need to talk." My voice was cold, unfeeling, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "Can we go to your room?"
Cedric gave me a confused look, but gathered his books and followed me to his room. Once we were inside, he cast a silencing spell over the door and locked it. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he looked worried at me.
"Ava, what's wrong?" I didn't answer. "Please say something, you're scaring me."
"I'm pregnant." I blurted out, and his eyes got almost comically wide.
"P-pregnant?" He stuttered. "How did this happen?"
"I think we both know how this happened, Cedric," I said dryly.
"But we used protection."
"Not on my birthday," I sighed, silently cursing my boyfriend for being so slow.
"Are you keeping it?"
My temper flared. "Off course I'm keeping it. Do you think I could just kill my baby like that, our baby?" I think it was about then that the situation really sank in, and I felt tears pool in my eyes. "Oh my god," I whispered. Within a fraction of a second, Cedric had pulled me into his arms, and held me tight. My tears fell onto his school robes, and my body shook with sobs. After a few minutes my sobs grew weaker. It was then I noticed that his body was shaking too. I felt something hot and wet on my neck, and realized that he was crying too. I circled my arms tighter around him, and stroke his hair. Together we sat like that, holding each other as we cried.
--
"I'll ask Professor Sprout to set up a meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow," Cedric said as we were laying in bed that night, and I looked up at him. "We have to figure out what to do. We're not going to be able to finish school."
"Maybe we can take out NEWT's this summer," I suggested.
"I hope so," he replied. His hand was rubbing my stomach, and I couldn't help but to think how lucky I was to have him. Not all 17 year old boys would stand by their pregnant girlfriend.
"I love you," I whispered, and I felt his grip on me tighten.
"I love you too. I will to whatever I can to provide for you and our baby. I won't let you down, I promise."
--
The next morning after my Transfiguration class I met up with Cedric outside of Dumbledore's office. I had gotten a free pass from Professor Sprout for my next class because of the meeting. I was nervous as hell as the spiral staircase took us up to Dumbledore's office, and I dried off my sweaty palms on my skirt.
"Mr Diggory, Ms Roxley, how good to see you. Please sit down. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
"No thank you sir." We sat down, and once again I found myself being unable to speak. "We were wondering if it would be possible for us to take out NEWT's this summer instead of next year."
Dumbledore didn't look too surprised. "And what is the reason to this request?"
"I'm pregnant," I said, my head held high and my voice strong and clear. I wasn't ashamed, and no one could judge me.
"I see." Dumbledore was silent for a few minutes before he spoke up again. "I think it could very well be accepted that you take your NEWT's early. You are both exceptional students, so it shouldn't be a problem. When are you due?"
"Around October, sir."
"Do you have any plans on getting married? For your reputations sake, I'd advise you to do it as soon as possible."
Cedric and I had discussed this last night, and agreed that we didn't want to get married until the summer. We told Dumbledore this, and he nodded.
"Very well, very well. Then I believe congratulations are in order. I trust, Ms Roxley, that you have talked to Poppy about all things related?"
"Yes, sir, I have."
--
We left Dumbledore's office feeling much more light-hearted than when we went in. We would get married at the end of the semester, take out NEWT's, and then move in with my parents until the baby was born. Cedric would take a job, preferably at the ministry, and when we had enough money we'd move into a house somewhere. As for keeping it quiet until we finished the semester, I was planning on learning a concealing charm so that my bump wouldn't be visible.
We went down for lunch, and I noticed that Cedric was more attentive to me than normal, having his hand on the small of my back, leading me towards our table. It was a subtle change, but I loved him even more for it. After lunch Cedric followed me to the hospital wing where I got some vitamins from Madam Pomfrey, and then we went down to the last class of the day, which were Double Potions.
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