The next morning, Auden was sitting by the common room fire with Hermione, doing some of their homework. Despite the fact that it wouldn't be due until classes started up again, Hermione had wanted to get it done to free up the rest of the break and Auden had to admit she made a good point. Besides that, Ron and Harry hadn't come down into the common room yet, Auden still wasn't speaking to Fred, and she hadn't made plans with Cedric, so there wasn't much else for her to do.
When Harry and Ron finally came downstairs, they started up a game of wizards chess. When lunchtime finally arrived, Auden tagged along behind her friends as they headed to the great hall. If she was honest with herself, her stomach was in knots about breaking up with Cedric. She could think of little else, actually. She felt terrible about it, but she couldn't just string him along if she had feelings for Fred. But even still, that didn't change the fact that Fred was with Angelina now. Whether or not what George had said about Fred still liking her was true, it didn't change the fact that as of that very moment, he was dating Angelina.
"You're quiet today, Aud," Ron commented as the four of them sat down at the Gryffindor table in the great hall. "How come?"
"Why do you think, Ron?" Hermione asked with a sigh.
"Because of Fred?" Ron asked, glancing down the table at Fred, who was sitting next to Angelina.
"Yeah," Auden whispered as she watched Fred kiss Angelina's temple while her stomach churned. "And I'm nervous about breaking up with Cedric. What if he hates me?"
"He won't," Hermione assured her. "You've done nothing wrong. Breaking up with him now is actually the better thing to do."
Auden took in a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She began putting food on her plate and decided to not watch Fred and Angelina anymore. It was only going to make her feel worse.
"Fred keeps glancing over here," Hermione said a moment later, her voice a whisper.
"Oh," Auden answered, keeping her eyes on her plate. She didn't know what to make of that. It actually made her stomach flutter, but at the same time, she wished he wouldn't keep looking.
"He, George, Lee and Angelina are getting up," Ron added. "They're coming this way."
"Well, they have to in order to leave," Auden said.
"I know, but I'm just letting you know," Ron replied, "since you refuse to look up from your food."
From the corner of her eye, Auden saw the twins, Angelina and Lee walking closer and closer. She moved her food around her plate nervously, even though she figured they would walk right by her. That was why she was surprised to see them stop beside her. Her stomach clenched.
"Hey," George said, "did you four want to join us for a snowball fight outside? Alicia and Katie are supposed to join us too and the more the merrier, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Ron said excitedly as Hermione nudged him and tilted her head slightly towards Auden.
"You guys go," Auden said quickly. "I have homework to finish, anyway."
"No, you're coming," George said, sitting backwards on the bench beside her and leaning against the table. "You have to."
"Why?" Auden muttered, glancing at him.
He leaned forward and picked some of her food off her plate. "Fred wants you to," he hissed in her ear as he did so.
Auden shot him a look and gave her head a miniscule shake. "Don't," she whispered. She didn't want to spend any time with Fred that wasn't necessary. It was painful. It was painful that he still wasn't speaking to her and painful that he was with Angelina. She couldn't do it.
George smiled and stood up, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet as he did so. "You're coming." He looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Are you three in?"
They nodded and stood up from their seats as well. As George began pulling Auden towards the door, she chanced a glance at Fred, who was holding Angelina's hand, but looking at Auden, his expression unreadable. She glanced away and let George lead her towards the door.
"Do you really think I want to watch him and Angelina be all...romantic?" she hissed as they headed for the common room to get coats, hats and scarves.
"No, but I want you two to start talking again. All you've done is grow apart and argue in the past month and I don't want that. You've always been a close friend, Aud, and even if things don't work out between you and Fred, I want you two to still be friends. You can't let such a good thing be ruined."
Auden snorted and looked away as they entered the common room. "It's not ruined."
"It's well on its way there," George told her, nudging her towards the girls' dormitory. "Now go get your things and make sure you come back downstairs. Don't go and hide. Promise?"
"Fine, but only because you're my friend," Auden told him with a slight smile. "And you've actually been nice to me."
George shook his head and smiled before following Harry, Ron, Fred and Lee up the stairs to the boys dormitories.
Auden headed upstairs and grabbed her coat, scarf and a hat before following Hermione back downstairs where they met up with the others.
If Auden was honest with herself, she actually had fun during the snowball fight. It kept her busy, despite the fact that Fred and Angelina were around. They didn't exactly talk to each other, but Fred did let out a laugh when Auden hit George in the face with a snowball. And he laughed even harder when George chased her and stuck snow down the back of her coat, causing Auden to shriek. It was just how he would normally react to that kind of situation, which made Auden think that he wasn't truly angry at her at all anymore. Maybe George had been right in saying that their friendship was too good to allow it to be ruined.
Finally, it was time to go get ready for the ball. At least for Auden and Hermione anyway. The boys apparently didn't need as much time.
"Where are you two going?" Ron shouted as the two girls headed for the castle.
"To get ready," Auden called back. "Where do you think?"
"You need three hours to get ready?" Ron asked, wrinkling his nose and lightly tossing a snowball up and down in the palm of his hand.
Auden smiled and nodded. "We do."
"I better not recognize you later on, then," Ron teased, tossing the snowball in his hand at Auden. It hit her shoulder and she giggled before glancing at Hermione.
"Maybe you won't," she said as Hermione smiled and blushed slightly. Auden knew all about her plan to make her hair the least bushy it had ever been. Nobody else knew, so it was going to be a huge shock to see Hermione without her usual curls.
"We should probably get inside, too," Angelina chimed in, gesturing to herself, Alicia and Katie. "We'll walk back with you." She gave Fred a quick kiss before turning to catch up with Auden and Hermione. Auden practically found herself scowling.
"I will never understand how boys can get ready for a ball in a matter of minutes," Angelina sighed as they trudged back through the snow towards the castle.
"Mm," Auden agreed, glancing back over her shoulder at the boys. She was a little surprised to see Fred watching her. Not Angelina, but her. She half-smiled and her surprise intensified when she saw him half-smile back. Then, he was hit in the face with a snowball thrown by Lee and the moment was broken.
"You look gorgeous, Aud, you really do," Hermione whispered. They had just finished getting ready for the ball and Auden was standing in front of the mirror, looking over her shoulder to try to get a view of herself from the back.
"You look amazing too," Auden said, a huge grin on her face as she turned to face her friend.
"You think so?" Hermione asked, lightly touching her hair.
Auden nodded and smiled. "You really do." She tilted her head towards the door. "Come on, let's go. Cedric and Viktor will be waiting for us."
The two girls walked down to the entrance hall together to meet up with Viktor and Cedric. Just before they were about to round the corner to the entrance hall stairs, Hermione stopped.
"What's wrong?" Auden asked, turning around and looking at Hermione questioningly.
"I'm nervous," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide.
Auden smiled. "There's nothing to be nervous about, Hermione."
"Everyone's going to stare at me because I look different. I actually look pretty tonight."
"What are you talking about? You look pretty all the time," Auden said with a wave of her hand.
Hermione smiled slightly. "They're still all going to stare at me."
"Not if I walk down with you," Auden teased, finally getting a small giggle out of Hermione. "But who cares if they stare because they think you look pretty? That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"I suppose so," Hermione said slowly.
Auden smiled. "Come on."
The two of them rounded the corner and began making their way down the stairs. Auden looked up and saw that a lot of people were staring at Hermione, who had almost a shy look on her face.
Auden continued to scan the room and her eyes fell on Harry, who was standing with Parvati slightly to the left of the bottom of the stairs. He was grinning at the two girls widely.
"Look at Fred," Hermione whispered to Auden. "He's standing over by the front door with George, Katie and Angelina."
Auden did as Hermione said and glanced in the direction she had indicated. Fred was staring at her. Just her. It was as if Hermione wasn't even there. Auden couldn't even begin to describe the look of affection and awe on his face, but it actually made her stomach drop. "Why is he looking at me like that?" she whispered, her voice slightly squeaky.
"Because he still likes you and you look beautiful," Hermione answered with a knowing grin as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Viktor came over almost immediately and gave Auden a slight nod of acknowledgement before holding his arm out to Hermione, who took it with a shy smile.
Auden grinned and watched them walk away before turning to Harry. "Look at you all dressed up," she said with a smile.
Harry laughed. "Enjoy it while you can. You look wonderful, by the way. And so did Hermione. I almost didn't recognize her and she's one of my best friends."
"I know!" Auden exclaimed. "She was worried about everyone staring at her. But it's because she looks gorgeous, so it's not the bad staring. Where's Ron?"
"He's already in the great hall. McGonagall's been shooing everyone who's not a champion or a champion's date inside."
"Why?" Auden asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.
"Because we have to start the first dance," Parvati chimed in.
"We do?" Auden said in surprise. She had no problem with dancing in public, but a little bit of a warning would have been nice.
"Yeah, we just found out," Harry told her. "I'm panicking."
Auden smiled. "You'll be fine, Harry. If you can take on a dragon, you can do this."
Harry nodded. "That's what Ron said, too."
Just then, someone tapped Auden on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Cedric standing there. Her stomach flopped with nerves when she saw him. She had managed to not think about breaking up with him since that morning, but now the thought had jumped right back into her head.
"You look amazing," he whispered, reaching out and taking her hand.
"Thank you. You look very handsome," she answered. It was true. He certainly did look nice.
Cedric smiled before leaning down and kissing her gently. "Sorry it took me so long to find you. I saw you walk down the stairs, but it's crowded and I kept seeing friends that wanted to talk."
"Of course you did, Mr. Popular," Auden teased. "Did you hear we have to start the first dance?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Why, does that make you nervous?"
Auden shrugged. "Not too much. I'd say I'm a good enough dancer where I don't really have to worry about making a fool out of myself."
Cedric laughed. "I think I can say the same, but you'll have to let me know how I do."
"I'm sure we'll both be fine," Auden said with a giggle. Instinctively, she glanced back towards the spot where Fred had been standing, but he was gone. George, Angelina and Katie were gone as well. They had probably already gone into the great hall. Most people had, for that matter.
Once the entrance hall had completely emptied except for the champions and their dates, McGonagall began lining them up. Fleur and her date, Roger Davies, were first, then Hermione and Krum, then Cedric and Auden, and finally, Harry and Parvati. Cedric held out his arm and Auden took it as Professor McGonagall opened the doors. "Ready Miss Parker?" Cedric asked with a smile as they began to walk.
Auden took a deep breath and smiled back. "Of course, Mr. Diggory."
"Close your mouth, Fred," George told his twin, reaching over to tap Fred's jaw upwards. "You've been giving her practically that same look since she walked down the stairs."
"Have you seen her, though?" whispered Fred, keeping his voice low enough so George could hear but not Angelina. He had found it almost impossible to take his eyes off of Auden since she had come downstairs. She looked absolutely beautiful and his jealousy of Cedric was flaring up worse than ever.
George just smiled. He watched Fred continue to stare at Auden. "I knew you still liked her," he whispered as Fred turned bright red. It was true. He knew for sure that he wanted Auden for himself and probably always would. And that actually wasn't fair to Angelina, who was a wonderful person and deserved someone who treated her a lot better than Fred was treating her right now.
Just then, the music began and the four champions started dancing. Fred kept his eyes on Auden and Cedric. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of Cedric's hand on Auden's waist. It was driving him nuts.
"Poor Harry," George said. "He looks incredibly uncomfortable."
"Mm," Fred grunted in agreement, despite the fact that he never even looked at Harry. He only had eyes for Auden.
When everyone else was finally invited to join in the dancing, Fred managed to tear his gaze away from Auden and hold out a hand to Angelina. But then his eyes darted right back to Auden, who was dancing right over Angelina's shoulder.
"You love her don't you?" asked Angelina. She sounded a little sad.
"What?" Fred asked, his voice distant. He had only half heard what Angelina had said.
"Fred, look at me." Angelina reached up and turned his head towards her. "I can see it all over your face. Even after you asked me out, I saw it in your eyes every time you looked at her. I've always liked you so I never said anything, but I want you to be happy. Clearly, that's with Auden."
"Ange," Fred began. Now her words were finally settling in and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had he really been that obvious?
"I saw that look on your face when she walked down the stairs," Angelina whispered. "And you've been looking at her like that ever since. It's actually how you look at her all the time." She let out a quiet laugh and shook her head. "It's the way I always wished you'd look at me."
"Ange, you're still one of my best friends. You know that, don't you?" Fred managed to whisper. He couldn't bear it if he lost her as a friend. He may not have liked her romantically, but he still cared for her quite a bit.
She nodded, even though Fred could see tears in her eyes. Great. Even though Fred knew she was right about his feelings for Auden, he still didn't want her to be hurt. He didn't want her to cry because of him.
"I'm so sorry," he said.
"I know, and I'll be okay," Angelina said. She blinked back her tears and smiled slightly before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. Then, she turned on her heel and just like that, she was gone.
"Auden, I want to tell you something," Cedric said, about halfway through the ball.
"What is it?" Auden asked as he led her to the entrance hall.
"Well, I was going to wait until later, but," he sighed. "I think we need to…"
"Break up?" Auden suggested, hardly daring to believe Cedric was on the same wavelength as her about their relationship.
"Well, yeah, how did you…?"
"Well, I've been kind of noticing how you've been kind of distant lately and I think that the feelings are kind of fading. You like someone else, right?"
"No, it's my fa-, actually yes that's right…I like Cho Chang," Cedric said the last part rather quickly.
Auden nodded somewhat sadly. "Yeah, she's really nice. And she definitely likes you. Her friends were some of the people who would give me dirty looks when you and I started dating, but she was always really nice about it, even though I'm fairly certain she liked you at the time. She still likes you, actually."
"I don't even have to ask about you," Cedric said. He smiled, but Auden could see it in his eyes that he was upset. "I've seen the way you and Fred look at each other…"
Auden smiled. "Not this again," she laughed quietly.
"You've heard it before?"
"A few times," she sighed. "But honestly, I was so nervous about having to break up with you. I feel terrible and I still want to be friends. I don't want this to ruin our relationship." Auden looked into his hazel eyes. "I don't want you to hate me. I mean, I didn't plan this. Neither of us did. It just happened."
Cedric smiled. "I could never hate you," he whispered. There was a pause. "I don't know why I even did this in the middle of the ball, but it's been kind of a weight on my chest for a while and I suspected you had some kind of feelings for Fred...Maybe I wanted you to be able to be happy for at least some part of the dance."
Auden shook her head. "Fred's here with Angelina. I'm not going to take him away from his date."
Cedric smiled. "Ah, but Angelina has been spending most of the night with Alicia and her date. She hasn't been with Fred since the first dance."
"Why?" Auden asked. That had been news to her. She had looked for Fred a few times since the ball had started, but there had been so many people and she hadn't been able to locate him. Or even George, for that matter.
"I think they broke up," Cedric said in a low voice. He smiled. "And that means you have a fair shot to go talk to him and go to the ball with the guy you really want to be here with."
"Cedric...you're a wonderful person. And the feelings I had for you were real. I just want you to know that," Auden said.
Cedric nodded and swallowed. "I know," he whispered.
Auden sighed. "Why don't you go back in and talk to Cho? If I have a fair shot at spending some part of the night with Fred, then you have a fair shot at spending the night with her."
"You won't hold it against me?" Cedric asked, half smiling.
"Of course not," Auden laughed.
Cedric smiled before kissing her forehead and going back inside the great hall. Auden decided to take a walk outside. She wasn't ready to go back to dancing just yet. Just as she reached the front door, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around to see Fred running out of the great hall.
"Auden," he panted. "It's Cedric…he's-"
"Oh, talking to me now, are you?" Auden asked, narrowing her eyes and turning to walk away. She couldn't help but still feel a bit upset with him. She still didn't think she had done anything wrong and he hadn't said a word to her in a month. And he had been pulling away even before that. And there had been all of those hurtful comments he had hurled at her.
"Auden, listen to me!" Fred cried, grabbing her arm and spinning her towards him. "Cedric's in there right now, talking to Cho Chang! I think he asked her to dance. I just-I couldn't have him do that to you. You're his date. You're his girlfriend!"
Auden stared at him for a moment. "Did you and Angelina really break up?"
Fred blinked at her. "Yeah, but why-how did you-?"
"That's just what Cedric told me," Auden muttered, looking down.
"How would he know that? Why would he care?" Fred asked. "And aren't you upset that he went off to dance with Cho?"
"No, I told him to," Auden answered.
"You what? Why?" Fred was looking more confused by the second and Auden really couldn't blame him. But all she knew right then was that her heart was pounding wildly and it felt almost impossible for her to make any sense.
"We broke up about two minutes ago," she finally answered.
"Why?" Fred asked. "Are you okay?"
Auden almost burst into tears. Despite everything Fred felt for Cedric, and despite the fact that he had been opposed to Auden dating him, his first instinct upon hearing about the breakup was still to make sure she was okay and not immediately dance with joy.
"I'm fine," she whispered. "It was a mutual break up. I noticed he had been distant lately and assumed maybe he liked someone else. And he assumed the same for me."
"Well, it's clear that he definitely—wait, so you both--I just mean...you like someone else? Someone who's not Cedric?" Fred asked.
"Mhm," Auden said with a smirk, looking up at him.
"Who do you…?" Fred began.
"You," Auden whispered, her heart racing even faster. This could either end badly or wonderfully, depending on whether what George had told her was true or not. "It's you, Fred."
Fred stared at her for a moment, his face unreadable. Auden was beginning to wonder if she had just done something completely stupid when Fred reached out and rubbed his thumb across the thin scar over Auden's eye. His eyes moved back to meet hers. "I always loved that scar," he whispered.
"Just the scar?" Auden whispered back. She was teasing him, but at the same time, she felt incapable of talking above a whisper. Just the simple gesture of touching her face was making her nuts.
Fred smiled. The next thing Auden knew, his left hand had found hers. As their fingers intertwined, he slid his right hand around her waist and pulled her closer. She saw him swallow before taking in a shaky, nervous breath. And then, before she knew it, he was kissing her, she was kissing back, and everything felt completely and totally right.