all too well - Theodore Nott

chapter 5

Screams erupted all around, rising to a deafening level but Selene did not notice, she was adding to it. She threw her hands into the air as the stands began to shake with excitement beneath her. Her mother started crying while Cas and Annie were jumping up and down waving little Irish flags and screaming. Annie did not understand Quidditch but she had enthusiasm.

As they made their way through the woods fireworks went off ahead of them, lighting the narrow path they were walking down. Annie was laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe and was stumbling through the woods as she did so. Her foot suddenly hit a rock and she tumbled toward the ground with a shriek. Just at the last minute, someone grabbed onto her arms and pulled her back up. Selene and Cas rushed forward, eyes widening as they realized it was Cedric Diggory.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Oh yeah," Annie responded still slightly laughing over the joke that had caused the fall, brushing her hair away from her face.

She didn't at all seem to care that one and one and only Cedric Diggory had just saved her from death by seconds.

Suddenly there was a loud snap of a twig behind them followed by laughter that resembled Hyenas. They all turned around in unison to see a large group of Slytherin boys walking down the path a few feet in front of them. At the front was Mattheo Riddle. He observed the group his eyes taking in Cedric's hand still grasping Annie's arm. Annie was too busy trying to pick up green paint that had been stuck under his fingernails to care about the new guests.

"Nice choice Diggory. A Mudblood," Mattheo snorted, looking Annie up and down and pushing past causing the rest of the group to laugh.

Selene's eyes caught on Theodore who was hanging towards the back of the group, not really a part of them but not separate either and they shared a look of loathing. Once the boys passed Cas flipped off their backs. She then angrily stormed down the path.

"I am going to kill that boy. He just made fun of Annie," She said, her voice shaking, "How can you make fun of Annie? She is the sweetest nicest person ever."

"Yeah, well he is a Pureblood," Selene said, grabbing Cas's arm and forcing her to stop and navigating her to a tree stump.

Cas collapsed on the tree stump, Her head in her hands. Cedric walked by and said something about walking Annie back to camp. Selene nodded and once they were out of earshot she sat down on the edge of the stump next to Cas.

"You need to stop treating her like she's a child, Cas."

"I don't-" Cas started but Selene shook her head.

"You do. And I understand. What she went through in her second year, I know you blame yourself but it was not your fault. She is amazingly strong and it is not like she is stupid. She just doesn't give a shit. I honestly think her moms smoked too much weed around her as a child. I mean she lived out of a tent one summer. She can handle herself. There's a reason people like her so much, she doesn't listen to hate and I think she could care less what Mattheo Riddle has to say about her."

Cas looked down, "Our world is so fucked up El. I mean what people did do to your family because of your mom? What people say to us? When I found out I was a witch I was so excited. My whole life I have always felt so alone. With being gay, with my being able to do weird things because of magic, and with being one of the only black kids at my school. I am no stranger to hate but I thought it would be different here. But it is not."

"Oh Cas," Selene wrapped her friends up in a hug. They sat that way for a while, holding each other in silence, the sound of celebration growing louder in the distance. Eventually, they got up and made their way back to camp. The celebration was all in full swing when they arrived. People were dancing, shouting, and drinking, huge smiles plastered on everyone's faces. Cas smiled and spun in a slow circle letting glowing pieces of the fire float around her, looking up at the sky in wonder.