Chapter 6 – A Hufflepuff party is nothing to joke about !

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Ever since the Cup, I had trouble sleeping as the images woke me up in the middle of the night. The first night I slept in Cedric's bed, but I didn't want to trouble him anymore. So, I stuck to my own, which led to waking up at night, or taking twice as long to fall asleep. So, now even with the nap on the train, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open during the sorting ceremony. Cedric had just suggested for me to go up to the dormitories when Dumbledore took his place in front of the room.

"We have the honour of hosting a very excited event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

Cedric and I shared a grin before we heard the twins shout over the murmurs.

"You're JOKING?!"

Everyone started to laugh, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively. "I'm not joking, Mr. Weasleys. Though now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun..."

I chuckled when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Oh, sorry. Where was I? Ah, yes. The Triwizard Tournament-" And Dumbledore started to explain what it entailed and why it stopped so many years ago. There was an excited buzz when Dumbledore informed them that students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be staying at Hogwarts this year. The voices grew louder when it was announced that only students of age at the time of the selection can enter their name in the Tournament. Cedric and I were one of the first ones to get up from the table and head out. Since the Tournament wasn't a surprise to us and I was too tired, I just wanted to go to bed.

"Don't you need to lead the first years down?" I asked when we walked to the large doors.

"No, Gemma is explaining it to them."

"Alright." I glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw the pack of Weasleys together with Harry and Hermione conversion seriously. Just when I was about to turn my head, George saw me and gave me a wink and a wave. Fred looked up to see at who his twin was waving and gave me a wave too, making all the other Gryffindors look up with curiosity. I gave them a small wave back before Cedric wrapped his arm around my shoulder, guiding me out the great hall.

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During dinner Fred and George eyes didn't waver much from the back of Guinevere's head. The others all had giving up trying to get them into a conversation. Their attention was diverted when Dumbledore stepped forward and announced the Tournament. Fred and George were already making plans to get around the age limit, much to the dismay of Hermione, but they didn't care. George saw the ash blonde hair with streaks of yellow in them stand up from the table and be one of the first to leave the great hall. He caught her eye and couldn't help but wink at her, sending her a small wave. Fred didn't want to be outdone and waved just the same.

"You don't actually think you got a chance with her?" Angelina huffed. The twins snapped their heads to Angelina.

"What?!"?

"That Hufflepuff girl... She's Cedric's."

"She is not anyone's. They are not together." George hissed. Angelina glared at the twins, her jealous streak rising up. Ever since he had gone on a few dates with her last year, she got jealous at every girl they talked to.

"If you say so." Angelina pursed her lips.

"I asked her out." George blurted out. Angelina glared and stood up, marching out of the great hall.

"What?!" Fred and Lee called out in surprise.

"I mean, sort of." He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Fred and Lee. "We all know Cedric has feelings for her. But I told her if Cedric hasn't done anything about it by Christmas break, I'll ask her out."

"You're joking? You actually said that?" Lee started to laugh loudly and the now nearly empty room.

George turned nervously towards his twin, because he knew he liked her too. "Fred?"

"It's okay, uhm, let's talk about this later." Fred rose from his seat and waited for Lee and George to do the same before they walked out the empty great hall. It's the first time the twins liked the same girl. It happened the other way around, mostly because they couldn't see the difference between them. But for them to like the same girl, that's a first and neither of them knew how to handle the situation.

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My hopes for a quiet night in the Hufflepuff common room was quickly shattered when I entered, and the place was stacked with snacks and alcohol. The head girl of this year was Helena and she shoved us a shot of muggle tequila in our hands the moment we walked in. Ah yes, the yearly welcome back party. I totally forgot about those. When the prefects led the young ones to their dormitories, the party could get wild. One year, a seventh-year boy, transfigured one of his friends into a piglet and couldn't reverse the spell. They had to fetch Sprout but even she had to call in the help of McGonagall. The party was shut down right after that. Sprout usually sees past the parties as long as it doesn't get too wild. So, after the piglet accident, no magic, or spells were aloud. Everyone had to put their wands in their room or place them in the wand basket.

I looked over to Cedric, who gave me a shrug and downed his drink. I did the same after I placed my wand in the basket near the couch I flopped down on. The room started to get crowded. I saw the prefects ushering the first, second and third years up to the rooms and placed a silencing charm around the common room.

Cedric, the social butterfly like he always was, talked to everyone he knew. Talking about the Tournament, the World Cup, quidditch, anything. I was nursing my drink when Odin and Lyra sat on the coffee table in front of me.

"Hey, guys. I thought I would see you on the train."

"Yeah, we went to go find you, but we got distracted." Lyra blushed as she glanced to Odin in the corner of her eye, he too shared the same blush.

"Oh, Puff! You two are together! Since when?" I bounced on the couch excitingly.

"Just before summer. I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we wanted to be sure it wasn't a summer fling..." Odin explained.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm just happy you found each other, finally!" I grinned, sipping my drink.

"Finally?" Lyra laughed. "What about you and Cedric?"

"Friends, like always." I shrugged.

"I don't believe that."

"Well, since he's still in love with Cho, I don't see what else we can be."

Lyra frowned and looked behind me, probably trying to find Cedric in the crowd. Odin looked like he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut. "I didn't know they were that serious."

"Me neither." I downed my drink and rose from my seat. "I'm going to mingle. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." I winked and walked away, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

I talked to Helena, the new Head girl and found out that the head boy was a boy from Slytherin. Poor thing, even though Helena could hold her own, the guy from Slytherin was a righteous git. I went on to talk to some of my other classmates, since this was the one and only party of the year that only involved Hufflepuffs. Cedric was, of course surrounded by giggling girls, putting on his charming smile as he talked to them politely. After about an hour and a half later, I fell back on the couch as my eyes started to fall shut from a mixture of being tired and drunk.

I woke up slightly when someone picked me up gently from the couch. I peered one eye open and saw I was being carried by the strong arms of Cedric Diggory. I nuzzled my head in his chest and his hold on me tightened.

"Let's get you to bed, Queen Guinevere." He whispered softly.

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Cedric was too drunk to counter the spell that made it possible for him to go to the girls' dormitories, so he carried her to his. Placing her softly on his bed and transfigured her robes into oversized pyjamas. He changed into his too and crawled into bed with her, leaving a respectful distance between them. Odin walked in just as he put the covers on them both and quirked and eyebrow. After he changed into his night clothes, he looked at him again.

"Did you tell her?"

"No." Cedric sighed looking over at the sleeping form next to him.

"You need to take a chance, mate."

"I don't want to risk losing her." He whispered back.

"I think you can lose her either way." Odin said as he climbed in his bed. "I took a chance, and I couldn't be happier." It was quiet for a moment as Cedric tried to straighten out his thought, when Odin spoke again. "She thinks you're in love with Cho, by the way." Odin finished and turned in his bed, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Cedric made himself more comfortable on the bed as he looked at the sleeping, drunk girl next to him. Gwen turned in her sleep, putting a leg between his and her head and hand on his chest. His heart stammered quickly in his chest as Gwen breathed softly on his chest. He put his arm around her, pulling her close.

"Hm, Ced." She hummed in her sleep as he pulled her close. He stroked the hair out of her face and kissed the top of her head gently as sleep found him.

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The next morning, I woke up on a rather hard pillow. When I noticed the hard pillow moved up and down, I stiffened. I took in a deep breath, and I recognized the scent before I even opened my eyes. Cedric was fast asleep, his head hanging to the side, strands of hair covering his eyes. Cedric had taken me up to his room, probably because he couldn't get into mine in his drunken state. I had fallen asleep on his chest; our legs were wrapped around each other, and both of his arms were securely wrapped around me. The feeling made me feel warm inside, safe. I didn't want to wake up just yet, so I placed my head back down and enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms.

I must've drifted to sleep again because the next moment, someone was trying to wake her.

"Winnie." Cedric's voice came from afar. He bopped my nose, making me crunch it up. "Winnie, we need to wake up before breakfast is over. Sprout will be waiting with our timetables."

"But I'm so comfortable." I sighed, nuzzling his chest. Oh my god! Did I really just say that out loud.

"I could stay here all day too, but we have to get up."

I jumped up from the bed, up from his chest, trying to disguise my blush. I looked down at a fluffy oversized pink pyjama set. I pulled on the hem of the shirt, looking down. "Did you really have to give me a pink fluffy one?"

Cedric laughed as he climbed out of bed, he tossed me my wand. I transfigured my clothes back into the school robes and jumped out of bed. I looked in the small mirror on the closet and turned my hair into a chocolate brown bob, and I concealed the traces of last night drinking charade. In the corner of the mirror, I saw Cedric pull his shirt over his head, leaving himself bare chested. I swallowed hard as I saw his toned abbs, his strong muscular arms.

"I'll see you in the common room." I headed out the door, without looking back. Cedric looked surprised at my sudden departure, looking at the empty doorway before he changed quickly and darted down to the common room, where I was already waiting with my bag, alongside Odin and Lyra, the former had his arm securely around his girlfriend.

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