BROTHERHOOD ⟶ Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Sneaking out, are you?"

It was the same evening where Milo was supposed to head to Hagrid's hut, meeting up with his brother, Hermione, and Ron. He couldn't help but be overly excited as he desperately tried to contain it. Any chance to even discuss dragons with someone was more than enough to make the boy's night. However, he had to make his way out of the Hufflepuff dorms first and he was just about to do so when suddenly, he heard the sound of Cedric's voice.

It had only been a short while since he last saw the boy, as they had departed from the library at the same time after Milo had helped Neville with his homework. However, Milo would have thought that Cedric would have been in the dorms relaxing by then as he attempted to sneak out undetected. As soon as he was caught, Milo turned bright red in the face before turning around to see Cedric resting on one of the sofa's with a book in his lap. With Milo turned to him, Cedric sat up with a smile on his face.

"And by that, I meant, sneaking out without me?" He said walking over as Milo let out a rather nervous laugh.

"S-sorry, Cedric, it's just that...well..." Milo was practically hopping in place with nerves, making him resemble a lemur as Cedric's eyes followed him, his curiosity developing even further. Milo suddenly let out a heavy sigh, realizing that he couldn't lie to one of his best friends, especially after everything Cedric had done for him that term.  He motioned Cedric to follow him as the two boys made their way through the massive barrel and towards the back of the kitchen.

"Mr. Potter!" Bitsy, the house-elf greeted him. "Come for a treat? Bitsy made lemon squares."

He wasn't expecting so many distractions as he planned on heading out but he couldn't pass up a lemon square made by the house-elf. "Well, I certainly do like lemon..."

After their pockets were stuffed with lemon squares, Milo let the way down the corridor, careful to not bring attention to them as they walked along.

"Are you actually going to tell me where we're going?" Cedric asked. Milo hoped that the others wouldn't mind if Cedric tagged along, he didn't have the heart to tell him to head back. Not to mention, Cedric was one of the people that Milo placed all his trust in and he knew that the boy knew how to keep a secret. 

"I was invited out to Hagrid's tonight," Milo whispered, " there was talk of a dragon and-"

"Dragon?!" Cedric screeched only to be tackled to the ground as Milo knocked him over to cover his mouth.

"Shh!" Milo said lying on the boy's back with his hand wrapped over Cedric's mouth. "If someone hears then there's bound to be trouble.

Cedric pushed Milo's hand away and using all his strength, he pushed himself up, despite the fact that Milo was still on his back. Milo clung on and Paden clung on tightly to the boy's hair as he was disturbed from his nap from all the commotion. Eventually, he slid down before straightening his clothing and giving Cedric a look that was begging the older Hufflepuff to remain quiet. 

"It's not like I'm going to say anything!" Cedric told him, " I just couldn't believe my ears, that's all. What are we waiting for?"

"Are you sure?"

He wasn't given a verbal answer as Cedric pushed him forward to head outside. For some reason, while Milo had fretted over the idea of having company with him, he found himself quite glad that Cedric was accompanying him that evening as he didn't want to walk alone. But before the boys could reach the exit, they found Peeves floating above them, letting out a loud cackle.

"I don't like that smile on his face," Cedric whispered to Milo, " that normally means that something is about to go wrong."

"I know that all too well," Milo spoke from experience knowing that Peeves played for no one but his own benefit.