Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, though I'm sure we all wish we did. And...this isn't a disclaimer, really...but don't copy my stuff. I'll track you. And use violence. Moving on...
Blue Roses.
Chapter one: The Grindylows
Some people think of Teen Love and smile. It's not real love, they say. Puppy Love, they call it. Those people, I think, have very short memories, and no longer recall the realities of their first love experiences. While few expect teen love to last a lifetime, that hardly makes it less real. Half or more of all adult love doesn't last a lifetime either. Teen love is very real. And powerful. Perhaps at no other time in our lives are the joys and pains felt as strongly, or experienced more deeply. Who among us, after all, can ever forget our first love?
Skye Cunningham ran towards the large doors at the front of the school, her arms outstretched. She stopped just before she nearly slammed into the set of doors, and doubled over, clutching her rib cage. She took a few deep breaths, and tossed back her long black-red hair. She opened the doors slowly, to hear a loud voicing speaking to a murmuring audience.
"Now, just a few announcements before supper..."
BANG.
Skye opened the large doors into the great hall, and every student sitting at four long tables whipped their heads around to stare at her, completely silent. There was a man with a long white beard and even longer white hair who had his arms open and must have been the one previously addressing the audience. He was standing at a table lined with adult witches and wizards, whom Skye presumed were the teachers, here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He lowered his arms and stared at Skye, who was still out of breath. There was an older witch standing in front of the teacher's table, who was clutching a frayed hat in one hand and a stool in the other.
"Name?" she asked slowly, after a long 30 seconds of pausing.
"Skye...Cunningham," she breathed, "Sorry I'm late...I was...attacked...by grindylows. On the way here."
The entire hall went dead silent, apart from a fly who buzzed above Skye's head.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. You almost missed the sorting, good timing, my dear!" the older man called to her. "Come take a seat and we shall sort you into your house."
Skye took a tender step, and there was a collective gasp throughout the four long tables. She ignored her awestricken peers and moved to the front of the hallway, where the older witch had placed the stool back down. Skye faced her audience, took a deep breath, and sat. The older witch slowly placed the frayed hat on Skye's head, and Skye jumped when the hat began to talk to her.
"Lateness unseen!" the hat declared. "You are obviously neither smart nor cunning, to end up here, with everyone staring at you."
"I'm sorry, it was..."
"Yes, yes, I heard, the grindylows. You are a kind soul, but you seem to be brave enough. Hmm...I'll say...HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted the last word to the crowd.
Skye continued sitting, unsure what to do.
"Get up! Get up!" the older witch said, pulling the hat off Skye and ushering her towards a table which had students who were clapping lightly. Skye looked down the table, and saw no welcoming faces. She began to walk between her long table and another long table. She saw a long, lanky, pimply boy sitting by himself and plopped herself beside him. He gave her the funniest look, that read 'why on earth are you sitting next to me?'. As soon as she sat down, the hall erupted into talking.
"Skye Cunningham," she said, extending her hand to the boy.
"C...Cedric. Cedric Diggory," he mumbled. "I'm a first year too."
"While, I'm sure your first day was much better than mine."
"Grindylows?" he asked shyly.
"I was in the last boat with a group of larger boys, from that table," she pointed to a neighboring table, full of large bruits, who were pointing and laughing at her, "and the boys pushed me into the lake, and I got attacked by grindylows! The boys just laughed..." she sighed and closed her soft green eyes.
"Those are the Slytherins," Cedric said, pointing to the table, "those people are known for being cunning, and sneaky. I find they're all just gits."
Skye laughed softly.
"Those, at the table past them, are the Gryffindors. They're known for their bravery. Most popular house here. The ones behind us are the Ravenclaws, the most intelligent, and we are the Hufflepuffs. The kind ones, the ones who don't fit into the other houses..."
"The ones who never get the glory!" A boy, taller and much more handsome and muscular than Cedric but still resembling him, said. "I'm Brayden Diggory, Cedric's older brother. Nice to meet you Skye, and thanks for bringing some attention to Hufflepuff, rather than our usual bad luck."
"Good to know I accomplished something," she said, smiling.
Brayden leaned over the table and whispered to Skye, "And thanks for talking to Cedric. Before coming here, he didn't have a single friend...look at those pimples, how could he?"
Skye broke out in bubbly laughter, and Cedric blushed.
"It's not my fault." he muttered.
Brayden smiled a gorgeous smile, "Well I wasn't...OH! LYNELLE!" he cried out, as a very pretty blonde girl sat next to him, "I missed you ever so!"
Skye sighed as Brayden and the girl named Lynelle began kissing.
"They've been dating for 2 years now. Watching them snog every time she comes to visit is like watching two blast-ended screwts going at it!" Cedric whispered to Skye. She laughed softly, and smiled at Cedric.
Cedric began to take in Skye. She had long legs and was skinny, and looked like she still needed to grow into herself. She had a heart-shaped face, and seemed tan. She had large lips and a button nose, and unique green eyes with a blue ring around them. She had long eyelashes and a very nice smile. Her hair was long, and black with a red tint. Suddenly, without warning, her hair turned a shocking shade of blue.
"Your hair!" Cedric exclaimed, jumping back slightly.
"Oh...not again..." Skye sighed, "I'm a metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will...but I still have yet to figure out the 'at will' part yet." Cedric and Skye laughed. "I can sometimes make it change like this..."
Skye squinted her eyes, looking like she was concentrating hard. Suddenly, her nose grew long and had a wart on it.
"That seems to be all I can do...make myself look uglier."
"Well, I think you look pretty anyways." Cedric said, turning a violent shade of scarlet, realizing what he had said.
"I..." Skye was interrupted as food suddenly appeared before them, every type of food in the world. Pork, steak, fish, vegetables, potatoes...
"Dig in!" the older man shouted out. Skye laughed as Cedric launched into his food like a hyena onto raw meat.
The next day, after Skye and Cedric had suffered their first classes, they sat together by the fire in the Hufflepuff common room. Brayden took a seat on the floor between the two.
"Hey little bro!" he said, ruffling Cedric's hair, "hey Skye. How was your first day of classes?"
"Oh, they were a dream!" Cedric said, sarcastically.
"History of Magic was so fascinating!" Skye declared, rolling her eyes.
"And oh, Herbology was so fun outside in the rain!"
"Not to mention topping the day off with potions with Professor Snape. I really think he took a liking to me, yelling at me for not sitting down fast enough and giving me, only me, a pop quiz on bezoars." Brayden raised his eyebrows, "When I couldn't answer what one of the sicknesses bezoars can cure, he gave me a two-foot long essay on the properties and uses of one! Not to mention I can only get 20 inches..."
"Here, give it to me," Brayden said, "I've always been good at potions, but Professor Snape never fancied me much, either."
Brayden took the parchment from Skye and began scribbling madly, while beside him Cedric worked on his History of Magic questionnaire. Skye sunk deep into her chair, and closed her eyes. Her cat, Tia, who was slender, black and beautiful, jumped on Skye's lap, and Skye began to pet Tia absent-mindedly.
After about 15 minutes, Brayden handed the essay back to Skye, declaring it "done and done". He then went off to spend time with Lynelle.
"I can't take this!" Cedric threw down his parchment, "I'm sick of doing History of Magic! I'm going to bed, goodnight!" And with that, he stomped upstairs.
Skye sighed, picked up her book bag, and headed up to the girls dormitories. She fell down onto her bed, and closed her eyes. She saw, in her mind, a picture of Brayden. She opened her eyes quickly. She closed them, and saw Brayden again. She opened them again. She rolled over, and looked out the window at the rising full moon. She gave a sigh, knowing an uneasy sleep was ahead of her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ooh! Hope y'all like it! Sorry it's so short, they will be longer. Everyone does fanfics based on one of the four Harry Potter books, so I figured, why not set up one a little earlier? Things can be interesting before Harry Potter was in the picture, too. Review, please, give me constructive criticism, or the regular type. Or nice comments are loved, too! Oh, and I love Cedric.