Ally's POV
The next day went by in the blink of an eye. One moment I was climbing out of bed, the next I was fully dressed and in the Great Hall eating. Again, Anne Marie was not at the Hufflepuff table. McGonagall came and told Harry the Champions' families were here and they were to go meet them in the side chamber right after breakfast.
Then I was back in the Great Hall for lunch, and Mrs. Weasley and Bill were there at the Gryffindor table too.
Hermione and I (we had been doing some research on a thought Hermione had at breakfast, so we were a little late getting to lunch) came into the Great Hall and joined the others.
"Hello, Ally, dear." Mrs. Weasley said to me, then coolly to Hermione, "Hello, Hermione."
"Hello." Hermione replied, perplexed by the tone of Mrs. Weasley's greeting.
Harry looked between them, then asked, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you?" I sat down next to Harry and Hermione sat down next to Ron. "Because Hermione and I have never dated, and Ally has been my girlfriend for almost six months."
"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley said. "No – of course I didn't!"
But, after this, Mrs. Weasley became much nicer to Hermione.
'Six months.' I thought. Had it been so long a time? It felt like only yesterday we were dancing at midnight at the Yule Ball. Only a few hours ago, we'd sat in the Astronomy tower, gazing at the stars and telling our true feelings.
I had barely finished this thought when Katie and I were off to our last few classes of the day.
Katie and I came up to the Gryffindor table for dinner. I sat next to Harry and continued to worry about him. His nerves must have been setting in because he didn't eat much more than I did (which was very little).
During the second course, I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Cedric standing there. I must've looked at him like he was crazy.
He cleared his throat and said, "Can I have a word?"
"…okay." I said, starting to think he was crazy. I stood up and followed him into the entrance hall.
I stood with my arms folded as Cedric started to pace in front of me, even once in a while running his hand through his hair (kind of like Noah).
"Anne Marie won't come out of her dorm, she won't talk to anyone, and I don't know what to do. I can't go through this task without her there…" He said very quickly and worriedly.
"What the bloody hell did you do o her?!" I said angrily.
"We had a fight…I said some things I didn't mean in the heat of the moment, and she slapped me" He looked as though he could still feel her hitting him when he said it.
"Did you deserve it" I said through clenched teeth, trying not to lose my temper and hit him myself. But a few things were keeping me from it. One, I knew Anne Marie really loved him and two, Harry Potter's girlfriend hitting Cedric Diggory would not be good news if Rita Skeeter found out.
"Yes." He said looking at his feet. "Ally, please." He looked straight into my eyes and all I saw was sadness. "You have to go talk to her!"
I glared at him for a moment and then said, "All right, I'll go talk to her. But so help me, if you ever hurt my sister again…" I gripped my wand and couldn't think of anything that would be bad enough to get my point across.
"Thank you! Thank you so much." Cedric said, looking happier, and then he returned to the Great Hall, leaving me alone in the entrance hall.
"He forgot to tell me the password!" I said aloud after a moment.
"Ally!" Someone from the marble staircase yelled.
I turned to see Nicole running toward me.
"Ally, you have to come with me! Anne Marie –"
"I know, I know. I just need the password!"
"Wolfsbane." Nicole said, taking a deep breath.
"Okay. Thank you! I just need to tell Harry where I'm going, and then I'll go get Anne Marie."
"Okay. I haven't eaten anything all day, so I'm going to the feast." Nicole said, relieved.
I walked as fast as I could back to where the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were sitting and whispered in Harry's ear. "Anne Marie needs me right now, don't worry, I'll be at the task, cheering you on."
"Is she all right?"
"She will be."
"All right, I'll see you at the task." He kissed me.
"Good luck." I said, and then once in the entrance hall, I broke into a run and didn't stop until I reached the tapestry, then I only stopped long enough to shout the password.
I entered the common room and prayed that the Hufflepuff dorms were set up the same way as Gryffindor's. I took the girls' stairs two at a time. Luckily, they were the same; the first door I tried was the right one. I opened the door and saw Anne Marie curled into a ball on her bed, using Cedric's hoody as a blanket, fist closed around her necklace, and staring blankly out into space.
Her eyes were red and puffy like she had cried until she had no more tears, and her hair was messy. Seeing her like this broke my heart and made me wish I had hit Cedric when I had the chance.
I took a deep breath. I knew what I had to do to get her up, I just didn't want to do it to her.
"Anne Marie Knight! Get your arse out of that bed this second! We have a task to go to!" I yelled as I walked over to her bed.
"No…" She said, and turned over so her back was to me.
"You are going to this task whether you like it or not! What are you so upset about anyway?!" I yelled.
"Cedric and I had a fight!" She said, and I saw new tears start to pour from her eyes.
"Yes, I know that, but do you still love him?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then show it! Go to the task and support him!"
She slowly stood up and I hugged her. I then dashed around and got together her shoes, socks, and a clean pair of jeans. She reluctantly got dressed, but refused to take off Cedric's hoody. As painlessly as I could, I pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
Finally, I got Anne Marie out of the Hufflepuff common room and as we came down the marble staircase, the Great Hall was emptying and it seemed that only one person was left inside Hogwarts, other than us.
Noah was pacing by the front doors, occasionally running a hand through his hair. He finally spotted us and ran to meet us at the foot of the stairs.
"Anne Marie." He said, wrapping her up in a brotherly hug. "Are you okay? I haven't seen you all day… And you." He released her and pulled me into a crushing hug. "Where did you go? I couldn't find either of you, I was so worried…"
"Noah, I can't breathe!" I gasped.
"Sorry, Ally." He said, letting me go. "Where were you two?"
"Anne Marie wasn't feeling well, so I went to check on her." I said, thinking, 'Well, it's half true!'
"I'm feeling well enough to go the task now." Anne Marie added somberly.
"Okay, let's go. The rest of the school is almost to the Pitch." Noah said, smiling.
Down at the Quidditch Pitch, we got seats where we could see the champions perfectly. I watched Harry, he looked a little nervous. He started looking up at the stands. He found the Weasleys, and Hermione, then continued searching.
We made eye contact and he smiled at me, a fresh wave of worry washing over me.
"Please don't worry." Harry mouthed to me.
I was amazed he knew what I was thinking. I was about to say 'That's all I can do' back, but I couldn't do it, so I just nodded and swallowed down the lump of fear that was now in my throat.
'Please let him come out all right…please…' I prayed silently.
