The Older Potter // HP Older Sister

61

C H A P T E R 61

"What's up, mate, how was your holiday?" Luke asked Cedric once he came back from Hogsmeade Station along with the rest of the school. It was nice for them to get away from the whole Sirius Black situation but knew that it was still going on upon coming back.

Cedric shrugged and gave a bland look. "Nothing special."

Luke raised and eyebrow at his odd behavior. "Ok then," he replied and helped Cedric and Dan bring their stuff up to their dorm.

As he climbed the steps, Cedric sighed a few times. Of course he loved spending time with his family but with him and Samantha not on the best of terms, Cedric couldn't enjoy this break as much as he would have liked. He missed her but with the way she's been acting, Cedric felt like a bit of space would be good for them. Relationships were not happy all of the time so this rough patch was normal. Throughout their year together, the two never really got into any serious fights because both of them were mature enough to let it go and move on. However as Cedric put down his stuff and sat on his bed, his gut felt like this little tiff between them was much more impactful than anything they've ever experienced.

He shook his head and made a note to talk to Samantha as soon as possible. Even if they didn't sort out any of their issues, getting back on normal speaking terms would be a huge step. They didn't write any owls over the break and Cypress kept nipping at Cedric to send something. So he sighed and sent a whatever letter to Luke to get Cypress out of the house for a few days.

"So how was your holiday, Luke?" Cedric asked, putting fresh clean sheets on his bed.

"It was actually much better than I anticipated."

"How so?"

"Well I thought I'd be moping around the castle all by myself since barely anyone was here but...," he trailed off, realizing that he was about to mention that he had been spending a lot of the break with Samantha. They studied a lot and she told him countless stories of her adventures with Fred and George. Luke also took this opportunity to ask about Harry and the mystery behind Voldemort and now recently Sirius Black. He liked her as a friend and enjoyed her company.

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "But what?"

"Well as you know Samantha stayed here as well, so we hung out. It wasn't anything major but it was nice to have her around during this tough time with my family," Luke explained. He knew them spending time together wasn't anything major and wouldn't lead to anything but Luke felt like Cedric wouldn't take it well because they weren't on the best terms.

Cedric nodded slowly and then turned back to putting pillowcases on his pillows. "That's nice, " he commented trying to sound content but knew he was failing miserably.

Luke didn't speak but only hummed in return.

A growing feeling started to form inside Cedric and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he had to. He didn't want to feel jealous but Cedric couldn't help it. He knew that they were only friends but Cedric wanted to be the one to spend time with her. Things had now taken an odd turn and Cedric didn't know how to feel about it.

• • • • •

"So like....a real bloody Firebolt?"

"Are you serious?" Samantha held in a laugh at Fred and George who were gawking at what Harry had just told them.

He had just finished telling them about what happened over Christmas and then mentioned that McGonagall had taken it away to see if it had any jinxes.