Kathryn Winchester and the Goblet of Fire

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eight: First Day

When she woke up the next morning, Kat found the rest of her dormitory still sound asleep and the rain that had been hovering over them the previous night had ceased, with only grey clouds lingering above them. Trying to keep as quiet as she could, Kat slipped into the bathroom to get a shower before the rest of them woke up.

Kat quietly headed out of the dormitory, picking up her backpack from her trunk as she left, hurrying down the steps until she reached the common room, unaware that someone else was there as well until he spoke.

"Morning, Kat."

She had to cover her mouth to stifle the small shriek that escape from her as she spun around to see who it was that had spoken, relaxing when she saw Cedric standing there, smiling broadly at her, but that didn't slow down her racing heartbeat.

When she managed to get her breath back, Kat glared at him. "You jerk, you don't sneak up on people at the crack of dawn," she accused him. "You stomp or . . . yodel," she added lamely. Cedric had a hard time keeping a straight face. "Shut up."

"Not a morning person, I take it," he observed as he fell into step next to her.

"No," Kat muttered.

Cedric grinned wildly, but wisely kept his mouth shut until they had reached the Great Hall and she got some tea in her and woken up a little bit. "So, what do you think about the Tournament?" he asked when he saw that she looked a lot less drowsy than she had at first. "Seems pretty cool."

"Yeah, until you consider the death toll," Kat pointed out. "You're not seriously considering entering it, are you?"

"I'll be seventeen in a week," he reminded her. "Why not?"

"Uh . . . because you could get killed," Kat said pointedly. "I get that the Tournament's a big deal and it means a lot if you get chosen, but you could also get killed, Cedric . . . why risk it?"

He stared at her for a long moment, then glanced around as a few people started to gather around the table, all of them chattering mindlessly. "Grab a few pieces of toast," he told her. "Let's take a walk."

"Uh . . . I still have to get my schedule," she said, but was already obeying his instructions.

"Don't worry," Cedric said with a smile at her. "I'll have you back in plenty of time. We'll just go for a walk around the lake." Kat frowned, but followed him with a few pieces of toast in hand as they headed out of the Great Hall and out of the castle.

The grounds were still wet from the thunderstorm the previous night and just as muddy, but there was a sweet scent that always followed a rainstorm and a soft mist had fallen onto the grounds as they walked across the grounds, quietly eating their breakfast.

When they had reached the lake, Cedric suddenly stopped to look back at Kat.

"You want to know why I want to enter this contest?" he asked softly. "The real reason?" Kat shrugged, but nodded. "It's not because of the eternal glory or anything like that. Sometimes I just want to prove something to myself, I want to prove that I'm not just . . ." He trailed off, unable to phrase what he was feeling, but Kat knew.

"That you're more than what your reputation says you are?" she suggested. "You want to prove to yourself and everyone else that you're more than just a school prefect, Quidditch player, and popular?" Cedric gave her a rueful smile. "Don't you think everybody wants to prove that? It's a school, nobody ever fits in. We all just adapt to the titles that people give us and then in a few years, when we meet up with old schoolmates, we're a completely different person that who we used to be."

"I just don't want to be that guy anymore," Cedric admitted. "I just want to . . . be myself, I guess."

"Then be him," Kat suggested. "Just be Cedric Diggory and if you want to enter the Tournament, then enter it. Just do it because you want to, not because everyone expects you to."

Cedric gave her a small smile. "You give pretty good advice for a fourteen-year-old," he said. Kat stuck out her tongue at him, causing him to laugh. "Would you enter, if you were seventeen?"

"Uh . . . definitely not," Kat said with conviction. "I'm not exactly inclined to go off risking my neck just to have my name down for all of history to know about." She bit into the toast. "Why did you tell me this, anyway?"

"Sorry?"

"Why tell me? Why not one of your friends?" she asked.

He looked embarrassed as he leaned against a tree, glancing towards the lake. "I trust you," he said simply. Kat fought the blush that crept up into her face, but it ignored her will, revealing itself to the world. "Um . . . you won't tell anybody this, will you?"

Kat mimed locking up her lips and throwing away the key. He smiled as he looked back across the lake, accepting a piece of toast that she offered him. This place really was beautiful, Kat thought as she looked up at the castle, sadness going through her.

"What's wrong?" Cedric asked her and she realised that her eyes were slowly flowing with tears.

"Uh . . . nothing, just something in my eye is all," she said as she hastily wiped away her tears. "You know, my dad used to tell me about this place for as long as I can remember. He said that he was never happier than when he was here. I just wish that he was still here so that I could talk to him, even if it was just in a letter."

Cedric placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, sympathy going through his face. "I'm sorry about your dad," he said.

"I just can't believe how much my life has changed since the accident," she whispered. "Sometimes, it just feels like I'm living another girl's life." It was the first time she had said that to anyone. Even Faith didn't know the depths of her grief and how much everything just overwhelmed her.

"Someone once told me that you should just be yourself," Cedric offered, giving her a teasing smile. "Be the you that you want to be, not the one that everyone else expects you to."

She hit him playfully. "That's not what I said."

"I edited," he pointed out, grinning before he looked back up at the castle. "We'd better get back if we want to get our schedules. Hopefully, they won't have messed this one up like they did last year," he added dryly as they made their way up to the castle.

Unfortunately, the muddy slope was not going to be kind to them, as Kat slipped on it, ending up tripping over her own feet and causing both her and Cedric, who was next to her, to end up in a heap on the ground.

Kat blushed violently when she realised that she had landed on top of Cedric and was so close to him that she could see just how blue-grey his eyes were. "Sorry," she whispered, but then realised that Cedric was laughing so hard that he was almost crying. "What—?"

She stared at him as he continued to laugh, unable to control it as it spilled out of his throat. After a minute, she couldn't help it; his laughter was contagious and a small giggle escaped from her lips as she realised just how funny this situation was and joined in, their laughter echoing in the morning dawn.

By the time that they managed to get to their feet and reach the Great hall, their laughter had ceased, but Cedric still had an amused smile on his face as they rejoined the Hufflepuff table. Kat saw Faith at the Gryffindor, chatting endlessly with the Weasley twins, but she gave her sister a grin as she saw Kat and Cedric entering the hall together.

"Ah, Miss Winchester," Professor Sprout said brightly as she handed out the new class schedules. "A pleasure to have you here. I remember when you father was here . . ." She prattled on about Jack Winchester as she handed Kat her schedule. "There we are. And welcome to Hogwarts," she added with a smile.

"Thanks." Kat glanced down her schedule to look over it carefully. In addition to the regular classes, she had signed up for Care of the Magical Creatures and Divination, the latter of which she had first, which was located in the North Tower. "Uh . . ." She glanced around at Cedric, who was pouring over his own schedule. "Cedric, where's the North Tower?"

"Divination first?" he guessed, glancing up at her. She nodded. "Okay, go out the Great Hall and take the staircase all the way to the fifth floor and then go to the left. When you reach the second corridor on your right, go down there and you'll reach a second staircase, which you'll take to the seventh floor. With me so far?" She nodded, trying to bear this all in mind. "When you reach the seventh floor, go to the right and you'll find a spiral staircase that will lead directly to the Divination classroom." Cedric looked apologetic. "Sorry, I know it's a lot to remember."

"I've got near-perfect memory," she assured him. "I'll be okay."

"All right, but if you get lost, just ask one of the paintings, they'll be sure to set you straight." She nodded as she got up. "I'd take you there myself, but I've got Potions first thing and it's as far from the North Tower as you can get."

"It's okay. Thanks, though." Kat smiled at him as she got up, swinging her bag onto her shoulder as she headed out of the Great Hall, about to follow Cedric's instructions when she heard someone yelling her name.

"Kat! Hey, hold up! What's your hurry?"

"Hi, Faith," Kat said with a smile as she stopped by the staircases, looking over at her sister.

"Don't just 'hi, Faith' me," her sister said, almost irritably. "What was all of that about?"

Kat gave her a curious look, bewildered. "What was all of what about?" she asked.

"Oh, come on, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," Faith said, placing her hands on her hips. Kat stared at her, dubious and she sighed. "What was going on with you and Diggory?"

"Nothing," Kat said, too quickly and her sister's smile widened. "There wasn't! We were just talking." Even to herself, she didn't entirely believe that, which was why Faith probably had such a wide grin to her face. "We were!" she insisted, resisting the urge to squirm under Faith's scrutiny.

"Uh-huh."

"Stop it, Faith," Kat implored her.

"If you say so. I guess there were certain prospects on why you went into Hufflepuff," she said brightly. Most unfortunately, there were a couple third-year Hufflepuffs that walked past her at that moment, glaring at Faith as she said that. "Sorry, guys," she said apologetically.

"Faith, contrary to popular belief, there are other reasons besides boys to go into a certain house," Kat told her.

Wrinkling her nose, Faith frowned at her. "Like what?" she asked innocently, almost childlike.

"Like having certain attributes that are what the founders looked for in their students?" Kat suggested. Her sister only stared at her, looking completely flabbergasted and she sighed. "Never mind. I have to get going if I want to get to the North Tower on time."

"You signed up for Divination?" Faith asked, incredulous. "Jeez, I dropped that the first day and signed up for Muggle Studies."

"Mom actually let you take that?" Kat inquired as she headed up the stairs, mindful of Cedric's instructions on where to go. Faith followed her, a mischievous look on her face, making Kat know the answer even before her sister gave a reply. "No."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Faith said soberly. "And besides, sis, it's not like she pays enough attention to even realise which classes I signed up for. As far as she knows, I'm still taking Divination and it'll probably be on my last day of school here that she's even going to realise that I've been taking Muggle Studies the entire time. Plus, it's fascinating."

Kat smiled and shook her head. "I don't need to take it. Dad was raised Muggle, remember, and he raised me in the Muggle world."

"Hermione Granger's Muggle-born and she still took it last year. As I remember, she thought that it would be interesting to study it from the wizard's point of view."

With a laugh, Kat grinned as they reached the fourth floor. "Thanks, but I'll stick with Divination."

"Well, I'm this way," Faith said, getting off of the staircase. "I've got Ancient Runes first thing. How they expect us to think about runes this early in the morning, I have no idea . . ." She continued to prattle on, leaving Kat standing by the staircase, shaking her head after her sister.

"That girl's gonna find herself in more trouble than she can handle one day," she mused as she continued on the staircase to find the way to Divination.