One long week had passed since Oriane had seen that vision of the weird rat-man. And another long week of dealing with Calista and Emerald arguing. She was beginning to wonder if she should beg Charlotte to force them to reconcile. If anyone could, it would be her.
Yet Charlotte seemed to want nothing to do with their bickering. And so Oriane thought it best not to bug her about it.
When the second weekend after break rolled around, Oriane had hoped the quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would bring the girls together, but if anything it only seemed to divide them more. Charlotte hated quidditch, and made it clear she had no intentions of going as usual, so Calista and Emerald were the two she normally went with.
However, they each made it clear that they refused to go if the other was attending. In the end, they both decided to not go at all. Just another failed attempt at mending a friendship. And so, frustrated with her roommates arguing, Oriane attended breakfast by herself that morning.
The very moment she set foot in the Great Hall, she noticed something was different. A talkative buzz was in the air, more so than usual. Scanning the room, Oriane caught sight of a small crowd at the Gryffindor table. People from several houses stood around in a tiny huddle, peering at something. In that crowd she caught sight of Cedric, even. Curious as to what was causing all that commotion, she joined them.
In the center of attention was Harry Potter himself. Or, rather, his new broomstick. In his previous game against Hufflepuff, his broomstick had been smashed to bits after the dementors interfered with the game. That news had traveled rather fast all throughout the school. According to the students around her, Harry had gotten himself quite the replacement.
"Isn't it a beauty?" Cedric wondered out loud.
It took Oriane a moment to realize Cedric had actually been talking to her. She looked at the broom, not necessarily as impressed as everyone else around her was. "Much better than the heap of twigs he was left with after last game," she laughed.
"I can't wait to see it in action," Cedric admitted, eyes never leaving the broom. "Really, the best replacement you could have gotten, Harry."
The boy gave him a cheeky grin.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" a terrible, grating voice questioned from within the crowd.
Oraine's eyes quickly caught sight of Draco. Unlike everyone else around him, he didn't seem the least bit impressed with the new toy Harry had gotten for Christmas. But she knew instantly that the boy was more jealous than anything else.
"Yeah, reckon so," Harry said, as if he were bored.
"It's got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" Draco asked, eyes now landing on Harry. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute. Just in case you get too close to a dementor."
Harry leaned forward, beginning to place food on his plate, completely unbothered. "Pity you can't attach an extra arm on yours," he said casually. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."
Many of the students around them laughed, and Draco opened his mouth as if to respond. However, his narrowing eyes were quick to catch sight of both Cedric and Percy Weasley, the Head Boy. Aware of the authority figures around him, he decided to cut his losses and return to the Slytherin table.
"Bit early in the morning for theatrics, isn't it?" Oriane sighed, tired of the drama that seemed to follow her everywhere.
"Don't get your hopes up," Cedric chuckled. "It's game day. I'm sure it'll only get worse."
She nodded in agreement as they turned away, letting the Gryffindor students eat their breakfast in peace. "I suppose you're right."
"Are you coming to the game?" he asked as they sat next to one another.
Feeling rather hungry, Oriane was quick to start stacking her plate with various foods on the table. "I was thinking about it," she admitted, "but normally I go with my roommates and… well none of them seem to want to go today."
"That's alright," Cedric said, waving his hand, "you can come along with us if you want. The Hufflepuff team normally gets together for all the games. You're more than welcome to join us if you'd like."
Quidditch wasn't Oriane's favorite sport to watch. In fact, she didn't really fancy any sports at all. She'd much rather stay in on that cold day next to some fire and catch up on some of her homework. Yet, she found it very difficult to ever say no to Cedric Diggory.
Hours after breakfast Oriane found herself bundled in her thick winter coat. She donned the new knitted hat Esme had given her for Christmas, along with a pair of matching mittens. It was a bright and sunny day, unlike the last time Gryffindor had been on the field, though there was still a brisk winter chill to the air.
The stadium was completely packed with students and professors alike, staring down at the teams below. Sapphire blue and Maroon red for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively. The game was quick to begin, yet the attention seemed more focused on Harry and his broom than anything else.
"They're off," came the voice of Lee Jordan from the loudspeakers, "and the big excitement of this match is the Firebolt which Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship-"
"Jordan," interrupted Professor McGonagall, "would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?"
"Right you are Professor. Just giving a bit of background information…"
Oriane couldn't help but chuckle. "Is the broom really that impressive?"
Cedric nodded, eyes staying glued to Harry as he darted in the air above them. "Like Lee said, all the pros are going to be using it at the World Cup this summer."
He didn't seem interested in any conversation. In fact, it looked as if he would sooner snog the Firebolt than take his eyes off of it. Oriane smiled to herself as she too turned her attention to the game. It was all still new to her, and she didn't know much besides whatever Lee Jordan would announce, but she found herself slowly learning the vocabulary.
Still, the most exciting part about the game for her was watching the reactions of the boys around her. Die hard quidditch players and fans laughing, or making their own commentary. How so-and-so should have done it this way, and if they were in so-and-so's position they would have been able to make that goal. It was the first time she felt sincerely interested in the game.
"What is that?" one of the boys asked. He pointed to something down at the bottom of the field, far away from the action going on above. When Oriane followed his finger, she found three tall, black cloaked dementors standing in the field.
It appeared Harry had also caught sight of this. He didn't even hesitate to take out his wand and point it at the creatures. Oriane couldn't hear what he shouted, but seconds later a bright light leapt from his wand and rushed at the creatures below.
Despite this setback, Harry turned away from the dementors and rushed after the Snitch, where he would catch it only moments later. A whistle blew, ending the game, and the Gryffindor team enveloped Harry in a group hug, nearly knocking him off his broom. Members of the Gryffindor house and supporters of the team began to rush down onto the field, engulfing Harry in a fit of congratulations.
"Wow," Oriane said in awe, watching the crowd below, "I can't believe Harry fought those dementors and still won."
"I don't think those were dementors," Cedric admitted, much to her confusion. "When Harry conjured his patronus, they fell backwards. It looked as if they were people dressed as dementors. I saw their feet and everything."
She opened her mouth to ask who would do such a thing, but then quickly remembered she was unfortunate enough to attend school with Draco Malfoy.
The group stood and began to exit the stadium, moving at a snail's pace with all the bodies in the way. By the time they had made it out, the Gryffindor team was exiting their lockers. Harry was up front, being led by the Weasley boys. In his hand was of course his Firebolt. It was something people couldn't seem to stop gawking at.
Oriane tugged on Cedric's coat sleeve. "You should go say hi to Harry," she smiled, "if you're lucky he might let you kiss his Firebolt."
He chuckled and playfully rolled his eyes. "You think so?"
But he was already convinced. Cedric quickly broke off from their group and called for Harry. Both him and Ron turned to Cedric, yet their eyes were quick to land on Oriane. The two smiled and waved, yet, Ron's expression turned sour as his eyes landed on something behind her.
Confused, she turned around and was met with Hermione. Her eyes were focused on the large crowd in front of them, almost as if Oriane wasn't even there.
"Hey Hermione," Oriane greeted cautiously.
Hermione finally looked at Oriane, eyes widening. "Oh, hello Ori."
Oriane threw a glance back over to Ron and Harry, who were busy conversing with Cedric. "Are you going to congratulate Harry too?" she asked, still confused on why she wasn't already with the group.
"No, I don't think I will," she answered bluntly.
Oriane laughed dryly.
"Ah, so just here to gawk at the Firebolt like everyone else?" she attempted to joke.
"I want nothing to do with that stupid broom," Hermione said angrily. "I bet he failed to inform you he got that as an anonymous gift for Christmas."
"Anonymous?" she repeated.
Hermione nodded. "I'm almost certain it was from Sirius Black. Giving Harry a jinxed broom would certainly kill him faster than if he attempted to by hand."
"The broom was jinxed?" Oriane asked.
"Of course not," Hermione sighed. "Professor McGonagall made sure of it."
There was an awkward sort of tension in the air. Hermione couldn't stop glaring at the broom in the distance, and she was talking so cryptically it was almost painful.
"Is everything… alright?" Oriane asked carefully.
Hermione, who nearly started crying at that question alone, shook her head. "No. Harry's mad at me for reporting his broom. And just when he got it back, Ron's stupid rat went missing and he thinks my cat killed him."
That certainly wasn't the response she was expecting. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had always seemed like such close friends. In a way, Oriane agreed with Hermione to an extent. If she really thought the broom was jinxed as it came from an unknown sender, she had every right to tell Professor McGonagall about it. As for the situation with Ron and his rat, certainly he should have heard her out about it?
Just as Oriane went to offer her condolences, a shoulder sharply ran into her arm as a figure walked by. Taken by surprise Oriane looked at the figure, and much to her disappointment, saw that it was Draco Malfoy. He had stopped walking after their slight collision, his attention turning to Oriane and Hermione.
"What are you looking at?" he spat.
"A failed actor. You didn't make for a very convincing dementor. If that was even what you were going for," Oriane responded, not even missing a beat.
Draco's jaw clenched as he lifted his chin up, almost as if trying to look down on Oriane. "Sure fooled Potter," he retorted. "You should watch yourself. Next time we'll come with mirrors for you."
That comment caught Oriane off guard. It had been so long ago since she faced her boggart, she had almost forgotten just how many people witnessed it. And, unfortunately, that bit of information seemed to have made its way to Draco.
"As much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I really ought to get going," Draco continued as his eyes landed on Hermione. "I don't fancy catching something off of your mudblood pet."
His audacity was so uncalled for it was infuriating. Oriane found herself clenching her fists as red clouded her vision. Never before had she felt so sincerely angry. She had felt frustrated and upset plenty of times, but pure anger? She wanted to do nothing more than hit that boy.
"Would you mind repeating that?" Oriane asked through gritted teeth.
"What, so you can send Hawthorne after me?" he asked with a sick grin. He then paused, a more serious expression overtaking his face as he loomed over Oriane. "It's bad enough you were raised by a half-breed, but now you surround yourself with mudbloods too? Though, I guess it's to be expected saying as how your mother-"
"Draco."
He didn't get to finish. No, he wasn't allowed to. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Cedric had finished speaking with Harry and was returning to Oriane. He had heard the tail end of Draco's rant, and he looked angry. It was an expression Oriane had never seen on him before. It was… terrifying.
"Diggory," Draco greeted cooly.
"The only reason I'm not taking house points from you is because I know McGonagall already took a fair amount from her yelling at you earlier," Cedric started. "However, if I ever hear that word come out of your mouth again, you'll have more than house points to worry about."
Draco scoffed. "You don't scare me."
"It's not me who you should be worried about," Cedric warned.
Draco opened his mouth as if to retort, only to quickly stop himself. Whatever was swirling around in his mind seemed to not be worth the trouble. Instead he turned around, giving Cedric a quick "whatever," as he joined the rest of the stragglers in their walk back to Hogwarts.
"Are you two alright?" Cedric asked, turning his attention to the girls.
Hermione looked as if she was nearly in tears, yet she nodded her head at the question anyway. She quickly left afterwards, not even saying a farewell as she vanished in the distance.
"Poor Hermione," Oriane sighed. "She's already got so much on her plate. I don't know why Draco had to go and start that."
"What about you?" asked Cedric. "He seemed to be ripping into you pretty well."
She attempted to smooth her hair over, which proved to be difficult with the mittens on her hands. She took a deep breath as she slowly began to walk back to the castle, following in the footprints of everyone else.
"I'm alright. I only really got upset when he spoke about Hermione like that. As if she was a pet," she said.
"Being cruel is his specialty," Cedric sighed, falling in step with her. "Blood superiority is the only thing the Malfoy family seems to care about. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to take his words to heart."
"You don't have to apologize or explain anything for him," Oriane said.
Cedric shrugged. "I'm not really trying to do either of that. I'm more trying to let you know that I don't agree with what he thinks."
She couldn't help but smile. The thought of Cedric being anything but good was so outlandish it was almost funny.
"I would never think that of you," she assured him. "You never seemed like that type."
Cedric smiled, his grey eyes stealing a glance at her before quickly focusing on the path in front of them once more. "Yeah, well, actions speak louder than words."