Chapter Three

Tift in the Library

Walking slowly towards the Library, Elizabeth scuffed her feet on the stone floor, her stomach churning. On top of the Potions essay she had just acquired for homework, and the Astronomy chart she had to complete for tomorrow, she now dreaded going into that library. She would much rather be going there to sit alone in the corner to complete her homework. She had another job to do; she would have to supervise the first and second years in the library for a study session, along with the Head Boy and Head Girl, and the fifth year Prefects…and Cedric. Taking in a breath that sounded more like a gasp, Elizabeth led a shaky hand towards the library door.

A voice from down the corridor made her jump a second later, before she had opened the door. Whipping her head around at the sound of her name, she caught a glimpse of Cedric striding towards her, a smile on his face. Elizabeth's stomach did a flip. Why was he paying so much attention to her? Her mind was racing. It had been all throughout Potions, and Transfiguration. She hardly could pry her eyes from him- only when he glanced back at her, which seemed frequent now. As it seemed, Cedric looked at Elizabeth a lot…she always found it that he was trying to see what she was doing, especially in Potions. But now it was getting to Elizabeth, making her nervous. As she stared back at him, looking very odd, she tried to put it into her reality. Did it mean anything significant to her, or was she just reading far to into the entire situation. Shaking off her suspicions, she finally mustered a smile to Cedric.

"Potions was hard today…" Cedric said as he approached her, reaching over her head to open the door for wider for her, which she had gotten only an inch from its frame. He held it open for her, a smile still on his face.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said quickly, flashing him a quick yet nervous smile, as she then proceeded to scurry into the library. Not wanting to be rude- or subconsciously wanting to get another glimpse of the much taller, muscular boy, she turned back to him, waiting for him to enter. "Yes, it was…Professor Snape never makes it easy for us, does he?" she added innocently to his previous comment.

"Yeah, that would make him nice…" Cedric made a face that caused Elizabeth to laugh. He smiled at her, shaking his head slightly. "I don't even know if I'm going to understand that bloody essay he's assigned…And transfiguration? At least it helps stimulate my mind for the tournament, but I still have no bloody clued what I'm doing…" he laughed again, rumpling his hair with his hand a bit as the two walked towards a set of tables in the back of the library.

Elizabeth watched him from casual glances as the pair of them walked towards a group of noisy first years. Laughing again, she shook her head. "I'm sure you will do fine," she assured him, "you have to know what you're doing. To transfigure that rock into a dog and all turning the first task…" Elizabeth trailed off, and coughed a bit. She knew complimenting him was a good thing, she just did not want to seem like she was feeding into his ego, like many did.

Cedric though, seemed to get slightly embarrassed but this. He laughed sheepishly, ruffling his hair again. "Ha, thanks…I suppose, save my bum for a bit- until the short snout got bored, and went after me…got a pretty nasty scar for a week." He motioned to his cheek with a smirk. "At least I survived." He added, shrugging his broad shoulders.

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm glad you survived…" she said almost too quickly; she could not stop her comment slipping from her lips. Her face turned crimson, it felt hot, and she looked away. She could feel his eyes on her; they did not speak for a few moments.

"Well, thanks…" he finally said as they approached the table. Glancing at him once more, becoming slightly brave, she saw he was smiling at her. Giving him a quick smile back, she quickly pulled her eyes from his, reluctantly, and turned towards the table of Hufflepuff first years.

"Alright, get to your homework…" Elizabeth said, switching her voice from quiet and calm to strict and stern. Cedric watched her with amusement, a dumb smile on her face. Although the girl was quiet, she did take charge when the two were dealing with first years. Smirking, she circled the table silently, looking down at the chattering kids, all so tiny, opening their books noisily, and making a project to get out their parchment, textbooks, and quills.

The pair of them, along with the two other fifth year Prefects, patrolled the isles between the young Hufflepuff's, attempting to discipline them and keep them on track. Cedric was at the end of the table, near the second years, when he noticed that Elizabeth was having some trouble at the other end.

"If you three do not cut it out, I am putting all of you in detention…" she was saying angrily, staring at two blonde boys and a little blonde girl, whom all had their heads buried in a book, and were giggling crazily. Elizabeth seemed to be very angry at this. Turning on her heels, she began to walk towards Cedric, not keeping her eyes on him. This was halted, though, when an enchanted ball of parchment hit her in the back of the head. She whirled around, her face bright red, just as the one boy was lowering her wand.

"That's it!" she cried, stalking back towards them. "I will be speaking to Professor Sprout about you three! Expect some serious detention!" she snarled angrily. Confiscating the paper, she tapped it with her wand and it dissolved.

Cedric walked towards the group cautiously, biting his lip gently. "Umm, Elizabeth? Don't you think you are being a little harsh?" Immediately, he knew this was a bad idea. The three first years were smirking and relaxing back to their menacing state, and Elizabeth was slowly turning towards Cedric, her eyes wide and angry. He cleared his throat nervously, eyeing her.

"I'm sorry, what, Cedric?" she asked him slowly, looking very mad.

"I mean, of course, Fredrick's should get detention," he said slowly, eyeing the boy whom had bewitched the ball of parchment, watching him sink back in his chair, disappointed. "But-" he added quickly, "the other two had nothing to do with it…" he said.

Elizabeth looked positively disturbed by this. "What! I-I…" she stammered, attempting to find the words to tell Cedric off, "they all were involved! How do you have a say in this, anyway?"

Cedric blinked, stuffing his hands in his robes nervously. "I am a Prefect, Torrington. I say Nichols and Yates get another chance." Glancing at the first years who were now all staring up at him with wide eyes, he looked back at Elizabeth, whose look was not one he had wanted to come from her.

"Fine." She muttered, turning her back to Cedric and back at Fredrick's. "You will be getting detention. As for you two," she said, turning to the other two across the table from him, "behave, or else." At that, she spun on her heels, and without glancing back at Cedric, she stalked away.

Blinking, Cedric could not help but feel immensely disappointed. He had not wanted to get her angry. That really was the last thing he wanted to do, get Elizabeth angry at i him. /i With another quick look at the first years that meant behave now, he turned back and followed Elizabeth.

He cornered her after a couple of minutes of obvious dodging, on her part, by a bookcase, where the first years could not see them. Approaching her, he swiftly brought her over to a corner, and looked down at her.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry for that, I hope I didn't get you angry…" he said quietly, trying to look into her eyes. She kept glancing away every time he caught it. "Really, I am. I didn't mean to undermine you in anyway, or anything…"

Elizabeth still looked down angrily at her black shoes, fixating her eyes on them steadily. "They always look at you as the hero. Did you have to make it easier for them to hate me?" she muttered.

Sighing, he moved his head in her direction, almost crouching down to be in her eye level. "Elizabeth, they do not hate you. They are little brats, stupid little first years. I do not try to get them to like me…"

"Yes, it just comes easy for you, I suppose?" Elizabeth did not mean to snap at Cedric like that, but she did. Moving her head up to look at him, she noticed her face was close to his. Her cheeks began to burn, turning a bright crimson red, involuntarily.

Cedric did not smile, nor frown. He just looked at her. "You really think I'm this snob, this boy that just gets everything he wants on a silver platter, don't you?" he asked her quietly.

Elizabeth did not answer. She just looked away.

Cedric sighed, standing up straight. "I hate to say it, but you're wrong. If you only tried to get to know me, Elizabeth."

She was not looking at his eyes, but he saw her face turning redder. It was not out of anger, though, he could tell she was embarrassed, maybe something deeper. He felt a little sorry for her, but he could not go on knowing that she thought such wrong things about him. She finally spoke after a moment, her voice shaky and quite. "I'm sorry…" she said slowly.

As he saw her turning her head back to look at him, he smiled at her, showing he was not angry with her. "It's alright, Elizabeth. A lot of people think that of me. I've come used to it. But I am sorry about getting you embarrassed over there. Truce? I wouldn't want to mad at me…"

She seemed to cave in a bit, looking at him. She let out a breath, and sighed slightly. "It's alright, I should not have gotten angry…the little prats got my angry, though…" She was smiling now, looking up into his eyes.

Cedric laughed, which caused to Elizabeth to smile, to his excitement. "I know, I know…it was not right. But still, I did not want them to gang up on you and start hating you, or anything. That's not right now, is it?" he asked.

Elizabeth smiled and relaxed. "Yes, I suppose so, yes…" She laughed softly, shaking her head. "You know, Cedric…I don't really think all that about you. I do think you are a nice guy…you do sometimes come off the wrong way. You should show your true side more often. I like that better…" smiling slyly at him, she poked her head back towards the first and second years. They were beginning to pack up, seeing as the hour was up. Turning back to Cedric, she smiled. "We best get going."

Cedric nodded, running her words over in his head silently. He followed her back to grab his things and lead the students back to the Hufflepuff dormitory, thinking about exactly what she had meant with her last statement.