PRONGSLET AND THE OLYMPIAN ALLIANCE

Chapter Twenty-Two

[22]

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Saturday morning came and Cedric woke up to Milo's arms wrapped so tightly around his torso that it was actually getting difficult to breathe. He turned slowly to see Paden sleeping away on his pillow and Milo tucked away right next to him, still asleep. Apparently, the boy had come in with his glasses on, not bothering to take them off before lying down as he wore them crookedly on his face. His eyes while closed couldn't hide the rest of the distress that was clear on the boy's expression. His lips were pressed together, his eyebrows furrowed together, and overall, he just looked uncomfortable. Cedric felt a pang of guilt strike him in the chest knowing that Milo was upset because of him.

All throughout Hufflepuff, students had been encouraging Cedric and telling him that he had the best chance of becoming the Tournament champion. They wanted him to represent the school and Cedric wanted to use the tournament in many ways to benefit himself and those around him that he cared about. But he had to admit when he approached the goblet to place his name in, there had been a sense of hesitation on his behalf. Ernie Macmillan and several other Hufflepuffs cheered him on, but Milo wasn't there to cheer him on, neither was Heidi or Max. His friends obviously didn't like the idea of him possibly entering the tournament, but in Cedric's head, he needed to.

With as much stress that had fallen onto Milo just over a span of two months since starting school, Cedric decided it was best to just let Milo sleep in. It was Saturday and with the selection of champions taking place that evening, he was going to need all the rest he could get. Not to mention, it was Halloween and that was never really the best day for the Potter boys. Carefully, Cedric removed Milo's arms that were wrapped around him and crawled out of bed, leaving the boy and his bowtruckle to continue sleeping. While he rested, Cedric took it upon himself to check on the mooncalf before getting started on his own rounds of prefect duties. Little did he know, he wouldn't be seeing Milo until it was time for the selection of champions because Milo had made plans for his Halloween.

Cedric was gone out of the dorms by the time Milo woke up and he could only frown when he saw that the bed was empty. He was hoping to talk to Cedric for a little about persuading him not to enter the Tournament. Unfortunately, he knew very well that Cedric had his mind set on becoming a champion, so it didn't matter how much he pleaded or begged for him to reconsider.  Pushing himself up, it was already a bad start to the day, but Milo knew that it could possibly get better. After all, this Halloween, Milo had made plans to spend with Harry and he planned on them actually going through.

It was just going to be the two of them, along with their godparents because Milo wanted to bring Harry, somewhere that he probably needed to see for himself. Picking himself up from the bed, Milo scooped up Paden before making his way back to his own room to get ready for the day.