Disclaimer: I don't own Cedric, or the Yule Ball, or Cho Chang. None of that. That's silly. Instead, I own this beautiful chapter... Of beautifulness... And Promise... Who's pretty... Very pretty
Chapter 13
Presents
Because of the number of students staying at Hogwarts over the holiday, the Hufflepuff Common Room was packed all throughout the days leading up to the Yule Ball, always into the late hours of the night, often into the wee hours of the morning, and, on occasion, until sunrise. In the absence of homework, students became rowdy, talking amongst themselves, shouting or arguing about games they played, or even, in very rare cases, studying or reading. Some even disappeared for hours at a time to go to the halls and play hide and seek inside the castle, in which the hiders had to contend with not only the seeker, but also the wrath of Filch and Mrs. Norris, which helped to add another layer of intrigue and excitement to the already challengingly massive scale of the game.
Cedric did his best to stay cheery. He accomplished this by going to bed early, getting plenty of rest, and then waking up at sunrise to travel down to the Common Room, where he sat for several hours in silence until it began to fill up around ten or until Olivia woke up and came down to meet him, whichever came first.
The reason for his pattern was two fold: to keep himself in shape for when classes started again, and to avoid the attention that came with the school confirming the wild rumor that Cedric was undoubtedly going to the Yule Ball with Cho Chang and that Cedric had chosen her over Fleur Delacour.
"It was a tough decision, Ced," Patrick Rondheimer said, clapping Cedric on the shoulder in the Common Room two days after Cedric's confrontation with Promise. "But I think I would've gone with Chang in the end. It's kinda intimidating going with someone older than you, you know?"
Cedric looked at him suspiciously. "How would you know?"
Patrick smirked intelligently. "I asked Alicia Knowlings to the Ball."
"The seventh year Slytherin? I thought she was taken."
"I asked a while ago," he said, still smirking.
And the conversations continued, Hufflepuff boys of all ages patting him on the back for such a successful "conquest."
"Lucky guy! I could only get someone from Gryffindor!"
"You'll tell us how it is, right, Ced?"
"Are you ready for the opening dance?"
"What color are your dress robes? Do they match her? I'm sure you'll look fantastic!"
It was the most frequent question they asked, and it was the one question he refused to answer. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell people about his slate blue dress robes. To the contrary, he couldn't wait for everyone to see the robes he had bought for Promise's parents' Christmas party from the year before, but he wanted it to be a surprise, and he wanted to see how everyone else was dressed, which he couldn't know. If other people told them their colors, he would be obligated to reveal his robes.
The thing that excited Cedric more than anything else was in wondering about who was going with whom. It was all very interesting to see how some of the outgoing boys turned shy in the face of danger and didn't get "favorable" partners, although Cedric always pointed out to them, they'd have a good time regardless of their choice in date.
"Easy for you to say," Tony Bronstone said. "You're going with Cho Chang."
The absence of Sam and Promise still took its toll on Cedric. Were it not for Olivia, he was sure he would've gone mad with the stress of dealing with buildup to the Yule Ball, which he found himself looking forward to more and more each day. The more he thought about spending a night dancing and listening to the music of a band Professor Dumbledore was supposed to have handpicked (going rumor was the The Weird Sisters), the more anxious he was for Christmas to come. Even though he was going with Cho Chang, his resolution to make the best of the night helped propel him through the week between the end of term and Christmas.
Because of the constant congestion of the common room and the fact that Cedric didn't feel like running around the castle with anyone except for Promise and Sam and Olivia when they were together, Cedric spent time in the library, away from Sam and Promise, whom he stayed away from so he could focus at getting through the Yule Ball. It didn't help they always happened to walk up just as someone was congratulating Cedric and walked out without saying a word to Cedric.
But in Cedric's mind, it didn't matter. Promise and Sam would come back after the Yule Ball and it'd be like nothing had ever happened before and they'd still be friends, best friends. It would be joyous to talk about everything that had happened since Cho had asked him and they could finally start getting to work on figuring out how to survive underwater for an hour in the second task.
"I have no ideas," Olivia said, leaning back in a library chair the first Monday of break when Cedric finally got around to telling her. "Nothing."
Cedric nodded silently. The thought of going under water and having to not only risk his life, but the life of someone else didn't appeal to him.
Assuming the mermaids took someone.
"You could transfigure yourself into something that can breathe underwater," Olivia suggested half-heartedly. "Like a goldfish."
Cedric shook his head. "I wouldn't trust myself with human transfiguration. That's a really advanced concept I don't know yet. It's something for me to learn next year, and not really do-able before the second task."
Olivia frowned. "Promise knows more spells than I do."
"But you're here now. So come on. What can we use?"
"Human transfiguration."
"You already said-"
"What color are your dress robes?"
Cedric looked at her, confused. "Why do you want to know the color of my dress robes?"
"I'm curious. You haven't told anyone. I asked Promise, but she just smirked and walked off. The least you could do for me after helping you through this is tell me."
Cedric smiled, slightly embarrassed. "They're really not that much of a big deal."
"They're a big enough deal for you to not talk about them."
Cedric eyes her suspiciously. "I want people to be surprised."
"After all this hype, I'll say they'll be surprised. So why not tell me? I'm not going to tell anyone."
"But that's no fun," Cedric said playfully. "Why would I only tell you? You're one of the people I want to surprise the most. You and Sam."
"Now you sound like Promise," Olivia said, amused.
Cedric sighed. "I guess I do. But I still wanna see how people look without forming a picture in my mind ahead of time."
Olivia thought about it for a few seconds. "I see your point, but it still just makes me want to see your dress robes more."
Cedric leaned in, smiling. "You'll like them. Promise did."
"Wait, Promise has seen your dress robes?"
"Of course. Promise makes it a point to see things she wants to. That… and there was a party at her parent's house last year."
"You've been to Promise's house?"
"Well sure," Cedric shrugged. "Haven't you ever been to Sam's house?"
"Of course! We're like, best friends."
"Same principle. Except I've only been to Promise's house once."
"Tell me about it," Olivia said, expectantly.
"Maybe some other time," Cedric said wistfully, brushing the nostalgic story aside temporarily. "It's far too good a story for me to ruin on a cold day in the library."
"Hi, Cedric," Cho said as she sat down in the chair across the table from him.
"Hi, Cho," Cedric said sheepishly, embarrassedly. It was the first time he'd spoken to her in three days, since Promise had insulted her and she ran away to Ravenclaw tower. "How are you doing?"
"Better. Thanks," Cho said, not making eye contact with him, and instead staring blankly at the front cover of the library copy of The Winged Westimule of Wattlemar she held in her hands. "How have things been?"
"They've been better," Cedric said optimistically. "But, then again, they could be a lot worse. I mean, I could have no date to the Yule Ball and be going solo."
Cho grinned in spite of herself. "Don't be silly. I'm surprised you weren't taken sooner. I thought for sure you'd be gone when I asked you."
"Blame Promise," Olivia muttered under her breath.
Cho looked at her, concerned. "What do you mean."
Olivia looked at her, venom in her eyes barely noticeable. "I mean-"
"That Promise was warding off other people with a sort of not-Promise thing she was doing," Cedric said, not trusting Olivia to finish the sentence. "If I didn't know better, I'd have said that Promise didn't want me to go with anyone and would have rather seen me dancing alone on the dance floor at the beginning."
"You wouldn't have danced alone," Cho said vaguely. "You could have asked any girl watching your first dance to join you and she would've left her date in an instant. You're more popular than you give yourself credit for."
Cedric shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "But that would've meant taking someone else's date, and I don't do that."
"Why not?" Cho asked, slightly confused. "I would've joined you."
"But what about your date?" Cedric asked. "What would he have had to say about you dancing with me?"
Cho paused for a minute. "You know I never thought about that. It's a good point."
"That, and it would've caused all sort of scandal for the school," Olivia smirked.
Cedric shot Olivia a look. "What do you mean?"
"Well whoever you chose, because you could choose anybody, would either be a really, really good friend like Promise, or someone you like."
Cho looked at Cedric suspiciously. "So, Cedric?"
Cedric's stomach dropped slightly. "Yeah?"
"Who would you have danced with if you had gone alone?"
Cedric and Olivia exchanged glances instantly, both knowing the answer. Sam. I would've danced with Sam. But if I hadn't known Sam, I would've danced with Promise, because it worked at her parents' party. He rephrased the answer differently in his head, but given the fact he didn't want to ruin Cho's day, he blurted out the only words he could've imagined saying to her. "You, probably."
Olivia's face went gray and stony, but Cedric didn't pay attention, he was too busy telling a half-lie to Cho.
"Really?" Cho asked, elated. "You really would've danced with me?"
Cedric half-nodded, still half-regretting what he just said. "You always say hi and you're really nice to me. If you were in the front, I probably would've spotted you and chose you."
Cho smiled brightly. "Then I'm glad we're going together."
Olivia sighed heavily and stood up from her chair.
"Where-"
"To find a book about fresh air," Olivia said, not looking at Cedric and already heading towards the stacks.
The silence between Cedric and Cho that followed was nothing short of awkward. Cedric sat there for a few minutes, trying not to look at Cho, instead looking at a small roll of parchment upon which Olivia and he had scribbled notes about what to do in the second task.
"So how are we going to meet up?" Cho asked, breaking the silence.
"Hmm?"
"For the ball? How are we going to meet up on Christmas?"
"Entrance hall?" Cedric asked, saying the first place that came to mind.
Cho gave a half-hearted groan. "Everyone's going to meet in the Entrance Hall. It'll take a long time to find you."
"I could go to Ravenclaw Tower," Cedric suggested just as half-heartedly. The Entrance Hall sounded like a good idea, people would be there and he wouldn't have to be alone with Cho, or at least, more alone than he'd have to be.
"Really? You'd walk all the way to my Common Room?"
"Well I won't come inside," Cedric said jokingly, but still somewhat disenchanted with the thought of traveling all the way to Ravenclaw Tower just to pick up Cho.
Cho smiled and her shoulders shrugged in response to the butterflies Cedric suspected were fluttering in her stomach. "Thanks, Cedric."
"It's no problem," Cedric said, trying his best not to slip into a monotone. "How do I get there?"
"It's at the end of a corridor on the fourth floor. You need to travel down the fourth corridor hallway, turn left at the picture of the family at the picnic, a right at the end of the corridor, another left once you get to the statue of Ivan the Ingenious. I'll be waiting for you outside the common room, which is guarded by the portrait of a school of fish."
"Alright," Cedric said, slowly, committing Cho's directions to memory.
"So I'll see you then?" Cho asked.
"If I don't see you first," Cedric said, smiling as best he could.
With a giggle, Cho turned around and had walked no more than five feet, when four other girls appeared, all speaking quickly, chattering about what Cho had just said.
Within seconds, Olivia walked back up to Cedric and sat down, holding her right hand to her head, eyebrows raised.
"You okay?" Cedric asked.
"Shhhh!" Olivia hushed him. "I'm waiting for this headache to go down."
"Your what?"
"Shhhh! My head hurts!"
"Why?"
"Because you lied to her."
Cedric stayed silent for a few seconds, wondering if he should really tell her what he had just realized. "Actually, I wasn't."
"Ow," Olivia said, wincing more as her "headache" grew in strength.
"A few weeks ago I never would have asked her, but now…" Cedric's voice trailed off. "I'm not quite sure. I might have asked her."
"What about Sam?"
"Of course there's Sam," Cedric said defiantly. "But that still doesn't mean if she was already taken I'd have asked her."
"What?"
"What I mean to say is, I might have asked Cho if I didn't really have any other options."
"By other options you mean Sam, Promise, or me, right?"
"I guess," Cedric said.
Olivia sighed. "You really are going to make the best of Sunday, aren't you?"
On Christmas morning, it was a chill that awoke Cedric to a pile of presents at the foot of his bed, Dani the owl perched on top, a fancy red and green cloth bow tied around her neck. She chirped a good morning to him softly, so as not to wake the other boys in his dormitory.
"Morning, Dani," Cedric smiled groggily as he reached into his nightstand and pulled open a drawer, revealing a bag of owl treats. Dani chirped again and took a few hops up the bed towards Cedric's stomach. "And Merry Christmas to you too." He unrolled the bag, poured a few treats into his hand, and held them out for Dani to eat. She plopped her beak into Cedric's palm and began to eat greedily. "Love you too, dear," Cedric said, rolling up the bag and patted her on the head with his free hand. "Know if anything good came?" Dani cooed a response between nibbles. "I hope so," Cedric sighed. "I could use some cheering up." Dani looked up at him with her big, knowledgeable owl eyes. "Don't look at me that way," Cedric said, gently hugging his pet. "Now shoo. I have things to take care of, and you have a party to celebrate in the Owlrey." Dani cocked her head to one side in response. Cedric frowned. "Don't tell me you think I don't know what goes on in there." Dani stared at him blankly. "Fine, fine. Deny all you want, still won't change the fact I know what's really going on. So go. Enjoy your Christmas!" Dani clicked her beak trice, nibbled the index finger Cedric was using to stroke her wing and flapped off out of the barely open window, which was letting in just enough crisp air to awaken anyone in its path.
With a sigh, Cedric began the arduous process of opening his pile of parcels, smiling fondly and thinking of the person who sent each one. He opened Cho's first. She had sent him a small glass figurine of a dragon, which she said in her card to him was an original creation of hers, and because of that, she had defined it as a symbol of good luck, which led her to the conclusion that he should carry the glass dragon in his pocket at all times, especially at the Ball that evening. Olivia had sent him a book entitled Advanced Quidditch Stratagems, which Cedric recognized as the book Promise had shown to him at Diagon Alley during their shopping trip. Sam gave him a box full of chocolate frogs; she also made sure they came complete with a variety of fruit flavored gummy flies to keep the frogs entertained while they waited to be eaten. Rumor was if you got the right fruit flies, not only would they create odd flavors to mix in with the chocolate, but they'd also change the wizard card inside. Most collectors considered this cheating, but Cedric figured the fruit flies didn't really change much for the casual collectors, like him. His parents sent him a half-filled photo album of pictures dating all the way back to the few years he had spent in the daycare before Hogwarts and up until the summer, the last of which was a picture of him and Promise in the front lawn, reading books and laughing about something or another. Cedric thought for a minute before he remembered the joke. "So an American cowboy accidentally walks into a Leaky Cauldron… and carries it around his legs like chaps for the rest of the day."
But it was Promise's book that he had been looking forward to most. She always sent him two things: a really well thought out something Cedric would enjoy, hidden in the façade of a fake sounding product, and a book. This year, she sent him a bottle of homemade dragon repellant, which was, in actuality, a very nice smelling cologne of her own original creation. That was cute. But every year Promise sent Cedric a book she designed and wrote herself that was based on a pre-established fake imprint she had designed in their second year. Somehow (Cedric had never asked) Promise managed to get it professionally bound, printed up, sent directly to him. This was the fifth in Promise's series of self-help books she had affectionately titled The Pretty Boy's Guide To… and signed under the penname Richard K. Snootlebottom. This year she had written The Pretty Boy's Guide to Getting the Girl in the End. When he looked at it, Cedric laughed, making the other boys in the dormitory grumble and grunt responses, still asleep.
Tiptoeing, Cedric picked up his book and went down into the Common Room, preparing to do what he did every year: read Promise's massive five hundred page survival guide. Cedric had asked her where she had come up with the ideas and time to write such a monster of a book, but everytime she just laughed at him and walked away.
Cedric snuggled himself into a chair, cracked open page one, and began reading. It never ceased to amaze him just how much time and effort Promise had put into the book. In fact, it was so good Cedric truly wasn't sure whether or not Promise had actually collected real interviews from real life pretty boys who had experienced what Cedric had.
Slowly people began to file into the common room, each one incredibly intent on seeing what Professor Snootlebottom had sent Cedric this year.
It was a well-kept secret between them. Cedric hadn't really figured out about Promise's books until last year at her parent's Christmas party, and every year there was a huge commotion and hubbub to find out what was going on with Professor Snootlebottom. People did research, but never found anything conclusive that the book had actually been published or that Professor Snootlebottom actually existed.
Cedric sat in his comfortable chair all day, curled up by the fire, reading the book contentedly, laughing and letting other people read passages he had already read, and had gotten up to chapter six by the time he needed to go get changed and ready for the Yule Ball, which would start in just a little over an hour.
He set his book on his bed and pulled out his dress robes, took off his day robes and began to dress as he was pulling on his socks, the rest of the sixth year Hufflepuff boys walked in, chatting quickly and happily about the night's upcoming events.
"So excited!" Terrence Clamp said. "I still can't believe I'm going with Julie Michaels!"
"Lucky stiff," Patrick Rondheimer mumbled. "I have to meet my date in the Entrance Hall. Good luck wading my way through that."
"Well at least I'm going with Lindsay Engvall," Aaron Baldwin smirked. "I don't have to go out there. I can walk into the Entrance Hall with my date on my arm, looking masterful, in charge."
"Isn't that Cedric's job?" Tony Bornstone asked sarcastically, looking at Cedric.
"What? No!" Cedric said, now in his dress robes, placing The Pretty Boy's Guide to Getting Girls in the End as the fifth in the series, looking vaguely at the other books in the set: The Pretty Boy's Guide to Surviving Quidditch, The Pretty Boy's Guide to Learning How to Mess Around in Class, The Pretty Boy's Guide to Enjoying Normal Things, and The Pretty Boy's Guide to Living Through Classy Social Gatherings. "But Cho asked if I would be willing to pick her up at Ravenclaw Tower so we wouldn't have to look for each other in the Entrance Hall. I don't want to be late, you know."
"Of course, Cedric," Terrence grinned. "So you're heading out?"
"Guess so," Cedric said, as he tied his shoelaces.
"Knock 'em dead, man," Aaron smiled, patting Cedric on the back as he walked past, leaving the dormitory and then the Common Room.
The hallways were eerily empty. Walking up four flights of stairs, making a right, then a left, then a right was unnatural, not something Cedric wanted to experience regularly. It was very seldom one could walk through the halls and not encounter a single soul. Even the ghosts were gone, and they were never gone.
Cedric's thoughts drifted back to what his roommates had said as he was leaving. Many Hufflepuffs had complained over the course of the past few days about entering the Entrance Hall through the side door that led to the kitchens. Some plotted to meet their dates somewhere like the library or another empty classroom so they could make a regal entrance down the marble staircase like the Ravenclaws or the Gryffindors. Most decided against this, however, passing it off as one of the "curses of being in Hufflepuff."
Cedric disagreed with everyone on all these points. The night wasn't about the entrance or the flair of the dress robes, although they were incredibly intricate and beautiful. No. It was more about the experience and the time at the dance.
It was like dating Sam. It wasn't about where they went or what they did. They could have gone to the Hog's Head pub in the middle of a bar fight for all he cared. That didn't matter to him. What was important was spending time with Sam. As long as he got to do that, he'd be happy, no matter where he was.
With a final left after the statue of Ivan the Ingenious, Cedric reached the corridor of the Ravenclaw Common Room, signified by a large portrait of a school of fish at the wall on the end. Standing there, near another portrait, this one of famous Quidditch stars flipping a coin at the beginning of a sort of All-Star World Cup, stood Cho, looking very pretty, bedecked in dress robes of a light blue-ish lilac.
She smiled when she saw him, decked in slate blue robes. "Hi Cedric," she said blushingly as she walked down the corridor alone to meet him, curiously not surrounded by her usual plethora of girls. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too," Cedric smiled back, holding out his arm gentlemanly for her to take as she approached.
"I didn't see you at breakfast or lunch this morning," Cho said sweetly as she took his arm. "Where were you?"
"Reading a book Promise got me for Christmas."
"And how is Promise?"
"Wouldn't know," Cedric said offhandedly. "I haven't talked to her much lately."
"Really?" Cho asked, looking at him sadly. "That's a shame."
Cedric smiled, nodding depressingly. "Tell me about it. So how has your day been?"
"Good," Cho said assuredly. "I've enjoyed myself for the most part thus far. I went to the library with a few of my friends for about an hour, and then I went to my room to get ready, and that took a few hours and now I'm here. Most of the people in my house were almost ready when I stepped outside to wait for you. And now I'm here."
"That's good, that's good," Cedric said casually as they began to walk down the steps leading to the Entrance Hall. "So… get anything as cool as a book by a Professor Richard K. Snootlebottom?"
Cho laughed loudly, yet genuinely. "No! And that's the most preposterous name I've ever heard. Who gave you that?"
"Couldn't say…" Cedric's voice trailed off vaguely.
Cho looked at him suspiciously. "So you do know who sent it to you?"
"Maybe…" Cedric said, just as vaguely.
"What's the book called?"
"The Pretty Boy's Guide to Getting the Girl In the End."
Cho eyed him suspiciously again. "How many of these books has Promise sent you?"
Cedric stopped for a second. "Promise? Whoever said Promise gives me these books?"
Cho smiled knowingly. "First off, Promise has a special sort of sense of humor, one that no one can really replicate, and second there's only one person on the planet who'd send you something with the title "Pretty Boy" in it."
Cedric laughed. Perhaps she was smarter than he and Promise had given her credit for. "That's pretty good, but don't tell anyone, it's our little secret."
"Why not tell people?" Cho asked, confused.
"It's a secret. Promise denied it every year until last Christmas when it sort of… slipped out."
"If you say so," Cho said as they finally reached the marble staircase and descended down it into the half-full Entrance Hall.
People chattered as Cedric and Cho walked through the crowd, Cedric looked around casually for Sam, Olivia, and Promise, but after a few seconds of not seeing them, he focused on the chatter and compliments people threw his way.
"Beautiful dress robes, Cedric! They bring out the blue in your eyes."
"They match!" Someone squealed. "Isn't that precious?"
Cedric winced at that comment. He only had one set of dress robes, and he'd had them for over a year.
Slowly, the hall began to fill up. Cedric and Cho walked to the entrance to the Great Hall, where Fleur Delacour and her new date, Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain Roger Davies, stood.
"Hello, Roger," Cho said brightly. "How are you this evening?"
"Good," Roger nodded dreamily, eyes riveted completely on Fleur and her beautiful gray satin robes. "What about you?"
"I'm very well, thank you. Fleur? How about you?"
Fleur looked at Cho suspiciously as the Slytherins walked up from the dungeons. "I am good, zhank you vehry much." Her eyes turned to Cedric and she smiled brightly, almost sarcastically. "And Cedric, 'ow 'az your Christmas been?"
"It's been good, Fleur," Cedric said. "I take it you're looking forward to this evening?"
"Vehry much so," Fleur said, looking smugly at her still jaw-dropped date.
The oak front doors creaked open and the Durmstrang students walked in, led by Karkaroff and a girl in periwinkle robes Cedric felt looked vaguely familiar.
"Champions over here please!" Professor McGonagall called out just a few feet away from Cedric, Cho, Fleur, and Roger Davies. As Krum, his date, Harry Potter, and his date, Parvarti Patil walked towards them, Professor McGonagall greeted them.
"One side, the eight of you. You'll greet the students as they enter," Professor McGonagall commanded as she positioned them on either side of the doors, ready for the students to enter. She put Cedric and Cho nearest to the door on one side, opposite of Roger Davies and Fleur Delacour, and next to Krum and his date, who were across from Harry and Parvarti. Cedric looked over and after a few seconds recognized the girl in periwinkle blue as Hermione Granger.
Cedric looked to Harry, who seemed dumbfounded in disbelief. Cedric agreed with him. This wasn't the normal Hermione, the Hermione who was purportedly the smartest girl in school, who was smarter than most people in the grade above them.
Cho tapped him on the shoulder excitedly, pointing at Hermione. "Cedric, that's-"
"Shhhh!" Cedric hushed her putting her hands down. "I know, but don't point."
"Right, sorry!"
The rest of the students entered as soon as the Great Hall doors swung open. People stared at Hermione and waved at Cedric or shook his hands or called out to one of the Champions or their dates. It took a lot less time to clear the Entrance than Cedric had imagined it would take for almost two hundred people to squeeze through such a relatively small doorway.
Before he knew it, he was walking through the Great Hall in procession with the other Champions towards a table at the top of the hall, and before he knew it, he had reached the Judges table, where he sat between Cho and Fleur Delacour. After everyone had settled down, Dumbledore said "pork chops" to his plate, making a meal of pork chops appear on his plate.
Just like Promise's parents' party.
When everyone had ordered, the Hall became abuzz with chatter. Cho began to talk very quickly, yet politely, between bites of lamb and sips of butterbeer.
"It is so very nice here. I mean I like it a lot."
"I like this table too," Cedric asked, content to listen to her talk.
"No," Cho giggled slightly. "Hogwarts. It's probably my favorite place on the entire planet. My friends are here, you're here, Quidditch is here."
"But not this year."
"But not this year," Cho nodded, taking a swig of her butterbeer. "This place is my home. Not to say I don't like home at home, but here is nice, beautiful. And they give me free food."
Cedric laughed, toasting his goblet. "I'll drink to that. So what classes are you taking right now?"
Cho sighed heavily. "Oh dear, what am I not taking? Well I dropped out of Divination because Professor Trelawny's a loon. I really enjoy Care of Magical Creatures when I'm not fleeing for my life. Potions sucks because I'm not a Slytherin. And people say that I'm really good at Charms and Transfiguration, but then I see someone like Hermione Granger and I say have you seen what other people can do?"
"Ready for your O.W.L.'s?"
Cho laughed hard, making Fleur stop talking for an instant to turn around and see what the commotion was all about. "Sorry!" Cho said, blushing. "It's just that Cedric asked me a really funny question." Cho didn't see it, but Fleur rolled her eyes and turned around as Cho began talking to Cedric. "No. I'm not. I don't think anyone's ever ready for O.W.L.'s. Were you ready for yours?"
"No," Cedric chuckled.
"Really? You always seem on top of these things."
"Well I am," Cedric explained, cutting a piece off his roast. "But it's really intimidating and it's so comprehensive you oftentimes have trouble figuring out what'll be on it. But the thing you have to remember is that because it is so comprehensive they don't really have an opportunity to test you in depth on much of anything."
"Ah, so you're saying don't worry about them."
"Yeah, they're just O.W.L.'s."
"This coming from the guy who got one in each subject."
Cedric rolled his eyes playfully. "Believe me, Cho. They're just O.W.L.'s."
"And what is that even supposed to mean?" Cho asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Cedric asked, more formal than usual because of the strange tone of Cho's voice.
"I mean O.W.L.," Cho said, more calm than before. "Why do they call 'em O.W.L.'s?"
"Because they're Ordinary Wizarding Levels?" Cedric guessed.
"Exactly," Cho said curiously. "Why are they calling them Ordinary Wizarding Levels? When someone walks up to you and says 'How many O.W.L.'s did you get?' doesn't that translate as 'How many Ordinary Wizarding Levels did you get?' when really you didn't get any levels? You took some tests. You took O.W.L. tests. An O.W.L. is just what you're expected to take. Then you take a test to see how well you understand to see if you're at the O.W.L. I think it's more of a location than a test. It should be an O.W.L. test to see if you're at the O.W.L., otherwise you're subpar and then you succeed in your O.W.L. and then you have a level, and that seems to make no sense at all. So why don't they call them O.W.L.T.'s? That'd make more sense. Then it can be how many O.W.L.'s have you achieved and which O.W.L.T.'s did you pass?"
Cedric was speechless. He actually had nothing to say. That speech would have given Promise a run for her money.
"That is a very good point, Miss Chang," Professor Dumbledore said from a few seats away. "And it's something I've been wondering about myself for quite some time, and now that I know this subject is not just me in my old age and senility I will bring it up too see if we could get the acronym at least change. I was thinking about changing it to Original Writing Letters myself."
Cedric and Cho laughed as Professor Dumbledore turned to a conversation between Professor Karkaroff, Hermione Granger, Viktor Krum, and Harry Potter.
And so they talked about very little, but a lot about very little. Cedric didn't really mind where the conversation went, just so long as it kept going. Cho happened to actually know a great deal in more than Cedric would have guessed. She had plenty of ideas on everything from how House Elves did need to learn how to stand up for themselves to what Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was doing at that exact moment.
"My guess?" Cho said, after she had drained the last few drops from her goblet. "He's probably out somewhere, talking excitedly with a rich "pure blood" family who are promising to give the Ministry a large grant of money in order, they wouldn't say this out loud, of course, to make the Minister forget they really supported You-Know-Who back in the day."
"You really think so?" Cedric asked.
"Oh I know so," Cho said knowingly. "My family once had the Minister over for dinner. He was very nice, but not too bright. He didn't seem to know exactly what he was talking about, and he was incredibly stubborn. My father tried to correct him on something even I know and the Minister wouldn't hear of it."
"Huh," Cedric said. "That's weird. You'd think we'd have a more intelligent minister."
"You'd think so," Cho said. "But Dumbledore didn't want to be involved in politics, so he's here and not there. And, pardon me for being selfish, but I'm glad he's here, thinking about all of his students, all the time."
Cedric nodded as Dumbledore called for the students to step away from the tables. Within seconds, the tables had flown to the walls and Dumbledore had conjured a stage on the right wall of the Great Hall. The Weird Sisters trooped onto the stage, picked up their instruments and began to play.
Smiling, Cedric walked forward to the center of the Hall, Cho on his arm. He placed one hand on Cho's waist and the other in her hand and they began to dance. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular and elegant and choreographed, just something in place, in a slowly revolving circle. After a few minutes everyone else joined. Cedric looked vaguely around for Sam and Promise, but when he realized that Cho had laid her head on his chest he decided it was perhaps not best for them to see each other for the time being.
After what felt like not nearly a long enough amount of time, the song ended and The Weird Sisters struck up a new tune, something faster. People dropped the pretense of formal dancing and began to dance as they saw fit, moving in rhythm to the beat with their partners.
Cedric lost track of time. Songs blended together. One second he'd be freestyle dancing, and the next he'd be slow dancing with Cho. He only sat out two dances with Cho, stopping for punch both times. He didn't get a chance to check the time, but it didn't really matter. He was enjoying himself, and Cho was a very interesting person… and a good dancer. Every time he was by himself, though, he looked desperately for Olivia or Sam or Promise, but never saw them, and before he could look harder for them, Cho had already pulled him back onto the dance floor.
By the time the dance was over and The Weird Sisters had played their last song, everyone applauded and began to leave, Cedric someway behind Harry Potter.
For some reason, his mind turned to the thought of Harry going with Cho and how different his life would have been if Cho had said yes. Cedric bit his lip as Harry began to trudge up the marble staircase.
"Murietta!" Cho squealed to a red-haired girl in the Entrance hall. "Hang on, Cedric, I just want to talk to Murietta real quick."
Cedric stood there for a second before coming to a decision about what to do with Harry. With a resolute "Wait here" to Cho, Cedric turned around to face where Harry was, halfway up the stairs.
"Hey- Harry!" Cedric called out, running up the stairs towards Harry, who, for some reason, looked incredibly bitter and cold about something or another. Was this about Cho?
"Yeah?" Harry asked, stopping his upward climb with his friend Ron.
Cedric reached them, but stood there awkwardly for a second. He didn't really want to say anything around Ron, especially not if Ron wasn't really on Harry's inner circle, although Cedric suspected he was. With a heavy shrug that came more from frustration than politeness, Ron walked away, up the stairs and out of sight.
"Listen…" Cedric lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg. Does yours wail when you open it?"
"Yeah," Harry said, looking like the last few hours had been an utter waste of time.
"Well…" Cedric wondered how best to phrase it. He didn't want to tell Harry the whole clue, or it'd defeat the purpose. Besides, he had a few months to work it out. "Take a bath, okay?"
"What?"
"Take a bath," Cedric nodded. This was more of a clue than Moody had given him. "and – er – take the egg with you, and er –" Cedric wondered how best to phrase what he was trying to convey. "Just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think…" he said pointedly. "Trust me."
Harry stared at him like he was mad. It wasn't good enough. Harry needed something more to go on.
"Tell you what," Cedric said, desperate for Harry to trust him. This must have been about Cho. "Use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go… want to say good night."
With a smile, he turned and walked back down the stairs, meeting up with Cho.
"Ready?" he asked, as Murietta and her date walked away.
"Absolutely."
They walked in silence back to the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"So did you have a good time?" Cedric asked half-awkwardly.
"Of course," Cho smiled at him. "It was very memorable."
"That's good," Cedric said as they reached the painting of the school of fish.
They stood there awkwardly for a few minutes.
"So I'll see you around?" Cedric said.
"Yeah," Cho said. "Thanks for everything."
She took a step forward and kissed him on the cheek. Cedric smiled as she twiddled her fingers in farewell, muttered the password, and disappeared behind the suddenly intangible portrait.
With a heavy sigh, Cedric began the trek all the way back down to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
"Tinsel toes," Cedric said, making the badger jump to one side and bow regally low.
As he stepped inside, someone in a chair stood up.
It was Promise.
She stood there, just like she had when she had opened the door at her parents' Christmas party, hair straightened and beautiful, light green dress robes just as sparkly and flashy as the previous year.
"Well?" She asked.
"It was nice," Cedric said simply.
"Uh huh," Promise eyed him. "I take it you enjoyed yourself."
"Second best night of my life, I'd think," Cedric said.
"What was the first?" Promise asked.
"What do you think it was?"
"Right," Promise smiled, blushing slightly. "Almost forgot about that."
"I've been thinking about it all day. That was awesome."
"I know it was," Promise said.
"I didn't see you out there," Cedric said.
"Oh," Promise blushed. "I didn't really want to be seen. And I was spending my night with Heady Boy Calvin Parker."
"Calvin Parker," Cedric said, nodding. "So is he really Pretty Boy-ish as most people would think?"
Promise laughed for a few seconds. "No. Not at all. You'd be surprised, Cedric. Turns out you can be incredibly talented and smart and funny without being a pretty boy. Remember Bill Weasley? Head Boy during our second year? He's like him. Down to earth. Calvin gets the best grades and if you met him on the street you wouldn't know it. He's so… normal. I usually Head Boys as someone like you or Percy Weasley. You remember Percy?"
"Oh do I remember Percy," Cedric rolled his eyes. "The guy was so… Percy."
"Well I think there's two kinds of Head Boys. There's the Bills and the Percys. Calvin's definitely a Bill. You… I dunno."
"I don't want to be a Percy," Cedric laughed.
"But you're not… Bill enough to be a Bill."
"Thanks, Promise," Cedric said.
"It's no problem," Promise waved him off. "So did you like the book?"
"Of course," Cedric said. "I just wonder how long it takes you to write one of those."
"It's actually not that long at all," Promise said, nodding. "The hard part's coming up with an idea to run with for so many pages. Wanna know the truth? I have about seven more ideas lined up for future Christmas presents. I just haven't written them yet."
"I can't wait to read them," Cedric said.
"So did you have a good time?" Promise asked.
"I told you I would," Cedric said.
"I knew you would, just thought I'd ask."
"How's Sam?"
"She's alright. Been better sure," Promise said dejectedly. "She misses you."
"I miss her," Cedric said softly.
"She was thinking about you all night. I was sitting at her table. She didn't say anything, but you could see it. She'd shoot glances at your table, jealous."
"I'm sorry."
"It's over and done now," Promise said, waving him off. "Now it's about picking up the pieces and moving on." Promise looked down. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," Cedric said walking up to her. "Don't think I could forget about you."
Promise looked up at him. "The thought did cross my mind."
"Be quiet," Cedric laughed and pulled her into a hug. "So we good?"
"Forever and ever and ever and always and always and always," Promise said, muffled into his shoulder. "Wait!" She pushed away from him. "That's not too long, is it?"
Cedric clenched his teeth and looked at her, unimpressed. "You're kidding, right?"
"Good!" Promise said. "Don't ever go anywhere again."
"I didn't go anywhere! You walked away from me!"
"No! That's not how we're remembering it!"
Cedric laughed and hugged her again, squeezing her tight. Promise hugs.
"Merry Christmas, Promise."
"Merry Christmas, Ced."
A/N... Yeah... I'm just gonna say... This chapter flowed a little differently than I thought... But it's good for setting up the rest of the story... I think... Please R/R! Cuz... you can! I'll write you back and we can talk... I Promise!... I mean... I promise... Promise... Promise... Stopping now...