Big shoutout to ThgLoverD for leaving such amazing reviews on each chapter! This one is for you :)

Due to the Yule Ball, all students attending spent their Christmas holidays at Hogwarts. It was strange for Eden to not have her usual Christmas morning. Every Christmas Eve, the Malfoys would come over for a great dinner and would stay the night as the Haywood's had plenty of extra rooms. This was great for Eden when she was a young girl when she and Draco were still friends and would sneak down to the tree in the middle of the night and try to guess what was inside the beautifully wrapped boxes.

Even after the days of her friendship with Draco, she still loved Christmas at her house. Her mum was a very skilled decorator and their house was always so festive, a stark contrast to the dark and cold atmosphere that is usually held at all other times of the year.

But being with her friends on the holiday was an alright replacement for her usual Christmas festivities. And, of course, if it weren't for the Yule Ball she would never have had that interaction with Draco on the Astronomy Tower, which lingered in her mind all hours of the day it seemed.

As she had suspected, though, he had returned to the cold and cruel Draco that everyone else knew. Nothing was left of the boy she saw that night, kind and apologetic, the admiration for her that he held in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced with the usual disgust. She wondered where he got his incredible acting skills from.

As the days ticked on, and the excitement from the Yule Ball vanished, the excitement for the second task grew. Eden wanted to ask Cedric if he had figured out how to get a clue from that awful, screeching egg. But, much to her dismay, she hadn't had a moment to stop and talk with him since the Yule Ball. He seemed quite busy and she figured that it was because he had figured out the next task and he was busy figuring out how to tackle it.

Eden's curiosity was getting the better of her by the time the night before the second task rolled around. So, it was almost too fitting that when she was in the library working on her potions essay, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the aisle next to her, talking about the next task.

"Harry, tell me again." She hears Hermione demand as Eden herself slides a book back onto the shelf, not sure if she's putting it in the right place.

"Come seek us where our voices sound," Harry recites in his tired voice. Eden frowns. Was he talking about the egg?

"The Black Lake, that's obvious." Eden leans against the end of the bookshelf so she can hear better but they still can't see her.

"An hour-long you'll have to look." An hour? In the Black Lake?

"Again, obvious. Although, potentially problematic." Hermione mumbles.

"Potentially problematic?" Harry's tone is annoyed and Eden doesn't blame him. She would be quite irritable too if in a couple of hours she was expected to be in the Black Lake for an hour, searching for something, "When was the last time you held your breath for an hour, Hermione?"

Eden thought about Cedric. Had he figured out his solution yet? Why hadn't he come to her for help?

"Look, Harry, we can do this. The three of us can figure it out." She hears Hermione take a seat next to Harry and the sudden scraping of her chair against the wooden floor makes Eden snap back to reality and she realizes she shouldn't be listening in to their conversation.

It was a good thing, too, because if she hadn't moved from her spot when she did Professor Moody would have walked up, right behind her, "Hate to break up the skull session,' He speaks to the trio and Eden pretends to bury her face in a book as to not alarm the professor of her presence. "Professor McGonagall would like to see her in her office." There's a pause, "Not you Potter, just Weasley, and Granger." Another pause and Eden feels eyes on her. Or, should she say, eye. "You as well, Miss Haywood."

She flinches, turning to look at Moody, "Me?" She asks, pointing to herself. McGonagall wasn't her head of house; what would she want to see her for?

"You are the only Haywood present in this library are you not?" He asks in an annoyed tone.

"Right, sorry sir." She walks to the end of the aisle and faces the golden trio's shocked faces. They didn't seem to be aware that there was someone else present so close to them.

"But, sir, the second task is only hours away and-"

"Exactly," Moody says calmly, "Presumably Potter is well prepared by now and could do with a good night's sleep." Eden clasps her hands behind her back awkwardly as she feels a sort of tension in the air. "Go." The three don't move right away and Moody grows impatient quickly, "Now!" Eden catches Ron setting the egg down gently before she hurriedly follows them in the direction of McGonagall's office.

"What could McGonagall possibly need from us at this hour?" Hermione huffs in frustration. Ron simply shrugs as he walks next to his friend, Eden falling into step slightly behind them.

Ron turns to look at Eden over his shoulder and she raises her eyebrows at him, "What? Don't ask me. She's your head of house I've never even been called to her office."

The fact was, that Eden didn't really recall anything after she entered the office. Everything past greeting McGonagall was dark and didn't come into plain view until the next day.

….

Draco pushes his hat down further on his head as he tries his best to avoid mingling with the many other Hogwarts students making their way to the Black Lake to watch the second task.

"Dreadful weather," Clara mutters under her breath, tieing her Slytherin scarf tighter around her neck and she manages to loop her arm with Draco's despite him trying to keep it firm by his side so she couldn't do that exact thing.

"I like it," Theodore Nott appears at the other side of Clara, looping his arm through hers, and she glares at him in annoyance, trying to shove him off. Theo takes a big sniff of the air, "smells like a Krum victory today."

"Shove off, Nott," Clara growls, finally managing to get him away from her, which Theo only chuckles at, bumping into Blaise Zabini as they walk.

Much to Draco's dismay, he finds his eyes scanning the large crowd for a familiar head of wild brunette hair, most likely clad in an atrociously yellow beanie. He hated the color yellow, it was a constant reminder of the fact that she was in the wrong house. She was supposed to be wearing green and silver, the green would bring out her eyes in an incredible way like her dress had the night of the Yule Ball.

While he despised the color yellow, he didn't mind gold. It was the color of the rings she always wore on her fingers and the flecks in her eyes that he hopes he was the only to have noticed.

He hated a lot of things when it came to Eden-he hated how her hair was always a mess and how he just wanted to reach over and run his fingers through it to help tame it, how he could hear her laugh all the way down the corridor even though it wasn't particularly loud it just seemed to float to his ears.

He hated her because of the way his mind never seemed to shut off unless he was near her. Like the mere presence of her-her scent, her voice, her eyes-could calm him to such a degree that he felt like he was floating.

He hated Eden Haywood simply because of the fact that he couldn't hate her, not even slightly.

"You alright, darling?" Clara squeezes his arm, her voice cutting through his thoughts.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asks, an edge of annoyance to his voice.

Clara sighs, a deep sigh that makes him know she was highly irritated with him. She was so predictable, "You've been acting strange ever since the night of the ball...:" He mentally begs her to not bring it up yet again, "You know when you disappeared without a warning?"

"Haven't I told you to stop bringing that up?" He shakes her arm out of his, straightening his coat as they walk. After he met with Eden in the Astronomy Tower, he had gone back down to the ball and Clara was on the brink of pure range at the fact that he had left her alone with no explanation. He told her he simply went outside for some air but she wouldn't drop it.

"I'll stop bringing it up when you stop lying to me." She mutters bitterly, not looping her arm through his any longer but still falling into stride next to him and looking at his face every few seconds to see if there is any change in his demeanor. Draco was far too skilled at hiding his true emotions so if his innermost thoughts were to change his face surely didn't show it.

With still no sign of Eden-not even down by Diggory where he was sure she would be wishing him luck-Draco began to worry. He saw Fletchley and Abbott below and if he wasn't so concerned about how it would look he would go down and ask them if they had seen her anywhere.

But, if he were to do that, they would tell him that they hadn't seen Eden since the night before when she left the Hufflepuff common room to go to the library. In fact, that's exactly what they told Cedric when he came over to ask them where she was.

Cedric couldn't help his confusion at the fact that Eden was nowhere to be seen and hadn't been for some time. It wasn't like her to be MIA for such a long time, especially on a day as important as this one. Was she cross with him? He hadn't spoken to her since the ball due to being so busy with preparing for this task but surely she understood that...right?

No matter the fact that he was worried about Eden, Cedric had to focus on the task at hand. According to Dumbledore, something had been taken from each of them and was currently hidden in the Black Lake. They had one hour to find it.

So, pushing the thoughts of Eden into the back of his mind and with the sound of the cannon, Cedric casts the bubble charm and dives into the dark waters below.

The next thing that Edem remembers is emerging from dark water, gasping for breath. She's confused to say the least as she looks around, trying to catch her breath and also take in her surroundings.

There's a firm hand on her waist and she looks in front of her to see Cedric next to her in the water, "Are you alright?" He asks, also catching his breath. His words are slightly muffled because her ears are clogged with water and there's cheering all around them. Wait, cheering?

Eden looks around, seeing the stands full of people cheering as Cedric carefully helps her over to the ladder where Hannah is waiting with multiple towels in her arms. Finally able to take in her surroundings, Eden puts together that they're out the Black Lake and suddenly everything comes rushing back to her.

The night before, in McGonagall's office. The second task. Had she been in the Black Lake all morning? Was she what Cedric had to search for?

"Eden, we were worried sick." Hannah gushes as she wraps her in not one, not two, but three towels, and Eden doesn't realize it but her teeth are chattering from the cold. "We had no idea where you were."

"Are you alright?" Cedric stands in front of her, also wrapped in a towel. He places his hands on her shoulders and then on either side of her face. His hands were cold but they still felt warm compared to her skin.

"Yeah…" Eden shakes her head, finally able to form words, "Yeah I'm fine, are you?" She places her hands over his and looks into his eyes.

"Edie, I wasn't the one petrified underwater." He chuckles and she returns it weakly. He removes his hands from her as Cho approaches him and offers him a kiss on the cheek, looking him over for injuries. Eden feels colder without his touch but it's replaced soon with Justin and Hannah on either side of her, rubbing her arms and her back to try and bring warmth back to her.

"Is that where you were all night? We were so worried when you didn't come back from the library." Justin sighs, his cheeks flushed from the cold and his yellow hat pressing his brunette curls down on his forehead.

"Yeah...yeah, I guess. I don't remember anything after being called to McGonagall's office with Ron and Hermione.." She pauses, her eyes widening slightly, "Ron and Hermione, are they back yet?" She asks, looking around frantically.

"No, not yet. You and Cedric are the first ones back, well, other than Fleur but she had to forfeit." Hannah explains. Eden feels a tug of excitement for Cedric. He had come first in this task and she couldn't be more proud of him.

Krum and Hermione were next, Viktor's head slowly transforming back from that of a shark as they emerged from the water. Then, just barely before the hour was up, Ron and Fleur's sister came to the surface panting for air just like everyone else. Although they first emerged without Harry, he didn't disappoint as he came flying up from the water moments later, landing on one of the platforms.

Despite the fact that Viktor had returned with Hermione well before Harry surfaced, the decision was made to award Harry with second place due to the fact that he managed to rescue two people from the depths of the lake.

Needless to say, Krum fans were not the most excited about this which included a good number of the Slytherin boys. To nurse their wounds, they showed up at the Hufflepuff party later on in the common room to celebrate Cedric's second victory.

Eden was very excited about this fact when she emerged from the dormitories after her hot shower and changing into warm clothes. Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and Theodore were all gathered at a table at one side of the room, laughing at something while they enjoyed their drinks. Clara and Pansy were on the other side of the room talking with some other Slytherin girls and Eden felt her tiredness from the days events set in on her but she knew she should at least make an appearance at this party.

The thing about Hufflepuffs was while they were responsible most of the time, they sure knew how to throw parties. Eden usually didn't participate in all of the...benefits that were offered despite the occasional butterbeer. The gatherings went on until the early hours of the morning and she hoped that if that were the case tonight, it would at least quiet down enough for her to get some sleep.

"There she is!" Eden jumps a little bit as she feels Cedric swing his arm over her shoulder. She can smell the firewhiskey in his glass and on his breath, "I was starting to think you weren't going to come down."

"You know I wouldn't miss it," she smiles at him as he leads her over to the sitting area by the fire, "Seems like you're having a great time already."

"Oh, this?" He lifts his glass up slightly, "Do you want some?" He asks, offering it to her.

"Oh no," Eden holds her hand up, denying his offer, "I feel like that would just make me fall asleep faster."

"We can't have that, now can we?" Cedric says, leaving her to sit with Cho on the loveseat positioned off to the left side of the fire. "We were just about to start playing this muggle game Cho has heard about, what was it called again, love?"

"Truth or dare." She tells him and then turns to Eden to explain. Eden takes a seat straddling the armrest of one of the large chairs since Justin was occupying the chair itself, talking animatedly to Hannah on the other side of the chair, "Basically when it's your turn you pick truth or dare. Either you get dared to do something by the person asking or they get to ask you a question and you have to answer it."

"Sounds nerve-wracking." Eden crosses her arms over her chest as she thinks of all the ways this could go, "But I guess it could get interesting."

"Alright, you lot!" Cedric yells, easily getting the attention of everyone in the room like he did so often. Cedric could command a room by simply entering it if he wished, "Get over here, we're playing a game."

Everyone in the common room comes to the seating area surrounding the fire and settles into their own spots. Draco lets his eyes lock with Eden's as he sits on the couch next to the chair she's on. She straightens up at his look, crossing her legs.

After Cho explained the game to everyone who didn't know it and the present Slytherins got over the fact that it was a muggle game, madness ensued. It was quite funny seeing what everyone was getting dared to do and the way those who chose truth would blush when answering their question. Hannah had been dared to kiss Justin and Justin had been asked if he had seen either of his two best friends naked, which he quickly answered no. Eden rolled her eyes, even though there was that one time he almost walked in on her changing since he has a very big issue with not knocking on their dormitory door.

She had almost forgotten her turn was coming up and when she remembered, her heart started pounding in her chest and her hands got sweaty, "Alright, sissy," Clara cleared her throat, making everyone's attention turn toward Eden. All eyes were on her and she could feel it, "Truth or dare?"

She knew everyone was expecting her to choose the truth because that was her first instinct. She had no idea what Clara would have her do but she didn't want to be so predictable. If anything, answering one of Clara's questions would be just as humiliating as what she could possibly dare her to do.

"Dare." She says, not even sure it's her own voice.

"I dare you to spend seven minutes in that storage closet with Nott." Eden's heart drops. Theodore not was notoriously handsy and had a reputation for kissing nearly half the girls in their year with no regard for their feelings about it. While what they were supposed to do in the closet wasn't specified, she knew what people would think.

But she had to do it, she didn't want to refuse and be named a coward. Eden looks over her shoulder at the closet in question and then turns back around to look at Theo who is smirking, getting nudged by Blaise encouragingly. She spares a glance at Draco but he isn't looking at anyone, his eyes focused on the fire and she can see him clenching his jaw.

Eden sighs in defeat, standing up with a wave of her arms, "Well come on then," She mutters, reaching across Draco and grabbing Nott by the wrist, yanking him up and pulling him over to the closet, ignoring the wolf whistles and catcalls from the group they're leaving behind.

The closet door closes behind them and their immersed in the darkness of the small space, the only noise being the muffled voices from the common room and their uneven breathing.

"Lumos." Theo whispers and the tip of his wand illuminates, shining a glowing light on Eden's face, her eyes wide as she looks from the tip of his wand to his face. "Finally I have you alone, Haywood." He teases her, setting his wand down on one of the shelves so it's still able to give them some light without occupying his hands.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She blushes, crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably.

Theodore rolls his eyes, "I'm only messing with you," He says, "I have never once thought about getting you alone and you and I both know you wish it was someone else in here with you." He gives her a knowing smile and she looks down at her shoes in embarrassment. "Don't beat yourself up, it's not obvious to many people, I'm just very observant." She looks back up at him in confusion. Could he be talking about Draco or was he making this assumption about Cedric? She decides to not ask, wanting to avoid as much humiliation as possible.

Theo can sense her uneasiness, and he lets out a deep sigh, "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do." He assures her. There's an edge to his voice, not of annoyance but more so of boredom, standing here for seven minutes just staring at her didn't seem very appealing to him. Eden wasn't bad to look at by any means but Clara was more his type.

"I don't really know what they're expecting us to do anyway." She sighs, leaning her back against the shelves that stand behind her. The edges of the shelves dig into her back and make her wince a little bit but anything to keep some space between them.

"Well, Haywood, normally people makeout in this cupboard." Eden rolls her eyes at him, looking down to try and hide her blush. Yes, they probably were expecting them to make out and, again, she didn't want to be predictable. But, on the other hand, she had never kissed anyone before, and the thought of her first kiss being under these circumstances made her disappointed. "But," He puts a finger under her chin and tilts her chin up to look at him, "We could just give them a show." He smirks mischievously and reaches down, messing her hair up a considerable amount.

She squeals, pushing his hands away, "What the bloody hell are you doing?" She hisses.

"It wouldn't very well be a passionate makeout session if your hair was smooth when we got out of here." He points out, his eyes glinting with deviousness.

Eden stares up at him in confusion. And then, her face softens into a smile. She stands on her tiptoes, giggling quietly as she returns the favor of messing his soft brown curls up. "Atta girl," He smiles at her, moving his fingers to the white button-down he's wearing and undoing the first couple of buttons, "Come on, now," He pulls away the collar of his shirt and motions to right above his collarbone on the left side of his body.

Eden's green eyes go wide, "Sorry, what?"

"A hickey, Haywood," He rolls his eyes, "You're familiar with the concept of it, aren't you?"

She had to lie. She couldn't very well tell him she had gotten nowhere near giving a hickey or receiving one. She knew the basics obviously, but the appeal of biting and sucking on someone's skin was lost on her. "Of course I am, Nott," She scoffs at him, mustering all the confidence in her as she approaches him.

It was all just for show. Maybe this would get people off of her back for a while. Besides, it was kind of exciting. Theo was quite handsome and he smelt quite nice as she leaned in. She made the decision to go higher on his neck, right where his pulse point is, and as her lips come in contact with his skin she feels him let out a breath against her hair and his hand goes to the small of her back as if to hold her there.

She starts to bite and suck, trying her best to act like she knew what she was doing, and by the feeling of his pulse quickening beneath her lips, she was doing a pretty good job.

Just as she's about to pull away to admire her handiwork, the door to the closet opens, and both their heads whip around to see who was interrupting them.

Draco stands in the doorway, a frown on his grumpy face, "The seven minutes are up." He mutters, looking between the two once more before he stalks away.

The two in the closet share a look before letting out a small chuckle and stepping out of the small space, pretending to frantically smooth their hair out.

Draco watches them return to their previous spots and can not help the feeling of his jealousy bubbling underneath his skin. The way they had been so close-her lips on his neck, his hand on her back. He didn't think they would actually do anything. His eyes get stuck on the red mark forming on Nott's neck as he takes his seat next to Draco on the couch and he feels like he might explode with anger.

Theodore looks at Draco and gives him a smug smirk followed by a wink. Everyone is looking between the two with shocked expressions and asking them a million questions, all of which they were ignoring. Hannah was leaning over the chair to try and get something out of Eden who just laughed and shook her head in response.

Draco was looking at her but she wasn't sparing him a glance.

Why won't she look at me?

He just wanted to take her out of this room, away from these stupid people.

Just look at me.

He was observing her face-the flush of her cheeks, the gleam in her eyes, how her lips here read and swollen.

I need you to look at me.

He knew she hadn't had her first kiss before going into that closet and he hoped with everything in him that this whole thing was a charade and that her lips were still untouched. But, to be sure of that, he needed her to look at him.

Please…

"Draco," Finally, she turns her head to look at him and is slightly taken back by the fact that he is already looking at her. Relief washes over him as he finally gets a good look into her eyes and for some reason unknown to him, he can tell that her lips were still his to touch.

"Draco," his relief is replaced with annoyance when he realizes she wasn't the one to speak his name the first time, but her sister was the one impatiently calling for his attention.

"What?' He snaps.

Clara stares at him, daggers shooting from her eyes at his tone. Her jaw clenches, "Truth or dare?" She asks through her teeth.

Draco sighs, "Truth," he says with a careless wave of his hand.

Clara rubs her hands against the fabric of her skirt, trying to control her anger, "Is it true you were with Eden at the top of the Astronomy Tower the night of the Yule Ball?"

The group falls silent and Eden lets her face fall into her hands. She knew she should have just gone straight to bed tonight.

Draco opens and closes his mouth a couple of times. Of course, he could just lie again, it was just a stupid game and there would be no real implications if he didn't tell the truth. But did he want to lie anymore? Yes, he had been alone with Eden that night but it's not like anything had happened between them. Besides him showing her a side of himself he didn't allow anyone else to see, of course.

He doesn't get the chance to answer, though, as a loud announcement comes ringing through the large speakers in the common room.

"All students must return to their house dormitories immediately. No exceptions."

Professor McGonagall's voice sounds serious and they never made announcements like that unless it was absolutely necessary. Everyone shares a worried glance before standing up, those who were not Hufflepuffs beginning to take their leave.

"Saved by the bell, mate," Theo pats Draco's thigh as he stands up and Draco's jaw clenches again.

He stands up and locks eyes with her once again. He considers ignoring the announcement and staying to talk to her, but before he can even think twice about the option, Eden tears her gaze away from him and turns to make her way toward the girl's dormitories.

One thing was for certain after that night-Eden was never playing truth or dare again.