"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." Picasso said. Well, then I guess sitting in front of a blank paper day after day and suddenly one night waking up with this whole chapter in my head doesn't mean anything. ANYWAY! After months of waiting, here is chapter 15, and guess what? Only five more chapters to go and this story will be finished!...Or will it be? Enjoy!
Chapter 15
Mean Friends
"I can't believe it," Lin Mei said, staring at her plate and then looking up at Abril, still holding a spoonful of cereal in her hand, "I just…can't."
In other circumstances, Abril would have felt offended by Lin Mei obvious disbelief, but right now she couldn't stop smiling and giggling.
"One word," Sabine said pointing at Abril, "Impressive."
Abril laughed out loud and gave another bite to her toast. Lin Mei and her friends weren't the only ones who were astonished by the news. The whole school, or at least the whole female community, couldn't talk about anything else. It didn't matter if they were good or bad things, because Abril knew better, and the only important thing was that Cedric Diggory was her boyfriend. After the Second Task, people had started talking, but it was just a few weeks back when Cedric and her had arrived to the Great Hall together holding hands that everyone knew.
"I'm so jealous," Lin Mei sighed, but then staggered, "Jealous of the good kind,"
"You might be the only one who's "jealous of the good kind" though," Mariah pointed out, glowering at some Beauxbatons' girls who were watching Abril nastily.
"I don't mind. They can talk all they want," Abril said with a smirk, waving her hair. Just as she finished her breakfast, the object of her dream-now-turned-to-reality appeared behind her and kissed her neck.
"Good morning, love," Cedric murmured, and then straighten up, turning to her friends, "Hello girls."
"Hi Cedric," the three girls chorused, and Abril gave them a knowing look as she stood up from the bench and took her school bag.
Abril and Cedric exited the Great Hall, and it didn't go unnoticed to Abril the looks several students sent at them. At the doors, they encountered a sleepy Lorena who waved at them as they passed.
"Give me your bag," Cedric told her, making a motion to grab it.
"It's not that heavy," Abril tried to say, but Cedric was all ready placing it on his shoulder. Abril rolled her eyes but smiled as she hugged his arm, and he bent down to kiss the top of her head.
"I want to show you something before classes start," Cedric said when they went down a staircase.
"Oh? Is that why you took me away from the Great Hall like that?" Abril inquired, and frowned as Cedric turned right and headed to the huge doors and out to the grounds.
They strolled down the stone path and across the green grass until they reached the lake. Cedric took his and Abril's bag and put them under a tree under a nice shade. Abril was wondering what could Cedric be planning in such a…remote place, but her eyes widened when he took out his broom from behind the tree. Before she could do anything, Cedric bolted running up hill, leaving Abril frozen in place for a second before rushing behind him.
"C'mon!" Cedric called, laughing as he ran across the grounds in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, holding his broom in one hand. The air tousled his hair, and Abril held her breath as she saw him running.
"Wait for me!" Abril tried to shout, but the sound of the wind was too strong, and she doubted Cedric had heard. She hurried to catch up with him in the centre of the Quidditch field, where he laid down on the green, soft grass. He sighed happily and tapped his hand on the spot next to him, inviting her to join him.
She sat down next to him, and stared at him while his eyes were closed. He was so gorgeous that Abril couldn't believe she was actually out here with him alone in that lovely day. Take that, Cho.
"You know," Cedric said suddenly, cracking open one eye and looking at the sky, "I'm seriously considering staying here all morning. It's just such a perfect day, and I don't really fancy going down to the cold dungeons, specially if that means I can't see you until lunch."
He crossed his arms behind his head and turned to look at her. Abril only smiled and leaned over to kiss him. She had quickly gotten obsessed with kissing him, but then again, who wouldn't?
Cedric smiled a wide smile and suddenly jumped to his feet, surprising Abril.
"Let's get going," he said then offering her his hand.
"Going? Where?" Abril asked as she took the offered hand and letting him pull her to her feet.
"Well flying of course!" Cedric said beaming.
"WHAT!" Abril exclaimed, widening her eyes at him, "But I thought I had just come here to see you fly! I wasn't planning on doing it myself!"
"Oh c'mon, where's the fun in that!" he told her laughing, "Besides, I would feel weird if I were to fly around showing off while you just watch from the stands."
"I wouldn't mind," Abril said with a smile, but at Cedric's pointed look, her smile faltered.
"It'll be okay, don't worry," he said, then suddenly pulled her to his chest and whispered in her ear, "I can always catch you if you fall."
Abril huffed, "You better not let me fall in the first place."
Cedric beamed.
"Deal. Now let's go!" he said, placing his broom on front of her.
Abril, excited but nervous, looked at Cedric before placing each leg on both sides of the broom. When he placed himself behind her, Abril blushed because of their position, but swallowed as Cedric leaned over and placed her hand on the edge of the broom.
"Okay, so it seems you've never flown, have you?" he asked, to which Abril only shook her head, "Well, first, grab firmly the edge of the broom…exactly like that. Now, softly kick the ground and…"
Abril exclaimed when the broom raised a few inches from the ground and grabbed the broom tighter. Cedric laughed and, placing his hand on top of Abril's, manoeuvred the broom up until they ended softly floating on top of the Quidditch pitch. Abril, feeling a bit more confident, looked down and was surprised at how high they were.
"This is kind of scary… and exciting at the same time. I can't imagine how must it feel when you're playing Quidditch," she commented, shifting in her place to get more comfortable until she heard Cedric make a strained noise, "Oh sorry, did I hurt you?"
Cedric cleared his throat before answering, "Not at all. Well, you said it yourself. It is scary but also exciting. That's why I love playing. All the noise coming from the stands, the wind in your face when you're rushing across the field, the thrill of diving to catch the snitch. It's awesome!"
Abril smiled at Cedric's enthusiasm, and looked up to see the scenery that appeared in front of them. She would have liked to be face to face with him, but the precarious position she was in made it a bit difficult. She was about to tell him this but suddenly felt his arms twist around her waist and his chin lean on her shoulder, so she opted to stay silent and enjoy that moment as they both stared at the sunrise. Unfortunately, the sunrise came and went, and the moment was broken when they heard the bell ring, meaning classes were about to begin. They quickly dropped to the ground and after retrieving their bags, headed back to the castle. As they walked across the halls, Cedric surprised her by taking another hallway.
"Where are you going?" she asked puzzled when he kept on walking.
"I have to take care of something," he told her over his shoulder, a smile on his face but with a slight tint on his cheeks, "After all, it's not every day I fly with a pretty girl so close to me."
Abril gasped and blushed furiously, and turned sharply in the direction of her classroom, not wanting to be late.
Lorena yawned for the fifth time that morning since coming down for breakfast. She had had trouble sleeping the night before, so dark circles had appeared under her eyes as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. She saw Emma and Violet who were, unsurprisingly, leaning over each other in a conspiratorial manner, not far away, and she reluctantly made her way to them.
"…did send it with her owl?" Violet was whispering as she eyed a notebook in her hands.
"Of course, I even…" Emma was saying when Lorena let herself fall heavily in the seat across from them.
"So! What's the latest gossip? Please tell me now or I might not make it through the day," Lorena said sarcastically as she bit an apple, failing to notice the other girls going pale as they watched her with wide eyes.
"Gossip! We…well…" Emma stuttered, then yelped when she received a kick under the table from Violet.
Lorena frowned when she saw the little book in Violet's hands, "Isn't that my Charms notebook?"
"Your Hufflepuff friend is going out with Cedric Diggory," Violet said, returning her the notebook, and Lorena couldn't help but notice that it sounded like an accusation.
"Oh that," Lorena said, shrugging and leaving the rest of the apple aside so she could put the notebook away, "Yeah. It really was only a matter of time. He's crazy about her."
"Crazy, you say?" Violet said, arching an eyebrow as Emma giggled, "Well, then I'll have to ask her the recipe for the Amortentia she used because there is no way in hell that…"
"No way in hell that what?" Lorena interrupted her, her voice loud enough for the students around them to stop eating and chatting and turn to stare at them. "What you do have to ask her, Violet, is how she managed to date one of the most handsome and smartest students at Hogwarts and actually leave her skirt down. Maybe you should try it sometime."
Emma choked a bit while she drank her pumpkin juice in an attempt not to burst out laughing, and amused whispers and giggles were heard around them when Lorena went back to her breakfast, but they quickly died out when Violet turned to look nastily at them. Violet opened her mouth to retort, but thought better on it, and when Lorena looked up at her, she only smirked and continued with her breakfast.
Dropping her bag on the floor, Lorena slumped in a chair and sighed loudly. She was exhausted after Potions, which had been a particularly nasty class since Snape had been in the foulest of moods. Some Ravenclaw students were lounging in the Common Room before going down for dinner, and with the slight scratching of quills, the whispered conversations and the movements of the fire that burnt slowly in the fireplace, Lorena felt her eyelids starting to grow heavy. She was startled awake when Emma sat down next to her and Violet sat across from them in an armchair.
"Sorry," Emma apologized, to which Lorena only narrowed her eyes sleepily, "Ugh, Snape left us tons of homework!"
Violet sighed annoyed as she checked her notes, "We better start it right away if we want to finish it on time for tomorrow. I refuse to skip lunch again to go to the library."
Emma snorted before giggling, "Except that time was to meet Colton."
Violet threw the armchair's pillow at Emma who openly laughed this time, and Lorena smiled.
"He's not very bright, Colton. I just hope he's got other qualities," Lorena said, sitting up and taking her potions textbook out.
Violet shrugged but smirked anyway, "He can get quite creative when he wants to."
Lorena wrinkled her nose but laughed anyway with the girls. They worked on their potions homework until it was time to go down for dinner. It was surprisingly a fun evening, considering how tense things had started in the morning, but Lorena decided that although Violet and Emma could be really mean and egocentric sometimes, they weren't half bad. During dinner, Lorena accidentally exchanged a glance with Lorcan, but quickly looked down at her plate and then forgot about the matter as she and the girls talked and laughed, but that little incident didn't pass unnoticed neither for Violet nor Emma, who looked at each other and smirked.
"Hey Lorena, you never told us what happened between you and that Weasley," Emma said as they ate the last muffins before dinner ended.
Lorena smiled sadly and sighed, to which both girls cooed. She rolled her eyes at their antics but answered anyway.
"There's not much to talk about really. I mean I had fun with him during the Yule Ball, but after that, well… I suppose there wasn't that much chemistry after all between George and me."
"That's too bad. He is kind of handsome," Emma observed thoughtfully then bit her muffin.
"I don't like gingers," Violet said with a huff.
"Neither does Abril," Lorena commented, and Violet turned to stare at her.
Emma, sensing things were about to get tense again, quickly stood up and motioned them to do the same.
"C'mon now, we've been here long enough and the Great Hall is now almost empty."
Lorena nodded, "And I don't fancy staying up late just to finish Snape's homework."
They quickly gathered their things and headed upstairs to the Ravenclaw Tower. They stayed in the Common Room until they finished their homework, and by that time, most of the students had already gone to bed.
"Done!" Emma said triumphantly, throwing her quill across the room and closing her textbook.
"Me too," Lorena said with a smile with a last flourish of her quill and then sighed happily.
"Almost…" Violet mumbled, writing furiously and then exclaimed when she finished, "Merlin, my hand hurts!"
Emma peeked at Lorena and Violet's full parchments and pouted.
"I didn't even write half of what you did! How's that possible!"
Lorena looked at Emma's homework and frowned, "I think you forgot to write the side effects of using and erumpent's horn in potion making."
Emma read her notes and made a noise of exasperation.
"Just great."
Violet finished putting all her things away and rested against the armchair as she sighed, "Well at least we have all the assignments that are due for tomorrow."
Lorena blinked at this and turned to look at Violet.
"Good thing we went to collect the roots for Herbology class the other day," Emma agreed, standing up reluctantly to retrieve her quill.
Puzzled, Lorena turned to look at each of the girls, "What roots?"
"You know, those horrible purple roots that grow near the edge of the Forbidden Forest," Emma said waving her quill in the air and opening her textbook again.
When she didn't get an answer back, Emma looked up only to see Lorena staring at her horrified.
"You didn't get them?" Emma exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Lorena, it's for the final project we're starting tomorrow," Violet said, looking at her with concern, "Please tell me you didn't forget and you actually have them."
Lorena only made a mournful sound, "I don't think you guys have spare roots for me?"
When both girls shook their heads, Lorena let her head fall, defeated.
"I guess the only way is to go and look for them right now."
Violet made a strange noise but touched her arm, "Maybe you could go before breakfast tomorrow."
"No," Lorena said shaking her head as she stood up and took her bag, "I rather go now so I don't have to worry about arriving late to class again."
She said goodbye to her friends and grudgingly exited the common room. When the door closed behind her, Emma and Violet turned to look at each other and high fived before bursting into hysterical laughter.
Stupid Herbology and its stupid homework about stupid roots Lorena kept thinking gloomily as she made her way downstairs through the cold, dark castle. The great doors that led to the grounds were closed, so she opted for taking a little side door. Thankfully that night the weather was calm, so she didn't have to worry about getting wet, but a chilly wind suddenly blew her way, so she pulled her robe tighter and headed to the forest. As she walked, she saw in the distance the Quidditch pitch and some strange-looking walls growing all over it. So they've started growing the maze for the third task Lorena thought apprehensively. She was still worried about Bagman's threat, and although the man hadn't approached them since the second task, she didn't want to leave her guard down, especially now that Moody seemed even more paranoid than usual.
The light from the Beauxbatons carriage barely illuminated the night, but the half moon helped a bit as Lorena approached the forest, wishing she could have gone in plain daylight. When she passed Hagrid's cabin and neither Durmstrang's ship nor the carriage could be seen, she entered through the trees and lit her wand. Since she couldn't see anything that resembled any purple roots, she decided to go deeper into the forest. As she walked, stepping on branches that cracked under her feet, Lorena was reluctant to raise her wand higher since she didn't want to risk any of the creatures that lived in the forest seeing the light and coming after her. This might be the stupidest thing I've done so far Lorena thought, as she desperately looked for the God forsaken roots she had come for. Growing impatient, she turned around and walked the same path she had taken, in hopes that she had passed the roots without seeing them, but just when she was about to bend down to look for them, she heard the branch of a tree move behind her and she bolted up and raised her wand, her eyes scanning the darkness frantically.
"You look adorable when you're frightened," a male voice said, and just then, Lorcan appeared from behind a tree, dusting himself and looking up at her with a smirk.
Lorena didn't move and just stared at the Slytherin with wide eyes, so Lorcan raised his hands in front of him in mock surrender.
"You can calm down now, it's just me," he said with a calming voice that only served for Lorena to tense up even more.
"Do you make a habit of taking a night stroll through the Forbidden Forest or is it just a Slytherin thing?" Lorena asked, but Lorcan didn't answer her, and instead motioned with his head at her wand, so she lowered it down hesitantly.
Lorcan smiled and rested against the tree with his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at her. Lorena looked at him strangely, waiting for him to say something, but since he seemed too busy staring at her, she cleared her throat and decided to leave.
"Well, uh…if you don't mind, I'll just…" she started to say, but stopped surprised when he chuckled.
"Sorry, I thought you were going to be a bit more straight forward," Lorcan said, walking away from the tree and coming to stand in front of her, "But, since you want to act this way, I think it's kind of cute, too."
Lorena blinked in confusion, "Act?"
Suddenly, Lorcan raised his hand and placed it on her waist, but when Lorena gasped and took a step back, he quickly backed away.
"What's wrong?" Lorcan asked with a frown to which Lorena snorted.
"What's wrong, Lorcan, is that over confidence you have in yourself. Who do you think you are appearing out of nowhere and trying funny things with me?" she said affronted, then narrowed her eyes at him, "Were you following me?"
Lorcan laughed out loud this time and with a smile on his face returned his gaze to Lorena, who kept looking at him warily. He snorted and opened his mouth to speak, but took a second glance at her until he understood she wasn't joking.
"Well, you really seem quite cold and distant now, don't you?" Lorcan asked, not a hint of amusement left in his dark eyes.
"Oh, forgive me if I do when I find you sneaking behind a tree planning Merlin knows what," Lorena answered, taking a step back, "Now, if you excuse me, I…"
"Hold on, I don't understand," Lorcan said then, taking her arm.
"Let go!" Lorena said, trying to sound brave and shaking Lorcan's hand off her arm.
"Quit thrashing, I'm not going to do anything!" he exclaimed at last, letting her go.
Lorena turned to look at him and saw he was frowning, with a genuine confused expression on his face.
"Lorcan, what are you doing here?" she asked him at last, and saw how his eyes widened in surprise for a second before his frown deepened.
"What am I…? Are you serious? You asked me to come!"
Lorena stared at him for a moment and would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that all the confidence Lorcan had appeared with had suddenly vanished away and he only stood there looking at her confused.
"Me?" she asked, pointing at herself, "We haven't talked since the second task! How could I possibly ask you to come here?"
"Exactly, and since you sent me an owl last night, I thought you wanted to talk…maybe even…" Lorcan's voice dropped until he stopped talking and then looked away.
Lorena blinked in confusion, "But…I didn't. I didn't know you were planning to come here. Hell, I wasn't planning on coming here tonight but I forgot to fetch the roots for tomorrow's class."
This time, it was Lorcan who blinked and stared curiously at her, "What roots?"
Lorena made a motion with her hand, "You know, those purple ones that we've seen grow near here. We need them for the Herbology final project."
"Professor Sprout never said such thing. We're just suppose to choose the subject for the project we're going to be working on tomorrow," Lorcan explained.
Lorena stared at him for a moment, bewildered.
"But…Emma and Violet said…" she started to say, but with Lorcan's sigh and shake of his head, it dawned on her and she started to shake in anger.
"Those little…" she said gritting her teeth, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her and she turned to look at Lorcan who was now standing next to her.
"Don't lose your temper because of them," he said calmingly, then quickly turned away and started walking back into the trees, "C'mon, it's getting late and we shouldn't be out here."
Lorena didn't move and her anger quickly faded away as she stared at Lorcan's back. She recovered and quickly followed him. When she caught up with him, she tried to ask him about the letter he had received, but decided against it. He must have felt terribly humiliated too after the trick those tramps had played on them, and so Lorena opted to walk silently by his side, feeling guilty with the way she had treated him earlier.
It was dark enough for Lorena to have to grab onto a branch so as not to fall, still not wanting to let Lorcan get near her especially now they were alone in the Forbidden Forest.
"Are you all right?" Lorcan asked, turning to her.
"Yes, I'm fine," Lorena replied, narrowing her eyes to try to see her scratched hand in the dim light. She sighed, and looked in front of her, "C'mon, the quicker we get out of here, the better. I don't fancy getting eaten by an acromantula or something worse."
Lorcan chuckled, walking behind her, "I don't think there are acromantulas in this forest."
Lorena snorted but didn't answer. The half moon barely lit their path, and with the branches of the tall trees it was almost impossible to see where they were going, and the dead leaves and twigs cracked under their feet as they made their way out.
"This is ridiculous," Lorcan said after a while and took out his wand, "Lum-"
"Stop that! Or do you want some slimy creature to see the light only to crawl out of the darkness so it can devour us?" Lorena scolded him, slapping his wand away.
"I can barely see my feet!" Lorcan protested.
"You don't need to see your feet while you're walking, now shut it," she said, turning around to keep going until they heard a sound coming from a nearby bush. Both froze in place, staring wide-eyed at the bush, which had suddenly turned quiet. None of them dared to breath, and after a moment, the bush started to shake again, and a loud pained moan came out of it.
Lorena gulped, and with the corner of her eye saw Lorcan approaching the bush.
"What are you doing!" she whispered urgently, snatching the back of his shirt. Lorcan turned to look at her for a moment but kept on going, his wand now firmly clutched in his hand.
They heard the sound again and this time the bush bent to one side as a dark figure appeared behind it, trying to use the bush for support. Lorcan raised his wand at the figure and Lorena saw his arm was steady, nothing like her arms and legs, which were shaking so badly she thought she might fall.
"Sir?" Lorcan asked staring at the figure and still pointing his wand at him. He murmured a lumos and the glow that came out showed that the figure was actually a slouched man who seemed to be in terrible pain. The coat of the man was ripped and bloody, and he grasped on of his arms as he fell on his knees on the cold ground.
"Sir? Can you hear me?" Lorcan asked one more time, approaching the man enough to touch him, "Sir, do you need help?"
"He…he's coming…" the man stuttered, turning his head to stare behind him bewildered while he clutched his arm tighter, "He must not…no time left…all my fault."
He staggered and then turned to look at them, Lorena watching Lorcan trying carefully to get close enough for the man to look up at him.
"Sir, if you just let me, I might…"
"NO!" the man suddenly bellowed, making Lorena jump and a few scared crows fly away above them. Lorcan raised his wand and the glimmer shined over the face of Barty Crouch, disfigured by fear. The man screamed again and fell heavily to the ground, grabbing his arm desperately, "He's coming…all my fault…"
"Lorc…" Lorena tried to say with a horse voice, but before she could finish, a curse suddenly flashed in front of them, a sickly green light hitting Mr Crouch square in the chest, leaving him immobile on the ground. Lorena screamed when another curse passed zooming just inches from her ear and before she knew it, Lorcan had grabbed her arm and they were suddenly running for their lives through the dark forest. They ran as fast as they could, Lorcan urgently pulling Lorena with him, both of them trying to make distance from whoever had attacked Mr Crouch and who was now currently trying to hit them with another curse. As they ran, Lorena glanced briefly behind her only to see a figure moving through the trees, rapidly approaching them, throwing curses at them like a mad man.
"Don't look back!" Lorcan shouted, and Lorena whipped her head back and kept on running, trying not to fall.
At last, the edge of the forest appeared in front of them, and they bolted out of the trees and in the direction of the castle, but just when they were passing Hagrid's cabin, Lorena saw a purple light hit Lorcan in the back, making him scream and fall heavily to the ground. Quickly, Lorena pulled out her wand and cast a protego in case the man shot another curse, but their surroundings had suddenly turned eerily quiet, except for the faint moans coming from Lorcan. Lorena turned to look at him and saw he was sweating cold and had gone ghostly pale, but other than that, he didn't seem to have any wounds. However, when Lorena tried to talk to him or make him move, he only made a slight grumble and before she could do anything, he passed out. Lorena was really freaked out now, and tried several times to call him or wake him up, to no use. In the end, fearing the man who had attacked them would come back, she levitated Lorcan and made her way to the castle, planning on taking him immediately to the infirmary, and with any hope, Mrs Pomfrey would know what curse had hit him.