metanoia - cedric diggory

chapter five

November 3rd, 1994

Clementine sat in the Hogwarts library on a cold Thursday afternoon, humming to herself softly. Fully lost within the words of a random book, the girl didn't seem to notice her friends approaching.

"You're avoiding us." Blaise nagged harshly as he tossed his brown bag onto the wooden table, folding his hands on the table as soon as they touched. Olive mirrored his movements, both being quick to make themselves comfortable.

"I care to disagree," Clementine mumbled sharply, keeping her eyes on the letters before her. She grew visibly uncomfortable under their strong glances.

"You're avoiding everyone," Olive added. "Even when you're in class, you're not there. After class, you tend to be missing." Although her voice sounded tender and delicate, she still seemed upset.

Clementine raised her head to look at the two, trying to comprehend the words spilling out their mouths. She figured they would want to talk about the other night, what they could've seen, and she did not want to speak on it.

"Penelope has yet to accuse me of avoiding her." She shrugged her shoulders and peered back to the pages, attempting to shut down the conversation, dodging their questioning stares.

"You sleep in the same room, darling. I'm astonished she's not avoiding you." Blaise rolled his eyes from across the table with a scowl before cracking a witty grin at the brunette.

The three sat in silence for a few more seconds as Olive scanned her friend's face nervously, attempting to find answers within the cracks and lack of expression painted.

"This surely has nothing to do with you and," Olive leaned in closer while her platinum bob bounced around, a smirk dying to come to the surface. "Pretty-boy?" She managed to win the battle and keep a straight face, for Clementine's sake.

"I'm glad you brought it up because I've been dying to know what the other night was. Did you kiss the poor boy?" Innocent interest lied in between Blaise's words as he unfolded his hands and leaned into the chair behind him.

"No! I didn't kiss him." Clementine's cheek began to burn deeply. "Holy fuck, guys. I don't think the portraits on the first floor heard that if you wanted to repeat it." She shyly buried her burning face into the pages underneath her.

"Did you want to kiss him? I mean, this is like Diggory's biggest dream. He's been cracking on you since-"

Clementine watched in horror as Blaise continued to speak and ask the questions she feared to be mentioned. His words trailed off when he saw the fear sitting behind her emerald eyes.

"Sorry." He added.

"No, I didn't. The other night is over and so is this conversation, love you the most." Not even bothering waiting for some sort of response, Clementine grabbed her bag and walked directly towards the library entrance.

Walking alone through the school gave plenty of time for her to think and not only wander to new places, but she could also allow her mind to do the same. Seeing other students laughing with their friends made her feel guilty for lying to hers.

In full honesty, she wanted to kiss Cedric. She wanted to kiss Cedric like she had yet to drink anything in four days and he was a tall glass of butterbeer. No matter how sober she was, her mind thought of the curves in his lips.