Messy Ties and Loose Ends {HP}

Chapter 44; A Decent Morning

"You know I almost did," I laugh.

"Your face turned about as white as a ghost Ally," Cedric laughs beside me.

As we enter the dining hall I see a crowd has amassed near our usual spots.

A head shoots up at our arrival. "Cedric is here!"

Murmurs come from the crowd. We cautiously sit down as the crowd stays perfectly silent. Not gonna lie, a bunch of people silently watching us had to be straight out of one of my nightmares.

This whole Cedric being superbly popular thing is getting on my last nerve.

As soon as Ced started to reach for some porridge the questions commenced.

"So what's it like?"
"How do you feel about Harry?!"
"Do you think the trials will be hard?"
"Cedric what's your strategy!"

Felt like I was watching a Rita Skeeter article come to life. I see the annoyance in Cedric's face.

"Hey-" I'm quickly cut off.

"Oi! Leave us alone you little bloodsuckers!" Ralph shouts at the crowd while pointing his butter knife at them and they quickly disperse.

"God they're ruthless," Elizabeth chimes in.

"I don't know how I'll survive months of it," Cedric's body shudders.

I look down at Gryffindor table to see some of the people had moved on to Harry. Annoying.

"I did a little research. You're in for it Diggory. The Triwizard Tournament is the craziest thing," Lionel says quietly from the other side of Liz.

"No shit," Ralph starts laughing and nudges Ced to do the same.

They're both chuckling. Their uniforms unpressed and all. Cedric's blue eyes lit up with either fear or happiness. Ralph's brown eyes were honestly shimmering when they caught the light. Both boys had a smile a mile wide that made me smile. I think with me, Ralph, Liz, and Lionel, Cedric might actually have a chance at winning.

"So you and Draco? Is that still a thing?" Elizabeth asks as we now walk from breakfast to our first classes.

"I'd hope so," I give her a quizzical look.

"I don't know how I feel about the whole "my dad's a convicted blood purist slash murderer," Liz goes on wearily.

"You looked up his family didn't you? Why Elizabeth?" I roll my head back and look at the ceiling then bring it back down.

"I got bored in the library with Lionel," A blush runs to her face and a little smile grows.

"Mhm," I say with a smirk.

A few moments pass as we climb steps and go through various hallways.

"Well anyways we can talk about your killer boy toy later. I'll see you at lunch!" Elizabeth waves as she breaks off into her class.

I walk to Potions alone and take my spot next to Harry. There's a bit of awkward tension and Ron is just staring at me.

"Allison," Ron starts off.

"Yes?" I turn to him.

"Why don't you like my mate Harry?" Ron nudges Harry as his face turns beet red.

"Well. It's not so much as not liking but more of an "I'm already sort of with someone" you know?" I wince as I say this.

"Lame," Ron turns back to the lesson at hand.

Harry looks over at me for a split second then turns forward again. Obviously, the man needs to say something to me, although I'm not sure what's left to say.

I'm feeling particularly impassioned about Potions today. Honestly, it'll be a miracle if I pass the OWLs this year considering how much I zone out during class. I watch the time tick away, conveniently on a clock very close to Draco. So I could fit in staring at him while checking the time.

"Ms.Northcott! Tell me, what's the difference between a Boom Berry and a Boomslang?" Snape calls me back to the real world with a question.

My eyes go wide and then I hear a whisper.

"Boom berries are restorative and boom slangs can be poisonous," I then repeat it out loud and Snape gives me a disapproving look.

I quickly grab Harry's hand under the table and squeeze it. I mouth thanks at him. I let his hand go and try my best to pay attention.

As class finally ends, I feel a guiding hand on my back. I turn to see Harry is trying to lead me somewhere. I oblige as it can't be that bad. We're one of the firsts to leave the classroom and Harry pulls me around the corner of the hallway.

"Allison. I'm sorry for Ronald being obnoxious back there. He thought you had actually found me repulsive or something instead of just pre-occupied. So he had to check for himself," Harry's smiling and almost laughing now.

It brings a smile to my face.

"It's understandable. Side note, you're not repulsive. See you later!" I head on to Herbology. Muggle Studies is only once a week, I get a little confused and almost head in that direction then I remember I've got Herbology.

I'm pretty sure we're starting a unit on bouncing bulbs. I don't know much about them but I see Neville enter the classroom giddy as a first year at the first dinner.

"Bouncing Bulbs! Funny little things, well can be big things," Professor Sprout laughs at herself.

"This thing can grow as big as a door and has the emotional range of a Professor Snape, angry and content," This gets about half of the class laughing.

"I'm just joking with you all. This will be our main lesson for the next couple of weeks as the ones on campus need re-potting!"

Neville makes an audible "yes" sound.

I chuckle under my breath at his enthusiasm. Professor Sprout goes over the properties and uses of the plant and we get out of class early.