The following week was one of the worst of my life. My faith in Professor Dumbledore crumbled after finding out he had not been able to get Harry out of the tournament.
Since the feast, Harry now walked around like a ghost, defined by his haunted expression and lack of apparent sleep. We had also been spending most of our time together since everyone else was acting idiotic.
"Morning," I said when I saw Harry enter the common room.
He nodded and took the muffin that I had in my hand for him. Our arrangement all week had been that I would grab him breakfast and we would eat dinner together in the kitchens. Dobby was always ecstatic to see Harry which almost put a smile on his face at least.
I bent down to pick up my rucksack and heard a conversation that abruptly went quiet as the group walked past. I looked up to see Harry's dormmates, including Ron, walk past with awkward expressions. I didn't think Seamus, Dean or especially Neville had any issue with Harry as champion but Ron certainly did. I saw Ron's glower as his gaze moved from Harry onto me. I rolled my eyes and stood up, watching the group of boys leave.
"I wish he wouldn't take it out on you," Harry said sympathetically.
"He thinks I'm the one who put your name in the goblet," I said with a shrug before leading Harry out of the common room.
The night the champions had been announced had resulted in a lot of unexpected reactions. The twins hadn't readily believed me when I told them there was no way Harry had put his name in the goblet. They did eventually come around when they figured I would have put their names in as well. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were non-plussed since they were more excited about having a Gryffindor champion in the mix, no matter the cause for the situation. Ron was the one who completed my strung-out mood that night when he accused me of entering Harry's name. Fred had come to my aid, saying that if I had entered Harry's name, I would have extended the same courtesy to him and George. Ron had just brushed off his older brother and walked away. He still hadn't said a word to me since that night.
The next morning, I had felt isolated, with only Hermione and Ginny really understanding my level of concern. I had been relieved to see Cedric and congratulated him for being selected champion. However, he had also questioned how Harry had managed to get his name into the goblet. This led to me storming away, being completely exacerbated with everyone acting as if Harry would even be able to pull off such a feat.
I walked Harry to his Charms class before I headed off to Care of Magical Creatures.
We walked in silence as I worried and Harry brooded.
"I think this is the worst I've ever felt at Hogwarts," Harry whispered rather desperately.
I looked at him a little skeptically, but he just shrugged.
"Voldemort is always going to be a factor, so I don't count him. And yes, it was the scariest when I thought the basilisk had killed you and the whole school thought I was at fault, but at least I had Ron…" he continued sadly.
I put my arm over his shoulder, feeling terrible for being at a loss for words. The guilt I felt for not being chosen again rippled through my mind. Dad and Remus had already sent me letters asking about Harry and the competition and all I felt was that I had let them all down.
I noticed we had reached Flitwick's class when Harry stopped.
Harry stepped away from where I was standing and looked me in the eye.
"It's not your fault Mar," he said kindly.
I looked back at Harry but only sighed.
"I'll meet you for dinner," was all I answered.
He nodded and disappeared into the classroom.
I kept heading down the hallway until I exited the school. I looked out at the grounds and noticed that there was an unexpectedly large group herding themselves towards Hagrid's hut. I thought it was odd considering so few sixth years had passed this particular O.W.L.
"Merlin, sake!" I whispered harshly before stomping towards the ogling group of admirers.
"Excuse me!" I said as I pushed my way through what looked to be mostly girls towards the middle of the huddle.
"Move!" I said more forcefully when I saw the familiar tuft of light-brown hair.
Many of the girls around me gave me a snubbed look but Cedric turned around with a grin.
"There's my favourite fan!" Cedric said gleefully as I noticed the quill in his hand.
"I am not your fan!" I retorted in an offended tone.
I looked around loathingly at the students circling Cedric and noticed most of them were wearing pins on their cloaks.
I turned back to Cedric and saw that his smile had dropped and he was returning his quill to his rucksack. The girls then started to walk away when they noticed I now had Cedric's undivided attention and he was no longer giving out autographs.
"You're right Marnie, you're not my fan," he said apologetically.
"What is with the pins?!" I asked in a livid tone.
I had seen enough to notice that they were pro-Cedric merchandise with a defaming slogan of Potter Stinks.
Cedric frowned further.
"They weren't my idea, I swear!" he replied earnestly.
This added to my already sour mood. I knew I had been rather foul ever since Harry was chosen as the surprise fourth champion. I also knew it must be compromising to Cedric's excitement over being chosen as the legitimate champion of Hogwarts.
"Want to go on a secret date later tonight?" he asked in a quieter voice so those who were trying to eavesdrop couldn't hear.
I continued to stare at him before breaking into a smile.
"Yes, I would like that very much," I replied before taking his hand and leading him all the way down to where Hagrid now stood.
I knew that as Cedric's girlfriend, I must at least try and celebrate him being a champion instead of just sulking alongside Harry.
XXX
"Marnie, could yer help me with this?" Hagrid asked midway through our class.
I abandoned Cedric and Liam, leaving them to wrangle all three of our skrewts with mild satisfaction.
"What is it Hagrid?" I asked once I had made my way over to him.
"I wanted ter ask abou' 'arry," he said with a worried expression.
"He's scared I think, but putting on a brave face," I replied honestly.
"I'm glad ter know he has you lookin' out fer 'im," Hagrid replied with an air of confidence that I found quite humbling.
"Of course I am, but I'm afraid I am one of only a few," I said worriedly.
"'Arry 'as lots er people lookin' out fer 'im!" Hagrid agreed more enthusiastically.
I smiled unconvincingly before hearing a yelp from across the field. I looked over to see Liam running away from the three skrewts that were now all circling Cedric.
"I better go assist," I said before fast-walking towards Cedric.
Heading back up to the castle, Cedric kept his distance since he was now covered in skrewt slime. He promised to meet me on the third-floor corridor after dinner. I went and tried to find Harry, but he was not in the kitchens, common room or the library. Hearing my stomach growl, I finally decided to go down for supper in the Great Hall and worried that Harry had gotten himself into trouble. Hermione wasn't even around to ask.
When I entered the Great Hall I was relieved to see Angelina and the rest of our friends. I sunk into the seat beside Katie and sighed. Thankfully none of them were wearing any badges.
"Did you hear Harry got a detention for duelling with Malfoy?" Alicia asked with a concerned look on her face.
I sighed and shook my head. Everyone knew how worried I had been all week over Harry, despite their explicit excitement over having a Gryffindor champion. However, all of us knew it was always a bad idea to provoke or engage Draco Malfoy.
"That brother of yours does have a temper," George said a little provokingly.
I turned to him with a withering stare.
"You're one to talk! I am sure Ron isn't willingly missing dinner either," I retorted reproachfully.
George broke out into a wide grin.
"Calm down Mar! I was only trying to get you to smile and lighten up," he responded with his arms up in a surrendering position.
I continued to frown at him but couldn't stay mad. It was tiring actually to be this gloomy and anxious all the time, especially when I was up against the twins and their antics.
I leaned over and lowered my voice.
"Do you have any experiments on the go?" I asked, wanting an update as a distraction.
"Yea, you want to help us this evening?" George answered gleefully.
"Of course, after I meet up with Cedric, I'll head back to the common room to help out. He has rounds tonight anyways so I'll be back before curfew," I replied, happy to have plans for the rest of the night that didn't involve feeling guilty or worried over Harry.
Once dinner was cleared away, I headed up to the third floor and immediately felt pleased to see both Cedric standing near the one-eyed witch statue, and that he was standing alone without his previous enclave of bystanders.
"I can't believe you're the one suggesting breaking school rules," I said a little provokingly.
He smirked and I couldn't help noticing his chest puff out a bit.
"Hey, I wasn't supposed to bring you to the prefect washroom! It's only for prefects," he answered in mock offense.
I laughed and grabbed onto his arm before he bent down and gave me a kiss. I deepened it by bringing my hands to his cheeks and pulling his face closer to mine. I realized then that I may have been feeling a bit threatened with all the attention Cedric was getting.
He pulled back and took my face in his hands as mine dropped to my sides.
"You know you're the only girl for me," he said simply but I could tell how honest he was being.
"It's always good to hear it once in a while," I said a little smugly before leading him behind the statue.
Cerdric smiled again. "You know, a very selfish part of me is glad I got selected as champion."
I looked at him and smiled. "I know I haven't been the best girlfriend for supporting you. You know I'm very proud of you right? I know you definitely deserved it."
"Well, thank-you. That is also nice to hear once in a while, but it's not what I was talking about," he replied.
"What did you mean then?" I asked skeptically.
We had reached the other end of the tunnel and I was waiting a minute before giving the all clear.
"I don't know what I would do if you had a hoard of blokes following you everywhere, wanting an autograph or something," he said seriously.
I paused, already sure the storekeeper was gone for the evening. I just stared at Cedric before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
Cedric gave me an annoyed look. "I'm being serious. It's bad enough sometimes with how the twins treat you."
My laughter was cut short.
"The twins?" I asked hesitantly before opening up the door.
"Well, it's actually just Fred if I'm being completely honest. He's extremely protective of you," Cedric replied matter-of-factly.
Despite the twins being my very best friends, I didn't really talk about them in detail with Cedric. Cedric had never come off as overtly jealous of them, but I knew they had never really hit it off. Also, most of my relationship with Fred and George comprised of pranks and joke products which were both highly top secret and, on a need to know basis. In turn, Cedric always respected my friendship with them and hardly ever brought it up directly.
"Fred has always been protective of me," I replied with as much ease as I could muster.
It was odd that the topic of Fred's behaviour towards me had been continually brought up this year. Plus, there was the feeling at the bottom of my stomach and the itch at the back of my mind that I had been adamantly avoiding since the beginning of the term whenever I thought of Fred.
"Well, I'm glad there's someone else out there who wants to keep you as safe as I try to," Cedric added happily.
He walked over to the chocolate frog display and grabbed a couple from the top of the pile.
"Well, there's always Harry," I said.
"True, but he's as bad as you are for getting himself into tight spots," Cedric said skeptically.
I sighed but didn't rebut the remark. Unfortunately, I think this year propelled Harry into first place for who has been in the most danger between the two of us.
Once we were done getting our candy and had a brief snog, Cedric insisted on buying my fill this time since it had been his idea. We then walked back hand-in-hand until we got to the Hogwarts entrance.
"I have to get going on my rounds love. I'll see you later?" he asked, giving me a peck on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow," I replied.
I was the first to walk out and check if the coast was clear.
"Fred?" I asked as I walked right into his shoulder.
He had been standing right on the other side of the statue. This probably meant that the twins had been on their way to Honeydukes.
"See you guys!" Cedric said hurriedly as he walked from behind me and proceeded to jog down the corridor.
At this point he was probably late for meeting up with his patrol partner.
"What?" I asked as I had watched Fred's face turn from surprise to something I had never seen before.
He was furious.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?" Fred bellowed with his hands crossed over his chest.
"Come on Fred—" George started but Fred put up his hand to cut him off.
"You brought pretty boy to our secret place? We don't bring anyone here!" Fred continued to yell.
"You gave Harry the map! Of course, he's been here with Ron and Hermione I am sure," I retorted pointedly.
"You had no right!" he continued heatedly.
"No right?! Cedric has been my boyfriend for over a year and it was only recently I brought him! I made sure he was permanent enough to share this secret with," I continued defiantly.
"It's always going to be him," Fred said, but I didn't know what he really meant by it.
I reached over to take his arm but Fred pulled back and gave me an even worse look—one of disgust.
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! I'm done Marnie," he bellowed again before storming off.
I still had my hand up as if Fred was still there to hold onto to. My mouth was agape in shock and I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
"Marnie…" a voice said before I felt a pair of arms around me.
The strength of the embrace was enough to ground me, probably because these arms were so familiar. It was George.
"Shouldn't you go after him?" I asked, knowing I sounded like I was crying.
"Definitely not. My twin is being an ass and he just hurt my best friend in the entire world," George said matter-of-factly.
"What the hell just happened?" I whimpered into George's shoulder.
George sighed and continued to hold onto me.
"I don't really know Marnie," he replied quietly before pulling away.
George kept one arm wrapped over my shoulder as he led me back to the common room.
Like I said, this was one of the worst weeks of my life.