Thank you guys so much for reading! and i dont own anything but the plot and the oc's. Enjoy!
Allie paced the common room. She was biting her nails down to the finger tip, it was another of her numerous nervous habits. She was having a hard time processing what happened at the champion selection earlier. Fleur Delacour was chosen for Beauxbatons, Krum for Durmstrang, and Cedric for Hogwarts. Then Harry's name came out of the Goblet accompanied by a great deal of freaky magic. No one knew how it happened or even why.
There were only supposed to be three champions and they all had to be over seventeen. Allie read Harry's mind after his name was called, it was a big jumble of nothing. He was as stunned as everyone else, Allie knew he didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire, he's not that stupid. But if he didn't then who did?
Ron and Hermione were waiting in the common room with Allie, they wanted an explanation too. Ron was sulking on the couch, he had the audacity to be mad at Harry for being called, Allie could have smacked him for being such a child. Hermione was looking out the window, she had her arms wrapped securely around herself, trying to keep warm in the crisp England night air.
It had been three hours since the students exited the Great Hall and Harry still had not returned. Allie was not known for her patience, she was sick of waiting. She started to tap her fingers furiously on the table near her.
It wasn't a coincidence that Harry's name came out of that cup, it couldn't be... She'd had enough, this waiting thing was not for her. "Oh this is ridiculous!" She all but screamed. Ron and Hermione looked up at her, startled at her sudden outbreak. They hadn't talked in the last hour or so and it took them by surprise. "How long does it take to say that Harry can't compete?"
"I am competing." Harry's voice came from the direction of the portrait hole. He was standing there with a blank expression on his face. Allie concluded that he was trying to be calm but he was shaken up a bit.
"You cannot be serious." Hermione said from her position by the window. He shrugged his shoulders at her like it was no big deal. He glanced at Allie, she was frowning clearly showing her disapproval. She didn't look at him but at the floor by his feet, Allie was not a happy girl at the moment.
"Could have told your best mate that you entered the bloody contest." Ron growled at him. Harry was taken aback by Ron's attitude . Why was he so mad?
"I didn't ask for this Ron." Harry trying to explain, the words came out more angry than he meant them to.
"Yeah, right. I'm sure." He stalked off up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Hermione looked at Harry before saying that she was going to bed and headed up the opposite stair case. She wasn't mad at him, just shocked. For once in Hermione Granger's life she didn't have anything to say.
Allie and Harry were left in the Common Room, alone. She had her arms crossed, a hand ran up and down one side of her arm more out of defensiveness than the cold, in fact she rarely felt the bitter temperatures of England. Her blue eyes shot up and mixed with Harry's green ones. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.
"Dumbledore thinks that I should. He says that it will lure out whoever put my name in the cup."
"Harry, this tournament is dangerous. So dangerous. Please don't do this." Her eyes were pleading with him now, Harry knew she was thinking that he was a complete moron for doing this tournament willingly. He really considered dropping out but Dumbledore did make a good point. Harry wanted to find out who was after him too, and if this was the only way then he would do it.
"I have to." He stated flatly.
She took a deep breath and nodded her head. She clenched her jaw tightly, trying really hard not to say something stupid that would only end in a huge fight.
Harry hated to make her worry but it was for good reason, eventually she'll realize it. "I'm gonna head to bed. OK?" He told her trying to keep his voice as reassuring as possible. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She made no response . The small blond pushed past him to get to the window and look out on the Black Lake. Harry sighed and started to head to the stairs.
"I wouldn't go up there just yet if I were you." She didn't turn to face him as she talked. "You should wait till Ron falls asleep, he's pretty pissed at you."
"Thanks."
She murmured something that Harry didn't quite catch then stomped up to bed herself. Harry plopped down on a couch, utterly exhausted (mentally and physically). He thought he would heed her warning, she could after all read minds. He'd give Ron a few minutes to fall asleep, if he didn't he might be signing his own death certificate.
Harry wasn't going to lie to himself, he was excited to be in the Triwizard Tournament. He knew the tasks were brutal (and from what Krum was saying, they were also pretty cruel) but he never backed down from a challenge. And the opportunity to beat Cedric Diggory to a pulp wasn't completely horrible either. Harry smiled to himself. If Cedric was going to be in this tournament so was Harry. Bring it on.
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Allie was supposed to meet Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the courtyard at one o'clock. Crap. She was running late. She was in the library and got caught up reading a book about the Triwizard Tournament (yeah, she was a nerd and she freely admitted to it). If Harry was going to really do this thing she thought that she should probably get some background information on it.
While she walked she read the extremely thick and heavy book she checked out. People have died in this Tournament. Why the hell would they sign up then? She skimmed over the page she had started to read. Ah. Fame and glory. Every boy's favorite ambition.
Allie was not paying attention to where she was going and rounded a corner too quickly. She knocked into something tall and fell to the ground with a big 'thump' and much to her displeasure a small squeak escaped from from her lips. So much for being invincible. I guess being a klutz cancels that out.
"I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." She apologized as she started to pick up the other person's papers that she managed to scatter everywhere. She looked up to see who she had ran into and apologize once more.
"That's completely alright." Cedric's smooth voice informed her. "Are you ok? You took quite a fall there." She flushed scarlet red. Stop that!! My gosh, Allie Cullen you are lame!
"Yeah, I'm fine." They continued to gather his possessions from all around them. When they finally got it all together Cedric stood and offered a hand to help her up. She accepted it gladly, when she was up she tried to brush all the dirt off of her. Cedric looked down at her with an amused look on his amazingly handsome face. He then laughed.
"What." Allie was feeling a little self conscious at the moment, something that didn't happen often. She turned her head slightly and wiped at her cheek, hoping the merlin that there wasn't a huge smudge of make up or something there.
"Nothing. I just like your shoes." Allie glanced down at her feet, relieved that was all he was talking about. She was wearing her black converse. She took her robes off after classes and with the short plaid Gryffindor skirt she wore her shoes were showing like a big sign that yelled 'loser American'.
"Yeah, well I'm not the high heel type." She confessed.
"I like that." Allie scrunched her eye brows at his comment.
"You do?" She was pretty surprised by this.
"Yeah I find it... refreshing. Why?"
Allie didn't want to say the reason why she questioned him but her fantastic friend, word vomit, got to her and she ended up saying "Not to be rude but you seem like the kind of guy who would be into the high heeled pretty girls."
He half smiled at that. "Ah, well I'll let you in on a little secret." he leaned in to whisper in her ear, just like at the champion selection. "I'm not. I'm into sneaker wearing pretty girls." Allie snorted very unladylike. "What?" He questioned.
"Do those lines work on all the girls around here?" Allie asked. He cannot be like this all the time and to be honest she didn't like it if he was. When he said his last complement, it reminded Allie of a guy from her old school. He fed pretty lines to girls he wanted, too. But when he got what he wanted from them, he kicked them to the curb and went on to find his next play thing.
"What lines?" He seemed to shrink back a bit. Allie knew she could be intimidating at times, so it didn't take her by surprise.
"Your good." Allie scoffed. She started to walk away but Cedric stepped in front of her, cutting her off from the way she needed to go to meet her friends.
"What did I say? Whatever it was, I'm sorry." He seemed sincere to Allie. She looked into his eyes. There was no hint that he was trying to play her, but she wasn't sure. Guys were tricky tricksters sometimes.
"I've known boys like you Cedric. They say whatever they need to to get what they want. Well I'm not some bimbo that's going to do whatever you ask me to do just because you compliment me. If thats what your after, you've got the wrong girl." She started to walk around him but he grabbed her arm.
"Wait, you've got the wrong impression of me." She stayed facing the way she was heading. He still held her arm as he spoke. "I say those things because... because I don't know how to act around you. I like you and... I can't think of anything to say. Every intelligent thought leaves my head and all that's left is.... I don't know..."
"Word vomit." Allie finished for him.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed, he felt like an idiot. "It's just you make me kind of nervous." It was his turn to blush.
"I make YOU, Cedric Diggory, nervous?" He chuckled nervously. "Every girl in the school wants you. Girls cannot make you nervous."
"Well not all girls. Just you." He searched her eyes. "And thats the honest truth."
She gave him a lopsided smirk. From around the corner she heard light, swift footsteps approaching. "Allie there you are!" Hermione's voice flooded through the corridor. "The boy's were getting impatient so I decided to come look for..." She saw who Allie was with and smiled. "...you." the bushy haired girl finished slowly.
Allie laughed lightly and rubbed her forehead. "I'll be there in a minute, Mione." She looked up at Cedric, her features no longer hard and angry. "I was supposed to meet them and I'm running late..." She trailed off.
"No, right, yeah. Go on, I understand." He stammered. The Hufflepuff graced her with a small smile.
Allie walked over to where Hermione was waiting. She could feel Cedric staring at her back. She felt bad for thinking he was a player. Allie didn't want things to be like this between them, jeez she didn't even know him and she was still willing to give him a chance, that was a step for Allie and it had to mean something. There was something about that boy that reminded her of someone she used to knew, like they'd been friends once. And to be quite honest she didn't want to lose the feeling that he gave her when he was near, she felt comfortable around him. "Hey Cedric?"
"Yeah?" his voice was filled with hopefulness.
"See ya around." She gave him a big smile that told him she was sorry for jumping to conclusions.
He returned the smile with a gleaming one of his own and told her what he had said before "Definitely."
Ok. You might be confused about why Allie jumped to conclusions about Cedric and the truth is that she doesn't trust people easily. In later chapters it explains why. =]