No second chances| Book Two

The Robes, Hints, and Tricks

"That's hilarious." I snickered, covering my mouth to hide my giggle.

"It is not, dad was really worried." Cedric said, slightly laughing himself.

"He saw a mark in the tree shaped like a 'C' and now he thinks you need to come home for the rest of the year?" I repeated, making sure I heard him right.

Cedric rolled his eyes playfully and laughed.

"Yes, well, he says his "feelings" are never wrong." Cedric defended. I hummed in response and looked towards Harry and Hermione.

"Oh! I still haven't talked to Harry about the second task yet." I said, feeling guilty that I had forgotten.

"You don't think he hasn't figured it out?" Cedric questioned.

"Well, he's not in our year so he might not know the spell to keep his breath. He needs time to figure that out." Cedric nodded and walked with me to see Harry.

"Harry!" I called, he looked up at me and smiled sadly, making his way to me.

"Hey, guys." Harry said.

"Hey, Har. How you doing with the task?" I asked slowly. I figured he didn't quite know but I wanted to have faith in him.

He groaned and turned around.

"Okay, bad question." I laughed, walking with him.

"How about a hint?" Cedric asked.

"A hint?" Harry asked, looking at us in confusion.

"Yeah, I mean, you helped Marley. It's the least she can do. You're family." Cedric shrugged.

I hummed and tapped my chin, trying to think.

"Maybe you should try and calm down. I know you're stressed. The prefect bathroom is perfect for that, maybe take your egg and mull things over in the hot water." I said.

"Huh?" Harry asked.

"Think about it, little brother." I laughed, grabbing Cedric and walking off towards the other side of the bridge.

"What if I can't?" Harry called.

"You will." I called back.

***

"Okay, remind me why we're doing this again?" Cedric asked, taking a drink of his butter beer.

"Well, you know, the task is in two days and I just want to spend time with you." I shrugged. Cedric's smile dropped as he looked at me.

"Marley, you're going to be fine." Cedric reached forward and grabbed my hand, making my face tingle.

"I know, but the dragon was luck. This is water, I'm not exactly the best swimmer." I sighed. Cedric was silent for a couple minutes.

"I have faith in you." He finally said. I laughed and shook my head, moving the foam from my drink from one side to the other.

"Can I ask you a question?" Cedric asked. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him.

"You're not proposing, are you?" Cedric's eyes went wide and his face matched the Gryffindor sweater I was wearing.

"No. Oh, god no." He said quickly.

"So?..."

"Do you love Fred?" My heart dropped as I looked at him. Trying to figure out what exactly he was asking.

"Fred is one of my best friends. Of course I love him." I shrugged.

"No." Cedric said quickly.

"I mean, do you love him?" I chuckled bad remembered what Rita said.

"I hope Rita isn't getting to you?" Cedric looked up silently, giving me an answer.

"Cedric. Fred knows more about me than anyone. He's the only person to ever know some things. Some things I might not be able to tell anyone else. I go to him for counsel and pranks. That's it." I assured.

Cedric nodded and touched the bracelet on my wrist, making me remember the times from my old life.

***

"What do you think?" I asked Hopper. The small creature turned around and looked at himself in the mirror.

However, he could barely move from the amount of layer I put on him. He looked more like a marshmallow than anything.

I covered my mouth to hide the laugh as he gave me a look.

"Hopper, it's getting chilly, I have to prepare you." I informed. Before he could give me another annoyed look, I watched his eyes glow a light blue before they turned yellow again.

He smiled happily and ripped the layers off before running to the door, sitting down as he if was waiting on someone.

"Hopper?" I asked. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a tall twin on the other side. When hopper saw him, he climbed on top of him like a pole and hugged his neck.

Fred laughed and hugged the tiny creature back.

"Hello, mate." He greeted. I smiled at how excited Hopper was to see him. It made me feel good that hopper had more than me to interact with.

"Marley." Fred greeted.

"Fred." I greeted back.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I've been sleeping in Harry's bed lately. I'm just waiting on him to get back from the library." I replied with a shrug.

"Nightmares again?" He asked, going over to Ron's things and opening the drawers.

"Uh, why are you here?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me.

"McGonagall asked me to bring Ron's robes to her office because I guess he mentioned that there was a hole. So she's replacing them." Fred informed, giving in to my topic exchange.

"Oh, well, that's nice of her." I sighed. Fred kept rummaging through the drawers, obviously not being able to find them.

"Bloody hell." He cursed, looking around some more for them.

I chuckled and held up my hand. In an instant, the robes shot into my hand, catching his attention.

"That'll never not surprise me." Fred laughed, coming over to grab them. I kept my eyes busy by watching the way his tie moved from side to side slightly as he walked.

Fred stopped right in front of me, unmoving, causing me to finally look at him.

"Good luck tomorrow. I'll be watching from the stands." He said, smiling slightly. I felt myself smiling as well.

"Promise?"

"Promise." He assured. Fred finally grabbed the robes from me before turning and walking out of the door.