Trees ||𝐶.𝐴.𝐷.

Chapter 15

Third Person POV:

The day of the choosing

Cedric had woken up that morning to his alarm blaring in his ear. He hasn't had the dream since the last time he spoke with Juniper which was a little over a week ago.  He felt quite uncomfortable with the whole situation, and disliked the fact that it seemed to be bringing him and Juniper apart. She made him feel safe whenever they were together, like he could be or say anything around her and she wouldn't judge him. She made him feel like an actual person, and not just the popular jock that everyone assumed he was. He felt like someone who had emotions and dreams, not just a stereotype.

But how? He'd known her for barely any time whatsoever, yet here he is, thinking about her like he's known her since childhood or something. His emotions were confusing the hell out of him, and to try to get over them he'd distract himself by focusing on Cho Chang.

The other day he had bumped into her in the halls and helped her pick up her books. They had their first chat then went their separate ways, but he didn't get the same feeling that he did when he first talked with Juniper on the train. Yes, Cho was a pretty and nice girl, but he didn't feel anything towards her. Nothing special, at least.

Yet why did he feel the need to?

Cedric got up and got ready, yawning as he picked up his bag and went to the common room. There were a lot of people there, chatting and doing last minute homework assignments.  But what caught his eye was Juniper standing in the corner, talking to Hannah with an excited expression on her face. He was happy to see her not stressing over the nightmares, and felt good knowing that she was gonna be watching when his name *might* get picked out of the Goblet.

But why did he care so much?

It's not like they were best friends, and they had never spoken until this year. Yes, he'd see her every once in a while around the corridors, but talking to each other...yeah, no.

"Ced!" Spencer, Cedric's friend, had shouted from across the common room. "Get over here!"

The prefect turned his attention away from Juniper, not realizing that the second Spencer called his name, her head shot up to look for him. Hannah noticed the reflex, not even trying to hide her smirk when she saw Juniper realize what she had done. Clearing her throat, Juniper turned and faced her friend.

"You're whipped-"

"I know what I did, now shut up, Abbot."

"Riiiight, now go talk to your friend, " Hannah pushed, getting an eye role in return from Juniper.

Meanwhile, Cedric walked out of the common room with Spencer, trying to contain his excitement as his friend goggled over the tournament.

"They're gonna be choosing the champions today, can you believe it?  I mean, imagine, Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts Champion, you can't get much better than that."

"Oh stop, you're embarrassing me," said Cedric jokingly. "Changing the subject-"

"Let's talk about Juniper," interrupted Spencer. "So do you or do you not have a thing for her, 'cause in all honesty seeing you staring at her in class is making me worried for her safety."

"I- what?"

"If you didn't like her, I'd honestly think that you were plotting her murder or something," said Spencer, pointing his head in the direction the girl was. "Oh look, your victim is coming."

Cedric hit his friend's shoulder, about to defend himself when-

"Hey," said Juniper.

"Hi Juniper, I don't think we've properly met. I'm Spencer, also known as Cedric's best friend, also known as the one who never liked David and warned everyone about him like, two years ago."

Cedric brought his hand to his forehead, embarrassed as all hell.

"Nice to meet you Spencer," laughed out Juniper.

"Anyways," said Cedric. "How've you been, June?" He tried hard not to sound awkward, or like he didn't want her near him. He missed her, he missed her voice, her eyes, the way she spoke so elegantly, he even missed her shoes that scared him half to death, even if he didn't realize it.

"Pretty ok, Hannah says hi," she pointed over to where the blonde was standing, a smile plastered on her face as she waved.  Cedric and Spencer greeted Hannah from where they were standing, turning their attention back to Juniper. "Also, I have a question for you two."

"Ask away," said Spencer.

"Remember when we were in the Great Hall and
we-" she pointed in between her and Cedric "-were passing that sheet of paper?"

"Mmhm." Cedric had an idea where this was going.

"Well, I was kinda wondering what you meant by 'I'm pretty sure Cedric'?"

Spencer let out a snort as Diggory scratched the back of his neck. The boy had planned on writing something as cheesy as "I'm pretty sure Cedric has a crush on you", 'cause it was plain obvious that he did, but he lost the opportunity when the paper was stolen back from him then covered in scribbles. "Well, if we're being honest-"

"No idea. It was a while ago, it was probably something meaningless," interrupted Cedric, awkwardly laughing.

Juniper looked in between the flustered Diggory and the annoyed Spencer, slightly disappointed, before slowly nodding and saying, "Whatever you say, Diggory...well, I better be off, but it was, uh, nice chatting with you two." She smiled then left, Hannah following her out the common room where they made their way to the great hall.

"'No idea'? 'Something meaningless'? Do you want a girlfriend or not!"

"I-what!?" Exclaimed Cedric. "I never said-"

"It's in your eyes, Ced. It's in your eyes, and did you see the way she looked when you said that? I could've sworn she looked hurt- jeez Ced, you're scaring the poor kitten!"

"Kitten-!"

"Don't worry, it's just a metaphor, I'm not gonna try to steal your girl. Besides, I'm gay as fuck, so there's no need to get worried I'll fall in love with her."

"Ya know," said Cedric. "Sometimes I wonder, 'What the bloody hell is going on in this bloke's head?' Then I remember that you told me you were regularly dropped as a child, and that I should never try to question anything you do since it will only lead to more questions."

Spencer just nodded in response, a sly grin moving upon his face.

☻︎☻︎☻︎

"Everyone, settle down, settle down!" Said Dumbledore as the students found their seats, ending their excited chittering and paying attention to the headmaster. "It's time."

Dumbledore went through the rules of the tournament once more, reminding everyone that if their name gets pulled out, there's no turning back. (Even thought that part wasn't really explained well- I mean, why can't you just not participate if you get chosen? Like, what will happen if you just...don't?)

Anyways, the students started to get restless in their seats as the Goblet of Fire gleamed under the candle light. Juniper was staring at the glistening gems, a knot forming in her stomach.

Something about that cup isn't right...she thought, momentarily zoning out and missing a part of the headmaster's speech. Little did she know, while her eyes were busy studying the cup, a pair of someone else's we on her.

A/N: besties there's more just keep scrolling