Cedric Diggory was waiting outside of the chocolate´s shop, quite proud of himself for having driven himself and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Fern to King´s Cross. For a wizard, a muggle driving permit was merely a fun complement, but it was really important to Cedric, he had put a lot of effort into it.
"Are you done?" he asked, as Elizabeth walked towards him, leaving the store.
"Yeah. Would you like some?" she said with a childlike smile, opening her little bag, just enough to show him the goods. He hesitated. "It won´t jump on your face or escape, I can promise that." Elizabeth laughed.
He smiled. He had a very nice smile, you could tell he was smiling even if he wasn´t showing his mouth, his eyes had a very unique way of lighting up, like someone had just given him the best news in the world. Finally, he extended his arm to reach for a small Jaffa Cake.
They entered the station and walked towards the platform. A few familiar faces waved at Cedric or came up to ask him how his summer had been. Some were surprised to see them together, others simply stared. From an objective point of view, it was surprising to see a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff together, at least at that point in time. Because of the practices of Mister Grouch (like Ellie liked to call him), also known as Draco Malfoy, and the vigour him and his minions had for making Slytherin a scary house, people didn´t think they were able to make friends outside of their own house.
The thought of Draco made her upset. After the escape of Buckbeak, and finding out she had had something to do with it, he had completely ignored her. At least that´s what she thought . During the summer, he had been completely radio-silent. She hadn´t even seen him at the Quidditch World Cup, though they had both been there.
"What´s on your mind?" Cedric asked.
"Oh, nothing, I´m just a bit nervous." Ellie answered, still looking at the ground.
"Draco?"
"Yeah." She muttered. "It´s just that… I don´t know what to expect from him, you know?."
"Everything will be fine, as much of an idiot I think he is, you two are good friends." He said putting his arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer. At this point, they had sat in one of the few free benches, right in front of the empty train track.
"Harry told me he was especially nasty with him on the Quidditch Cup" She said.
"You have said it yourself multiple times, Draco is all façade. And also, when isn´t he nasty with Harry?" he said holding her tighter. He then kissed her forehead. Elizabeth felt really safe with Cedric. He was like a hot chocolate and a blanket in a storm, she thought.
For someone a few years older than them, it was impressive how much Cedric knew about everyone. Of course, Elizabeth´s endless rants about how annoying Draco was during the summer had helped him have an idea of what their dynamic was.
"Let´s talk about something else. You. Your sixth year! that´s crazy." Ellie said quickly sitting up so she wouldn't fall asleep on his arms in the middle of King Cross, which wasn´t completely out of the cards, given how little sleep she had gotten the previous night. Cedric and her, continued chatting away until the train showed up and the station started to get plastered with families saying their goodbyes. The same way Draco was trying really hard not to look for her, she was trying to stay entertained, keeping her eyes focused and not lost looking through the crowd.

And then they saw each other. It was a glimpse, less than a glimpse, a second. Like they knew exactly where the other was, they just made eye contact. Draco was taken back by the sight of her leaning on Cedric´s chest. He couldn´t comprehend how that could be. It was fast, Draco quickly shook his head and walked inside of the train followed by Nott. He was the first one to look away, yet the most surprised of the two. Elizabeth followed with her eyes as he graciously hopped inside of the train and was lost inside. She noticed how he didn´t even dedicate her a second look, like she was somebody else in the crowd. And that´s when she knew it really was over, whatever their friendship had been, for some reason, she was a stranger to him now.