The Roses of Hogwarts | Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter Twelve: Miserable Rain

A loud crack of thunder woke Oriane up the next morning. The storm had been raging consistently for the last few days, but that morning seemed to be particularly terrible. Even from underground she could hear the relentless wind whipping outside the window.

Once she sat up in bed, she looked around, peeking at her roommates. They were all still fast asleep, their quiet breathing filling their small room. It must have been early in the morning if even Charlotte was still asleep, yet she didn't think she'd be able to rest any longer.

Carefully, Oriane quietly slipped out of her bed, still wearing her night clothes. Then, she was off to the common room, where the sound of the wind grew impossibly loud. Yet the crackling of the fireplace was a close second in terms of noise. It starved off the cold bitter wind from cooling the room down even a little.

Tending to that fire was Cedric Diggory. He knelt forward on his knees, hands hovering dangerously close to the flame as he watched them dance in front of him. He was already dressed in his daytime clothes, and his hair was dampened from a recent shower.

Oriane approached him slowly, bare feet silent against the rug underneath her. "You're up early."

Cedric nearly fell as he quickly turned around to face Oriane. His hand quickly reached up to rest on his chest, as if he was trying to quell his beating heart. "I need to put a bell on you," he chuckled.

She grinned as she moved to the side, setting herself down in one of the plush armchairs next to the hearth. "Sorry," she said in a slight laugh.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked as he settled next to the fire once more.

"The thunder woke me up," she admitted as she turned her attention towards the windows. As November drew on, the sun was rising later and later in the morning. She could see the promise of a grey light drawing near, but other than that, the storm was blocking out anything else. "I feel like the weather is worse today than it has been all week."

"Of course it is," Cedric chuckled, "today's the day of the first quidditch game. Quite literally raining on our parade."

With everything that happened yesterday with Snape substituting for Remus, Oriane had completely forgotten about the game. It was all anyone could talk about, and it was the first thing that got students to stop talking about Sirius Black. She had already heard an earful about it from Fred and George, who were complaining to Calista the other day about Draco and Cedric. Draco for still whining about his arm, and Cedric for scaring Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain.

"They're still making you play?" Oriane asked, confused. "Can't they reschedule?"

He shook his head for a short moment before turning to look at Oriane. The orange blaze in front of him casted a dark shadow on half of his face, making his features look twice as sharp. The light danced with the curve of his lips.

"They'd never cancel the game over a little rain," he smiled.

As if upset about being called little, thunder rolled throughout the sky outside once more, vibrating the ground all around them. The two looked up, almost as if they were afraid the roof would come crashing in on them.

"Little," Oriane repeated.

"Yeah, I know," he admitted, finally pushing himself up from the floor. He stretched his arms into the air as he stood, a heavy sigh leaving his body as his arms returned to his sides.

"Has a game ever been canceled before?" she wondered as Cedric sat himself in the seat across from her.

He nodded. "Once that I know of. It was last year, actually."