Distractions

Tara pushed open the door as the heat from the shop hit her suddenly. As if they had wanted the temperature of the room and the furniture to correspond, the tables, booths, and bar stools in the room were warm and inviting colors. The hum of conversation, the clanking of bottles, and chairs creaking as they were scooted out from under the tables was a familar sound to Tara. As she was made her way over to the counter to get a Butterbeer, she thought about what she'd just seen.

'I can't believe he was here with Cho! Should I tell Susan? No. It's not her problem. I shouldn't have to ruin our fun day. It's not really even MY business either. I mean, if Cedric wants to go out with Cho, then fine. It's his decision.'

She received her Butterbeer, trying to push all thoughts of Cedric and Cho out of her mind. She saw Susan at a little table in the far corner of the room. The lamp on the table was enchanted to glow red. All the lamps in the shop were enchanted to glow different colors. She loved seeing the red and the blue lamps the most.

"Susan! Excited about all the shopping?" she said sitting down across from Susan, who was drinking her Butterbeer.

"Of course! Shopping AND no schoolwork over this weekend! How could anyone NOT be happy?" Susan said making a 'duh' face at Tara. Tara just laughed. She suddenly remembered her wonderful carriage ride, and if all thoughts of Cedric weren't out of her head already, there was no chance they were there now.

She felt a blush beginning to creep up onto her cheeks.

"Tara, why are you blushing?"

"Mmmm..what? Oh… nothing really.," She said realizing that Susan had asked her a question.

"Now I've known you long enough to realize when you're lying. Sooo…what happened?"

"Susan! I am not lying!" she said, attempting to make a straight face.

"Oh really?"

"Yes…well…no! Okay me and Harry kind've had an all out snog fest on the way here!"

"Tara! How was it?"

Tara took one last sip of her Butterbeer, looked at Susan and said, "I'm sorry Susan but I don't kiss and tell!" Tara grabbed her bad and ran towards the door. She pulled her jacket tightly around her and waited for Susan outside the store. The snow on the ground looked like white powder. It was so light and fluffy. All the building had snow capped roofs or gutters. It was a beautiful thing to see, and Tara loved it.

"Now that wasn't very nice Tara!" Susan said as they walked towards 'Marvelous Witch Wear.' Susan said how she had sat next to Dean Thomas.

"He is so gorgeous! I mean, I know I used to think he was stupid, but I fancy him a lot now. It's funny what one summer can do to a person, Tara!"

'Sure is funny,' she though. "Yeah, funny right?" said Tara, as she was walking into the store.

About and hour later they both had two dresses left to try on. Tara had a canary yellow knee length dress and Susan had a blue floor length lace dress.

"Tara! You look like a popsicle! And not a tasty one…" Susan said making a sour face.

"I don't think that is the best dress for you either," Tara said, trying to suppress giggles. "It's like a bloody blue table-cloth with arm holes!" Tara couldn't hold it in any longer. She began to laugh hysterically. Susan looked ridiculous!

"Thanks a lot you ugly popsicle!" Susan said before playfully pushing Tara a bit and running back into her dressing room, giggling all the way.

They both put their horrible dresses back on the hangers and tried on their final dresses.

"Ok. On the count of three we come out. Three…two...one!"

Both girls threw open their curtains and squealed!

"Susan, you look lovely! That deep green is your color! I told you so!"

"Me? I look lovely? Look in the mirror!" Susan said with her hands on her hips.

Tara looked into the mirror on the wall to her left and saw her reflection. She was in a deep purple dress with a corset type top. There was a small v-cut in the top of the dress. Her body looked like it was made for that dress. She spun around and the dress twirled. Her pale skin looked wonderful with the dark purple: A perfect balance of dark and light.

"You think Harry would like it?"

"I think he, and all the wizards under the age of 40 will too!"

"Oh shut it Susan!"

They quickly changed into their regular clothes and went to ring up the dresses.

"For you miss it'll be 11 Galleons and 17 Sickles."

Tara took out her money and paid the witch at the counter. Susan set her dress on the counter.

"Your dress will be 12 Galleons," the witch said while wrapping the dress and putting it in a box.

"Hey Tara, uhm… do you have five Sickles?"

"Yeah sure!" Tara said, immediately taking the five sickles out of her bag.

"Thanks!"

The lady asked them if they would like their packages sent to Hogwarts, rather than them carry them out. Tara and Susan agreed it would be easier to do it that way.

"Your dresses will arrive sometime next week ladies. Thank you for shopping at Marvelous Witch Wear. Have a magical day!" said the witch and a fake happy tone.

"I can tell she's oh so thrilled about working there," Tara said as they were waling towards the front of the store. She buttoned up her jacket, took out her scarf, and wrapped it aorund her neck as Susan did the same. They pushed open the door and were headed towards the Magical Menagerie, when Susan suddenly pulled Tara's arm.

"Look who it is, your favorite person. Ooh and it looks like she has a date! Who could it be. Is that…" Susan looked for a moment and then said, "Cedric!"

She knew about her Tara felt towards Cho, and seeing Cedric with her was obviously a shock to Susan as well.

" I wonder when they began dating," Susan said, with a curios tone in her voice..

"I don't know. I saw them right before I came to meet you in the Three Broomsticks. It's gross isn't it! She's hanging all over him, and he's not doing a thing!"

"Well, maybe her likes her Tara."

"What? HE CAN'T!" she exclaimed, louder than she had been talking before.

"Tara, he's allowed to like whoever he wants whether you like it or not. I know it's hard to see your best mate with the person you hate the most, but we can't do anything about it."

"Whose side are you on Susan?"

"I'm your best mate! Who's side do you think I'm on Tara?"

"It's just not fair. He's not allowed to fancy her!" Tara said, in a stern almost like a mother telling their child what the rules were.

"And why is it he's not allowed to fancy her?"

"I… I just do-" Tara thought. Was there a reason?

"That's what I thought. I knew you'd realize this one day Tara," Susan said. It was obvious to anyone. Tara was jealous of Cho. Suddenly, Tara saw what she could've had she realized what she really wanted. Deep down she wanted Cedric, but Susan knew that she was blind to her own emotions.

"Realize what?" Tara said stopping in her tracks to look at Susan.

"You know what, and if you don't, then you are one thick girl Tara, but I mean that in the nicest way possible."

"What are you talking about Susan?" Tara said, her anger starting to be noticeable in her voice.

"I think you're…well I think you're jealous of Cho Chang!" Susan spit out quickly.
"I AM NOT!" Tara yelled, getting the attention of about 10 students nearby.

"Then why is this such a big deal!"

"Because….it…well because it just is!"

"Fine Tara. Whatever, it's none of my business anyway."

Tara looked slightly relieved and said, "Thank you, now lets just drop the subject."

They eventually went into Magical Menagerie and bought some kitty treats for Midnight, Tara's cat. After paying for those, it was about time to start heading back towards the carriages.

"So you're riding back with Harry right?"

"Yeah, I am," Tara said smiling.

"I'm riding back with Dean, Lavender, Hannah, and Zacharias. See you back at Hogwarts then?"

"Of course. Good luck with Dean!"

Tara said goodbye and went to her carriage she had ridden in before. Harry was waiting for her inside.

"'Ello Tara. How was Hogsmeade?"

"Awesome. I bought some clothes!" she said.

"Anything interesting happen?"

Tara instantly thought of Cedric and Cho. That was interesting. But for some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell Harry about it.

"No, nothing except some 3rd year Ravenclaw getting sprayed in the face by a Zonko's joke. It was brilliant!"

"Oh yeah. I saw him in the Three Broomsticks wiping the ink off of his face. Bloody hilarious!"

On the carriage ride back Harry showed Tara the little miniature Quidditch collectable ball set he'd bought. They were in a spell-reinforced glass box so the bludger wouldn't break out, but it kept attacking the little red quaffle. He had also bought a few candies for her at Honeydukes: some chocolate frogs and some sherbet balls. Tara loved to eat the sherbet balls when she got bored. They made her levitate about a foot off the ground, and that sure took care of boredom. When Harry had finished talking about his day they become quiet and Tara rested her head on Harry's chest.

"Harry, are you coming to my parents Christmas ball?"

"Of course! Wouldn't miss is for the world."

"Okay. It's a formal occasion, so that means dress robes for you. But you can pick some up in Diagon Alley before you come."

"Sounds like you've got this all worked out," Harry said stroking her hair softly.

"Sure do," Tara said smiling. "It's always my favorite thing about Christmas, and now with you coming, it'll be even more wonderful," she said smiling up at him.

Harry laughed and it became silent again. It was quiet for the rest of the ride, the two just enjoying each other's company.

Yet, Tara could now help thinking about what Susan had said. Her, jealous? But she had Harry! Harry was wonderful, caring, extremely handsome, and smart. So why would she be jealous about Cedric and Cho? It didn't make sense.

She looked up at Harry and saw the love in his eyes. She sat up and softly kissed him on the lips, all worries and thoughts being pushed out of her head.

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As Cedric walked up to his dormitory he thought about his day. He had walked Cho Chang to the Ravenclaw dormitory. They had gone to Hogsmeade together. He had always thought she was good looking, and decided he wanted to get to know her better. In fact she was quite clingy and squeaky. Not what Cedric liked in a girl. But maybe if he got to know her better, he would find something he liked about her. But she was nothing like Tara. She wasn't witty, or quirky.

'Stop thinking about Tara!" he told himself. It had been about a week since their big fight, and neither of them had spoken, except to ask where ingredients were in Potions. It was hard for Cedric not to talk to her, but he was sure he couldn't apologize now.

Before he knew it he was in his dormitory getting his Potions extra credit 2-foot paper. He went down to the common room and sat by a table near the fire on the far side of the room.

"The Memory Access potion is a potion which allows the drinker to more easily access his or her memories. It does not contain many ingredients, but the steps in creating are very precise and difficult. It was first-" Cedric stopped writing when someone came and sat down at the other end of the table. He looked up and saw Susan Bones, Tara's best friend.

AN: I had to split up the chapter into two parts. next is coming soon! Just Read & Review. If anyone wants to beta this story, feel free to e-mail me.